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8 Unforgettable Tours Perfect for TV Lovers

by Sarah Milner / August 05, 2024
8 Unforgettable Tours Perfect for TV Lovers
Photo: Avanti Destinations

For most of us, our first introduction to a foreign land and culture wasn’t from a cruise or a package tour — it was television. TV shows bring the world right into your home, whether it’s a fictional series set and filmed in another country or an informative program about discovering the world. Even a comedy like “The White Lotus” can inspire travel, despite its premise poking fun at travelers.

Of course, as any travel advisor knows, there’s nothing like the real thing. TMR has scoured the tour operator community searching for the very best TV-inspired tours and vacation packages, perfect for any client looking to live out their small-screen fantasy.

The Yellowstone Production Tour: The Transportation Network

Audiences the world over have fallen in love with “Yellowstone,” and while the show’s familial melodrama keeps viewers coming back for more, the gorgeous landscape shots and scenery are also a major part of its appeal.

Now, travelers can see these views firsthand, living the “Yellowstone” experience via The Transportation Network’s Yellowstone Production Tour.

The Transportation Network is a luxury transportation service in Park City Utah, specializing in high-end group and corporate travel. After 25 years in the business, the company has unparalleled knowledge and experience serving clients in the region. “We are not just transportation — we’re the whole package,” owner Kevin Ellis told TMR.

The Yellowstone Production Tour takes guests on a two-hour horseback ride through the wilderness, followed by a visit to the location used for all interior shots in “Yellowstone” seasons 1 to 3. Then, guests are brought to outdoor film locations in the area, as well as a popular Western lifestyle store, Bolt, where they get a chance to deck themselves out in cowboy gear.

Other itinerary items include enjoying a box lunch on a breathtaking mountain range, and an evening wine-and-cheese reception at the Smith and Morehouse reservoir. During the winter season, the company offers dogsled rides in place of horseback.

The trip is customizable to the client’s tastes and budget. For example, Ellis has previously planned ATV adventures up the mountains, where guests travel to a private overlook with the area’s only view of the five resorts. There, they enjoy a sunset champagne dinner prepared by a private chef.

Ellis is personally involved in the tours, acting as a guide and providing his insider perspective. He worked with the “Yellowstone” team during production, and he owns the horses guests ride. In this way, he strives to give travelers an authentic, once-in-a-lifetime journey they can’t find anywhere else. “What it boils down to is we create experiences and memories,” he said.

K-drama shooting location tours (& more): Elite Voyages

Gyeongbkgung Palace in Seoul. Photo: Ricko Tindage-Elite Voyages

After Ricko Tindage, the director of sales at Elite Voyages, got hooked on K-drama TV shows, he saw an opportunity. Why not combine South Korean tours with the country’s “soft power” exports: food, pop music, and television?

Elite Voyages has recently launched new itineraries themed around hit K-drama series. In Korea, the two optional tours can be added to the eight-day Incredible Seoul, Incredible South Korea! itinerary as well as the Korea & Japan 11 Days trip. The first optional tour takes travelers to the shooting location for the hit series “The King: Eternal Monarch,” while the second focuses on shooting locations for the series “Squid Game” and “Itaewon Class.” Both tours feature an English-speaking guide and require a minimum of four passengers.

In Switzerland, Elite Voyages offers a dedicated eight-day package themed around the hit K-drama “Crash Landing on You,” which featured scenes shot on location in the European country. This package was designed to “follow in the footsteps” of the characters, taking guests to various locations highlighted in the show — from the Sigriswil suspension bridge where Jeong-hyeok and Se-ri’s paths crossed for the first time, to the Grandhotel Giessbach, the shooting location for the show’s fictional music school.

The minimum group size for the Switzerland: “Crash Landing On You” Tour is two guests, and the program is available year-round. The package includes accommodations, some meals, and an English-speaking tour guide.

Tindage told TMR that Elite Voyages has been working closely with the Korea Tourism Organization to develop these packages, and that each itinerary is very flexible. “These programs are like a showroom — customizable to your client’s tastes” he told TMR, stressing that Elite Voyages prides itself on bespoke, tailor-made itineraries.

“This is an opportunity to sell more: new destinations, new products,” said Tindage. “Korea is quite popular around the world right now with K-pop, K-beauty, K-food, and K-drama.”

Reel to Real Life Bridgerton: Sky Vacations

Photo: Sky Vacations

Why take a coach bus with 40 strangers to walk through Highclere Castle when you could have a private tea on the property instead? This is the business model of Sky Vacations, a tour operator with over 20 years of experience in the travel industry.

“We like to take things slow,” Richard Krieger, director of Sky Vacations, told TMR. “We want guests to really experience a destination — the goal is to connect a traveler with a place and its people.”

Sky Vacations prides itself on its tour planners, who work diligently to put a high level of detail into each package. All itineraries are highly flexible, and the company has offices around the world. Advisors have the flexibility to customize each tour — all with the promise of genuine, local experts at their disposal.

Sky Vacations offers the Reel to Real Life Bridgerton tour. The seven-day package includes several private tours of filming sites from “Bridgerton,” like the Bath Assembly Rooms and Ranger’s House property, as well as several other thematically relevant activities. In addition to visiting museums and other various historical sites, the package includes a trip to Lacock, a charming medieval market village that appeared in “Downton Abbey,” “Pride & Prejudice,” and “Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince.”

The package also offers an optional Highclere Castle day tour — a must-see landmark for fans of “Downton Abbey”. As of writing, there is no separate “Downton Abbey” tour, but Krieger told TMR that something is in the works to coincide with the new movie, set to release in September 2025.

It’s not all period romance: Sky Vacations also offers Tale of Two Irish Capitals tour, a six-day package that includes a trip to a “Game of Thrones” filming location, as well as the castle used for “Braveheart.” Guests also enjoy other historic sites in Ireland, including botanic gardens, a distillery, and a walking tour of Dublin. According to Krieger, this tour has done particularly well in attracting millennial travelers.

The Land That Inspired Outlander (& more): Avanti Destinations

Outlander tour, TV show, Scotland castle ruins
Photo: Avanti Destinations

Avanti Destinations has several tour and vacation packages inspired by popular TV shows like “Outlander,” “Game of Thrones,” “Bridgerton,” and “Downton Abbey.”

“Outlander” fans can choose between two day tours and an eight-day vacation package. “We offer both shared and private tours. Sometimes it is more fun to join a shared tour, since fans can connect with each other and enjoy the experience together,” said Gina Bang, chief sales & marketing officer at Avanti Destinations.

The Shared Tour – Outlander Adventure tour starts in Edinburgh and features visits to several filming sites for the hit series, including to Midhope Castle, used for Jaime’s home Lallybroch, and Doune Castle, the filming location for the show’s fictional Castle Leoch.

In Glasgow, guests can embark on Avanti’s Private Tour – Outlander Adventure, which takes up to three guests on a journey through the Scottish countryside, seeing various castles and other heritage sites used as filming locations for “Outlander.”

Finally, “The Land That Inspired Outlander” is an eight-day vacation package that explores the history and landscape that inspired Diana Gabaldon’s beloved book series and TV show.

The company’s most popular TV-themed offerings are for “Game of Thrones,” like its Game of Thrones Tour: Venture to the Land, offered as part of the seven-day Intriguing Iceland vacation package.

“‘Game of Thrones’ fans have a wealth of options to choose from when it comes to visiting filming locations from Iceland to Croatia,” Bang told TMR.

  
  
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