California film & TV locations

Why California works as a film location itinerary

Structuring a California trip around film and television locations is a more effective approach than it might sound. The locations are often in the most interesting parts of cities — not the tourist centres, but the neighbourhoods where the real character lives. Following them takes you to places you would not otherwise find.

It also gives a trip structure and purpose that pure sightseeing lacks. Arriving somewhere knowing its screen history adds a layer of meaning to the experience — and the recognition, when you stand in a place you have seen a hundred times on screen, is genuinely satisfying.

We can build an itinerary around your specific interests — tell us which films and shows matter most to you and we will design the trip around them.

Los Angeles

Griffith Observatory

The Art Deco observatory on the south slope of Mount Hollywood has appeared in more films than almost any building in Los Angeles. James Dean's iconic knife fight in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) was filmed here. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone danced on the roof in La La Land (2016). The Terminator (1984) opens with a time-travel arrival near the observatory.

It is also one of the finest free experiences in Los Angeles — the views across the city basin at sunset are extraordinary, and the building itself is beautiful. The screen history is a bonus rather than the reason to go, but it adds something.

Venice Beach

The boardwalk, Muscle Beach and the canals of Venice have appeared in countless productions. White Men Can't Jump (1992) was filmed extensively on the courts. The original Baywatch filmed beach scenes here for years. The canals — less well known than the boardwalk — appeared in Orson Welles' Touch of Evil (1958) and have been used in music videos and commercials ever since.

The Bradbury Building

The interior of this 1893 downtown Los Angeles office building — five floors of ornate ironwork balconies around a central atrium, lit by a vast glass skylight — is one of the most filmed interiors in the world. Blade Runner (1982) used it as J.F. Sebastian's apartment building. 500 Days of Summer (2009) used it throughout. It is open to the public during business hours and entry is free.

Mulholland Drive

The road that runs along the spine of the Santa Monica Mountains, giving views of both the LA basin and the San Fernando Valley, is perhaps most famous as the title and setting of David Lynch's 2001 film. It is also the road the Joker drives in the 1989 Batman, and appears in dozens of other productions. Worth driving regardless of the screen history — the views are extraordinary.

Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive

The Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard is where Richard Gere's character stays in Pretty Woman (1990) — the exterior and lobby are recognisable immediately. Rodeo Drive itself features in the same film, and in Beverly Hills Cop (1984) and its sequels. The residential streets of Bel Air appeared in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for ten years.

Santa Monica Pier

The pier at the end of Route 66 — the traditional end of the historic highway — has appeared in Forrest Gump (1994), Iron Man (2008) and numerous other productions. The carousel at the end of the pier appeared in The Sting (1973). Worth visiting regardless — the pier itself is a California classic.

Orange County

Newport Beach — Arrested Development

The Bluth family's world in Arrested Development (2003-2019) is firmly rooted in Newport Beach. The banana stand was at Balboa Island. The model home neighbourhood was filmed in Harbour Pointe. Newport's harbour, the Balboa Ferry and the peninsula are all recognisable throughout the series. For fans of the show, exploring Newport Beach is a genuinely satisfying pilgrimage.

Laguna Beach — The OC

The OC (2003-2007) was set in Newport Beach but filmed extensively in and around Laguna Beach, which provided the dramatic coastal scenery the show required. The cliffs, the coves and the winding roads above the ocean that appeared in the opening credits are Laguna. For the generation that grew up watching The OC, visiting Laguna Beach carries a particular emotional charge.

San Diego

Top Gun — MCAS Miramar

Top Gun (1986) was filmed primarily at what was then Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego. The bar scene — "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" — was filmed at Kansas City Barbecue on West Market Street, which still operates and still has Top Gun memorabilia on the walls. The beach volleyball scene was filmed at Mission Beach.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) returned to San Diego for much of its production. The Hotel del Coronado — the Victorian resort on Coronado Island that appears in Some Like It Hot (1959) among many others — is a short drive from downtown San Diego and worth visiting for its own extraordinary architecture.

San Francisco

Vertigo locations

Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) is one of the great San Francisco films, and many of its locations survive unchanged. The Mission Dolores church appears in the film; the Palace of the Legion of Honor is where Kim Novak stares at the portrait of Carlotta Valdes; Fort Point, under the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge, is where she jumps into the bay. A Vertigo location walk through San Francisco is one of the more rewarding things a film enthusiast can do in California.

Bullitt — the chase

Steve McQueen's 1968 film contains arguably the greatest car chase in cinema history, filmed entirely on San Francisco's streets. The chase runs through several neighbourhoods and down to the freeway south of the city. The cars — a Highland Green Ford Mustang GT390 and a black Dodge Charger R/T — are as famous as any actor in the film.

Alcatraz — The Rock

The 1996 action film starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage used Alcatraz Island extensively, though some interior scenes were filmed on sets. Visiting the real island after seeing the film gives a useful sense of the actual scale and layout of the facility — it is smaller and more claustrophobic in person than on screen.

Big Sur and the Central Coast

Big Sur — various

The Big Sur coastline has served as backdrop for films ranging from East of Eden (1955) — filmed partly at the Salinas Valley south of Big Sur — to The Big Lebowski (1998), which opens with the Dude buying milk at a Ralph's in Los Angeles before the coastline appears. Nepenthe restaurant at Big Sur has been a gathering point for artists and filmmakers since Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth had a house nearby in the 1940s.

Hearst Castle — Citizen Kane

Hearst Castle at San Simeon was the direct inspiration for Xanadu in Citizen Kane (1941) — Orson Welles based his fictional media mogul Charles Foster Kane on William Randolph Hearst, and the castle's excess and grandeur translate directly into the film. Visiting the castle after watching Citizen Kane — or vice versa — adds a significant layer to both experiences.

How we can help

This guide covers a fraction of California's film and television history — there are dozens of significant locations for almost every major film made between 1910 and the present day.

If you have specific films or shows in mind, tell us. We can build an itinerary that threads the locations you care about into a coherent trip — combining them with the beaches, the drives and the restaurants that make California worth visiting regardless of what has been filmed there.