London

Here on Leicester Square we find our first movie location. On the corner with Swiss Court we find the newspaper shop where Jim picks up a copy of The Guardian in 28 Days Later. Make sure to include the Swiss clock in the background to match your location photo with the movie scene.

From Leicester Square we walk down Irving Street and Saint Martin's Place to Trafalgar Square, with its very distinctive London Landmark, Nelson's Column. Other well known eye catchers here are : the National Gallery, the fountains and of course the hundreds of pigeons that make Trafalgar Square so very loved by tourists. These very same pigeons play a major role in the scene of our first movie set here. In The Core, several accidents happen on Trafalgar Square, while flocks of doves fly into the windows of the buildings surrounding this square.

On the corner of Pall Mall stands the Canada House. It is not open to the public, but when you peek inside, you will recognize the hall that featured as the interior of Gringotts Bank in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
If you stand with your back to Whitehall, you can take a perfect location picture of Trafalgar Square with Nelson's Column and the National Gallery in the background. This perfectly matches the scene from the finale of V for Vendetta, when numerous protesters, disguised as V, climb over the Nelson monument.
Trafalgar Square also features in various films such as Children of Men, 28 Days Later and James Bond : The Living Daylights.

We continue our tour through Whitehall. When we pass Downing Street we go into Parliament Street to arrive on Parliament Square. Here we take the time to score several movie set locations. The first thing to catch the eye is Big Ben. This Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster has featured in numerous films (eg. Peter Pan, 101 Dalmations, 28 Days Later and The War of the Worlds). On the corner at the entrance of the Westminster Tube Station we can take a beautiful picture of Big Ben. You might try to include the CCTV camera on the right, to match the scene of the exploding Bell Tower in V for Vendetta.

Now we walk across the square towards Westminster Abbey. Here at the exteriors of the abbey Ian McKellen’s character in The Da Vinci Code gets arrested by the police. We now walk back in the direction of Big Ben. We walk past the Westminster Palace right up to Westminster Bridge. Here you can make a photo of the waterside of the palace. Again a perfect match to the scene of the demolition of the palace in V for Vendetta. When you walk completely across the bridge, it is worth to turn around and make another shot of the Westminster palace. Now you can make a wide shot of the palace and the bell tower. This is our last shot of the explosive finale of V for Vendetta. Don't forget to make a picture of the bridge itself. When you include the tourists and the oncoming traffic, it will make a nice contrast with your reference shot of 28 Days Later, as Jim walks all alone across the desolate bridge.

At both ends of the bridge you can make pictures of the London Eye. This giant Ferris wheel can be seen in several overview shots of London in recent movies. The 2nd unit of The Fantastic 4 : Ride of the Silver Surfer came to film one of London's newest landmarks for a big action scene. The wheel also featured in the 2004 movie Thunderbirds.

We continue our expedition in the direction of Jubilee Gardens. Here we will make a little detour. At the London Eye Ticket Office we take a right turn. At the end of the street you go into Waterloo Station. Here at the departure hall we find numerous photo opportunities to match the action scene from The Bourne Ultimatum. Don't forget to take a picture of the big moving billboard as it changes. You'll never know that you might also catch a glimpse of a sniper hiding behind the moving panels. When you walk up to the south entrance of the station, you will find that this location is very recognizable from the movie.

In the Waterloo Tube station you can also find a movie location for Sliding Doors. Here, Gwyneth Paltrow's character, Helen, has to chose whether she goes through the sliding door. We take Waterloo Road back towards the river Thames. On the roundabout you cannot miss the IMAX Cinema. Back on to the waterside we will pass the Royal Festival Hall, where a scene of Four Weddings and a Funeral was shot.

As you arrive on Potters Fields you will now have a very nice view of the Tower Bridge. This very spot was used in Mission : Impossible with Tom Cruise, long before the new London City Hall was built here. If you stand with your back against the City Hall’s exit, you can almost match the shot from the movie as the helicopter lands beside the bridge. Now, the Tower Bridge herself featured in a countless number of movies and television series as : The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Elephant Man, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The World Is Not Enough, Magnum PI and Home and Away.

For our next location we need to walk across the bridge, take the first street on the right, and then the 4th on the left. At the end of this street turn right into Graces Alley. Here you’ll find the “Most secret stage in the world”, as it is beautifully put on the door : Wilton’s Music Hall. The music hall featured as Le Theatre des Vampires in Interview with the Vampire . It is clear that the alley inspired the set designers for the exterior of the theatre, but it was the auditorium itself that was used in the movie as the interior. Other films that were shot here are The Krays and Chaplin.

We go back on our way towards The Tower of London. We walk passed this fortress on Tower Hill. Through Byward and Lower Thames Street we walk up to The Monument. When we turn right here into Gracechurch Street we’ll arrive at our next location. At Leadenhall Market you need to look for Bull’s Head Passage. There is an optician in this small street. The facade, which is now painted in blue, was used as the door of the Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. In Lara Croft: Tomb Raider you can also see Angelina Jolie ride her motorcycle through Leadenhall Market.

As we walk through the North Entrance of the market, we take a right turn into Leadenhall Street. On your right side stands a modern office block. This building is part of the London Lloyd’s building. It featured in the spy thrillers Entrapment and Spy Game and in the Sci-Fi movie Code-46.

To get to our next location, we need to turn around and make our way into Cornhill. This location is used in National Treasure 2 : Book of Secrets. When we were visiting London in August 2007, we had the opportunity to walk on the actual set. The scene that takes place here is a car chase.

On the pictures above you can find two of the stunt cars and on the right you see director Jon Turteltaub give the cast and crew a thumb up … and cut!

From Cornhill we walk passed Bank tube station into Cheapside. At the end of this street, at the crossroads with Saint Martin’s Le Grand, we find St Paul’s Cathedral. The cathedral’s dome is distinctively visible in 28 Days Later, when Jim roams the London streets. St-Paul’s Cathedral also plays an important part in Mary Poppins. Although no filming actually took place here. Another classic that was filmed here is Great Expectations from 1946.

To get to the next film location it is best to leave Postmans Park by turning left into Edward Street. At the end we turn right into Newgate Street. At the skyline you can already pick up a glimpse of Lady Justice on top of our next location. When we stand in front of the Old Bailey, you can make perfect shots of The Central Criminal Court. Another perfect match with one of V’s demolitions in V for Vendetta.

If you’re up for a long walk, you can take Holborn and Gray’s Inn Road up to King’s Cross Station and St Pancras Station. This huge detour is worth the walk. The two train stations play a big part in the Harry Potter movies. They feature In both Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Several shots in King’s Cross Station build up to the discovery of Platform 9 3/4. St Pancras Station can be seen as the exterior of the station in both films.

NOTE: Pioneers who travel to London by Eurostar will arrive at St Pancras Station. You can already make your photos here upon arrival. But if you come to London on a different route, it is best to come to these stations by Tube.

We have almost completed our tour. Through Aldwych and Drury Lane we arrive back in West End. This is the heart of London’s Theatreland. Here we can find the best known drama and musical stages. The Royal Opera House completes our quest. In The Fifth Element, the Royal Opera House was used as the Fhloston Paradise Opera House, where the blue alien, Diva Plavalaguna, sings.

Of course we did not cover all movie set locations in London. You can make the walk above on one day (if you do not include the detour to King’s Cross and St Pancras Stations). But we do not wish to hold back on some other very recognizable filming locations as : The British Museum in Great Russell Street that features in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns; the London Zoo in Regent’s Park in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone; Brompton Cemetery in Fullom Road in Goldeneye and of course Notting Hill in the movie with the same title Notting Hill.

For more detailed information and maps, we refer to www.visitlondon.com