Has a book, TV show, or movie ever inspired your choice of a vacation destination?
 

I thought this week's poll was interesting.

I am glad we visited Savannah after reading "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

Anyone else?

I read several Anne Rice books before visiting New Orleans. Those books weren't the only reason we travelled there, but they were part of it.

I read aloud to my husband "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" while we were in Savannah and driving around the area. It was several years ago but we still comment on how enjoyable and fun that was.
Great book and fantastic city!

I saw "A Walk in the Clouds" when I was about 16 with my then boyfriend (now husband), and decided then that I just had to see Napa Valley for myself- and did so last year. It only took ten years, but it was just as beautiful as I remembered it from the movie.

I had always wanted to visit Australia. It was shortly after the first Crocodile Dundee movie that I finally booked my 5 week vacation, which included a 13-day visit to the outback! I've returned to OZ four more times, so it was an excellent choice, thanks to the movie.
Carol

1. Stephen King's novels have me wanting to visit Bangor, whose alter-ego, "Derry" has been the scene of just all kind of unpleasant occurrences to fictitious people of every stripe.

2. There are numerous places the "City Confidential" series on A&E has turned me on to, and they now occupy a place in my list of places to visit that I keep in my notebook.

3. I want to go to Las Vegas solely because I'm a CSI freak.

Can't think of any more at the moment, but I'm sure there are at least a few I've left off...

The Carlton hotel in Cannes and the hill villages including Eze after seeing a rerun of To Catch a Thief.

It was glamorous and our view of the beach was wonderful.

I watched A River Runs through it became obsessed with going to Montana which I eventually did and loved every minute of it.

Trinity by Leon Uris raised my interest in my Irish ancenstry. Reading this book prior to my trip to Ireland made the trip all the more interesting especially in Dublin and Derry.

As a teen I saw a surfing movie set in South Africa. 20 years later, SA is still #1 on my 'life's to do' list. And the funny thing is that I don't know what movie it was, but I can still remember the images.

All of Maeve Binchy's books (including Circle of Friends, her most popular one) are set in Ireland and reading them made me yearn to visit. I did a few years ago and loved it. Now when I read her new books I have a whole new appreciation.

Every time we go through Chicago someone in my family points out the "Adventures in Babysitting" building.
Dixiechick-I also read "Midnight" before going to Savannah and we took the Midnight bus tour while we were there. It was great.

Years ago on Sunday nights, "Wide World of Disney" and "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" would have nature programs filmed in places like Yellowstone and Yosemite. These two programs whetted my appetite for the American West. My first really big vacation was to visit these American gems.

National Lampoon's Vacation - Monument Valley
Last of the Dogmen - Montana
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - Savannah
Anne Rice - New Orleans
Dean Koontz - Southern California
Stephen King - New England

There's more, I'm sure...

Keith

My husband and I were watching a National Geographic special on the Tower of London. He remarked how cool it would be to see it and I said, Well let's go! So we did and London was fantastic.

Ah... I knew I forgot to mention one! I went to Hot Springs, AR after reading 'Hot Springs,' a novel about the efforts to clean up organized crime in this small Arkansas city in the 1940's, by Stephen Hunter.

What a great little city! It has such a fascinating history, what with it being the resort of choice for 30's era gangsters like Al Capone, remembered as a "good tipper" by the staff at the Fordyce Bath House (which is now a museum). It's also a geologist's dream come true with all those boiling springs just erupting from the ground. And the lakes and the amusement park and botanical gardens, and all those fountains and public art and squares downtown... I'd go back in a heartbeat, but *not* by Greyhound. Never by Greyhound again. I would rather ride there strapped to the hood of someone's car than take the bus that distance.

Can't believe no one has yet mentioned New Zealand and the Lord of the Rings trilogy!
We were determined to visit there after the first movie and finally got there just after the second one came out. There is a book that explains where each part of the 3 movies was filmed and we had a blast finding quite a few of those locations. All the locals in those areas had stories to tell about when the film crews were in town, and some even worked as extras.
New Zealand is the most amazing country we have visited and we definitely plan to go back!

Being fans of Dick Francis' horseracing books, a friend and I went to the Gold CUp races in Cheltenham England one year

Several years ago I moved to Phoenix, AZ after reading the Arizona Highways magazine. I lived there for 5 years and enjoyed it very much.

Every single political thriller set in Washington DC has made me want to visit the capital. So does every news show shot of the Washington Monument, the Capitol or the White House. There just aren't that many images that are as compelling and dramatic to me. When I finally did go a couple of years ago, I was not disappointed. As I've said on this forum before, seeing the Lincoln Memorial at night is almost a spiritual experience.

Dances With Wolves made me want to visit the West. This past summer we drove from Arkansas to Montana and visited Little Big Horn Battle Field, then spent a week in the Black Hills of South Dakota where Dances was filmed. We ate at a chuckwagon supper that had the actual movie set from that film on the grounds, and behind it was the site of the film. What a vast and beautiful land we live in.