This Is That City From The TV!


ABC has hitched a lot of marketing to its newest, hottest show “Nashville.”

Premiering last night, the show comes off a bit like “Showgirls,” except replace strippers with country music songstresses and Las Vegas with Nashville (duh).

And if you haven’t flocked to the Music City to see the legendary Ryman Auditorium, Opryland, the Country Music Hall of Fame, or the Tennessee Titans (ha!), then maybe you’ll plan a trip based on the good reviews the show is already getting.

But if you’ve already been, or you’re looking for something better, here are 10 more travel destinations that you should want to visit because of film and television.

1) New Zealand — “Flight of the Conchords”

Sure, this Kiwi-featured HBO show is set in New York. And sure, it’s “Lord of the Rings” that shows off the small nation’s majestic landscape. But it’s characters like Bret and Jemaine, ripe with likability, naïvety and off-beat-yet-down-to-earth humor, that will make the trip worth it.

2) Tokyo — “Lost in Translation”

If you’re saying to yourself, “Of course I want to go wherever Bill Murray goes,” then you’re absolutely right. But even if he’s not there on your visit to the Japanese capital, you’ll find solace in about a million other things, including late-night karaoke, late-night arcades and light-night drinking Suntory whisky.

3) Montauk, N.Y. — “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

It’s quaint, but this historic beach resort town will certainly having you telling others, “Meet me in Montauk.” Just hope they remember who you are.

4) New York City — “Louie”

It’s no secret that New York City is a giant place filled with about everything you could imagine. But Louie CK’s FX program totally encapsulates the crazy, beautiful surreality of the city that never sleeps.

5) John F. Kennedy International Airport — “The Terminal”

After you’re done visiting the Big Apple, stay awhile longer in its vast airport, where there’s a shop and a character in every corner. So even if your native country falls like Krakozhia, you’ll always find something to do.

6) Montreal — “Away We Go”

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph’s characters in this Sam Mendes film may not have chosen this metropolitan Canadian locale as the place for them to establish roots for the new family, but it clearly showed the most life.

7) Bruges — “In Bruges”

Colin Farrell the assassin may find this quiet European town out of touch and boring, but the scenic Belgian city is host to a plethora of awe-inspiring Medieval architecture. And if staring at buildings isn’t your thing, its massive concert and theatre halls, music festivals, or museums (mmm, Brewery museum) will surely tickle your fancy.

8) Slab City, Calif. — “Into the Wild”

I’d love to recommend the exciting, gorgeous, wild unknown of Alaska from this film, but anyone who is familiar knows the tragic end that held for Christopher “Alexander Supertramp” McCandless (R.I.P.). Instead, you can pack up the RV and head down to Slab City, the site of abandoned marine barracks from World War II inhabited by squatters and nomads just looking for love and friendship. Railway hoboing is so Great Depression.

9) Stonehenge — “National Lampoon’s European Vacation”

One of the oldest mysteries in humanity, and on a striking English countryside to boot. Just don’t leave it the way Clark Griswold did.

10) Minneapolis — “Jingle All The Way”

Ok, there’s a little bias with this one. You won’t find the Mall of America downtown (or in Minneapolis at all). Ditto on Mickey’s Diner. But we at Fast Horse can all attest, you’ll have as much fun here as Arnold Schwarzenegger flying around in a jet pack.

Conversely, here are five places you should never want to visit based on film and television…

1) Cidade de Deus, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — “City of God”

Do you like getting shot in the crossfire of a gang and/or drug war? No? Don’t go here, then.

2) Baltimore — “The Wire”

Do you still not want to get shot in the crossfire of a gang and/or drug war? Don’t go here, either.

3) Bratislava, Slovakia — “Hostel”

You’d take being shot in the crossfire of a gang and/or drug war over any way you’d die here.

4) Mogadishu, Somalia — “Black Hawk Down”

Seriously. Don’t go here.

5) Unknown Location, Germany — “The Human Centipede (First Sequence)”

Run away. Run away as fast as you can and never look back.