The Beatles’ famous Abbey Road crossing, graffiti murals by Banksy, and Princes Street in Edinburgh – the site of an iconic scene from the film Trainspotting – were all rated among the top locations for cultural tourism in the UK.
London’s 23 Heddon Street, as featured on the cover of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album, Castle Howard near York, where the classic Brideshead Revisited was filmed and locations in Birmingham – home to the “Peaky Blinders” are also popular trip sites.
In Northern Ireland, Led Zeppelin fans flocked to Giant’s Causeway, the album artwork for Houses of the Holy.
Following the results of a Premier Inn survey of 2,000 adults, a leading culture expert has revealed other cultural destinations worth checking out, such as Oxford’s “Narnia Door” – the inspiration for CS Lewis’s iconic book series, and the village Portmeirion in Wales, site of the cult 1960s TV show The Prisoner.
Dr. Ruth Adams, senior lecturer in cultural & creative industries at King’s College London, worked with the hotel company to compile a map of the top 10 most culturally iconic locations.
The list includes London’s Portobello Road – which features in both Paddington movies – and houses Will’s bookshop in the movie Notting Hill.
Dr. Ruth Adams said: “Visits to TV, film, and musically significant locations are modern pilgrimages. For a small country, the UK punches well above its weight as both a tourist destination and a cultural powerhouse.
“We create world–leading art and popular culture – from literature to film, television and music, and many people like to plan their holidays around pilgrimages to sites of cultural significance to get closer to their idols and fantasies.
“Going to locations that the Beatles or David Bowie not only visited but made iconic on album covers can bring fans closer to the ‘aura’ of these stars.”
Other cultural hotspots film buffs have flocked to include the town of Wells in Somerset, the setting for the iconic comedy Hot Fuzz.
On arrival, visitors sometimes find places are not always as they seem.
One small–screen aficionado was baffled when traveling to the village of Brentwood in Essex (the home of reality show The Only Way Is Essex) – “because it was nothing like TOWIE had made it out to be.”
The research found 51 per cent of Brits have visited a spot in…
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