Travel Movies

Travel Movies That Make You Want To See The World

Ray Bradbury once wrote a famous quote, “See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream.”

Whenever I sit down to watch a movie, stunning landscapes, beautiful cruises, breathtaking hilltops and dreamy horizons makes me want to dive into the TV screen within seconds.

Movies that capture such dreamy locations always arouse the traveler in us and you just feel like packing your bags and get moving.

I am a movie freak and thanks to my obsession, I have created an amazing list of movies that will help you plan your next trip. With the best travel movies on the list, you’re going to have a wonderful virtual experience of some of the best places in the world.

Eat, Pray, Love

Not my favorite movie on the list though, but when it comes to traveling and exploring oneself, Eat, Pray, Love depicts the beautiful journey of a solo female traveler, played by Julia Roberts, across three countries that only few travelers can build guts to take upon.

For female solo travelers, this is a must watch movie if you wish to taste these three tempting flavors of life through a solo journey.

The Holiday

The Holiday showcases an exciting plot where two single women in their 30s, played exceptionally by Kate and Cameroon, lives in two different corners of the globe, Los Angeles, and a little English town, and exchange their homes for a week.

Heartbroken and frustrated from life, they travel away to smell fresh air where love and friendship find their way.

The contrasting cinematography of the

snow clad English cottage and the alluring and luxurious feel of Los Angeles makes you feel like planning a similar solo trip.

Sideways

If you wish to have an exotic feel of California’s vineyards, you need to watch Sideways. It is a charmingly sad yet funny on the lines story of two middle aged men who take on a week long trip to the California’s wine country.

With excellent performances of Paul Giamatti and Thomas Church, the movie is a tempting treat into the vineyards of California across the roads of Napa Valley.

A fine movie to watch with your glass of wine, cheers!

The Bucket List

Being travelers, most of you might be having a bucket list for places to visit before you die. Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson play two terminally ill men who go on a road trip so that they can mark off all the items in their list before they throw away the bucket themselves.

As you may have guessed, it is a movie about living life till the last moment during a journey where unlikely friendships happen and mark lasting impact on their lives.

A Map For Saturday

Those who are aware of this movie, you’ll curse me if I don’t put it on my top ten list. A Map for Saturday is a travel documentary and part video travelogue and showcases what most travelers dream of. Surrender everything away to travel around the world.

The story follows one man who gives up his secure job on HBO and goes backpacking to take a year long trip across the globe.

It gives you all kind of reasons to travel and details the kind of hardships one might encounter on the way.

If you are one of those who are keen to experience this kind of life once, watch the movie to know what the experience is really like.

The Darjeeling Limited

Wes Anderson depicts the reunion of three American brothers after their father’s funeral when they set off on a train voyage across the Indian subcontinent to meet their mother.

The Darjeeling Limited is a comedy drama film set against the backdrop of busy streets and open spaces of Rajasthan while capturing aesthetic views of the barren landscapes and mountains across the Thar Desert.

Into The Wild

What happens when a fresh college graduate throws away the opportunity of a promising career ahead and wanders into the wild?

Into The Wild attempts to portray the true story of Christopher McCandless who gives away his life savings to live in the Alaskan wilderness.

Christopher is a fearless risk taker who encounters many fascinating people, whose stories shape his understanding of life. What lies ahead of him is a rough adventure with extreme weather conditions as he traveled across lands of North America and lastly into the wilderness of Alaska.

An ideal watch for travelers who believe in taking the road less traveled.

Lost In Translation

A movie about two separate travelers who meet in the foreign streets of Tokyo, develop a budding friendship while they both experience loneliness in their lives.

Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, playing a bored wife and an aging actor respectively, roam across the streets in Tokyo and become friends.

Soon, traveling in a new and curious city becomes funny and interesting. From the neon lit karaoke bars and streets, Tokyo’s nightlife has been highlighted exclusively.

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

Bored with the monotonous life of a photo editor at LIFE Magazine, Walter Mitty, (played by Ben Stiller) often delves deep into his imaginative world of action, romance and heroism.

However, when his job is threatened, he decides to embark on a real life journey traveling from Iceland to Afghanistan facing challenges on his way.

The movie is a visual treat of landscapes blended with beautiful soundtrack. Those of you who are looking for something dreamily exciting, this is your movie.

Highway

Director Imtiaz Ali imparts soul in this movie with ecstatic performances by the two leading protagonists, Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda. Alia, who plays the daughter of an industrialist, is being kidnapped before her wedding night.

Circumstances create an unusual bonding between the girl and her kidnapper and she longs to leave here life back in the city and engulf a carefree life and settle in the hilly terrains of Northern India.

Highway is a journey through Delhi, Punjab,  Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, which you would recognize by its distinct climate, clothing and culture. It reaches its pure meditative and soul searching mode when it reaches Kashmir’s surreal Aru valley.

Pages will fall short and I’ll keep extending the list. If I happen to miss out on any of your favorite travel movies, don’t forget to mention them below.