17 Movies That Allow You to Travel the World Without Leaving Your Couch

We do not always have the opportunity to travel to the places we dream of seeing. Luckily, there are movies that help us escape reality for a moment and explore the world without leaving our home. In these films, the cities and landscapes are the real stars, and they promise to inspire you to plan your next vacation.

From Mexico to Australia and Buenos Aires to Tokyo, Bright Side gathered 17 movies that’ll help you take off without leaving your chair. For those of you with streaming subscriptions, we added the direct links to the platform, so don’t forget to sign in and go directly to the movie!

1. Babel (2006)

This film by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu is set in 4 different places in the world: Morocco, Mexico, the United States, and Japan. After an unfortunate accident, the lives of 4 families living on 3 different continents are altered: 2 Moroccan brothers, a couple of American tourists, a young Japanese woman and her father, and a Mexican nanny with the children that she’s in charge of.

You can see it here.

2. Into the Wild (2007)

Into the Wild is an adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s best-seller based on real-life events. Set in the early 1990s, the film recounts the life of an idealistic young man who decides to donate all his assets and abandon his civilized life to begin a journey through Alaska to connect with nature and discover his true self.

You can see it here.

3. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Although Walter Mitty works in the photography section of Life magazine, he leads a rather boring life. He usually escapes by imagining that he is the protagonist of great adventures. One day, his dream comes true when a woman engages him in a dangerous adventure, in which he will have to travel through Greenland, Iceland, New York, Afghanistan, and Los Angeles.

You can see it here.

4. Midnight in Paris (2011)

An American writer arrives with his fiancée in Paris. That night, while he wanders through the streets, he falls under the effects of a spell and is transported back to the 1920s. This wonderful film by Woody Allen takes us to the Paris of the early twentieth century, its streets, its cafes, and its most relevant figures. The perfect film to fall in love with all corners of the French capital.

You can see it here.

5. Y tu mamá también (And Your Mom Too) (2001)

Julio and Tenoch are 2 teenage friends who decide to go on a journey together when their girlfriends leave for Italy. At a party they meet Luisa, a Spanish woman who is married to Tenoch’s cousin and who is bored with her life, decides to accompany the boys. During this trip the boys will explore love and their entrance to adult life, through impressive Mexican landscapes.

You can see it here.

6. Eat Pray Love (2010)

It’s impossible to leave out this film where Julia Roberts plays a recent divorcee who sets out on a trip to Italy to eat, to India to pray, and finally to Bali, where she will come to believe in love again. The film is based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s autobiographical best-seller.

You can see it here.

7. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

3 brothers who reunite after the death of their father embark on a journey through India aboard the Darjeeling Limited train that travels the country from end to end. When their arguments and fights get worse, they are forced to leave the train and must start a journey that wasn’t in their plans. Yet another Wes Anderson movie that demonstrates the director has a flawless eye for photography.

You can see it here.

8. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

In this film, we see “Che” Guevara when he was still a medical student touring South America on a motorcycle with his friend Alberto Granado. Together they leave Buenos Aires behind to undertake a journey in which they seek to know and understand the cultural and social diversity of the continent. The contrast between the imposing and beautiful landscapes and the rustic way of life of its inhabitants stands out.

You can see it here.

9. Lost in Translation (2003)

Insomnia and culture shock will enable a missing actor and a boring girl meet at a luxurious Tokyo hotel. Together, they will explore a city that is full of life, but at the same time immensely anonymous and lonely for the protagonist duo. 2 strangers in a strange city is the best cocktail to discover this fantastic Japanese city.

You can see it here.

10. The Beach (2000)

Our beloved Leonardo DiCaprio embarks on an adventure as a backpacker heading for Thailand. There he meets a man who tells him a story about a virgin beach that has never been visited by tourists. The duo travels there in search of a heavenly place. But the beach hides dark secrets.

Sadly, the Maya Bay beach, where the film was shot, had to be closed in early 2019 to avoid damage from excessive tourism.

You can see it here.

11. Australia (2008)

Shortly before World War II, an English aristocrat travels to Australia to receive an inherited ranch. There she will meet her rough but attractive ranch guide and, of course, they will start a love/hate story. Together they will tour spectacular landscapes throughout the country seeking to save the ranch’s livestock.

You can see it here.

12. Eurotrip (2004)

A group of high school friends decides to travel from the United States to Europe to meet a German girl that one of them cyber chats with. Together they will embark on a fun and crazy adventure through Europe en route to Berlin. The film was shot in the Czech Republic, Germany, England, and Vatican City.

You can see it here.

13. The Way (2010)

After learning about the death of his son in a storm in the Pyrenees, a widowed man from California travels to France. Once there, he discovers that his son was taking the Camino de Santiago and decides to finish it in his memory. Martin Sheen and his grandson, Emilio Estévez’s son, performed the Camino de Santiago together in 2003. Their trip gave birth to the idea of making a film about the route—the film his directed by Emilio Estévez and stars his father.

You can see it here.

14. The Straight Story (1999)

When an Iowa elder with various health problems learns that his brother had a heart attack, he decides to visit him in Wisconsin. He has to travel 500 km (310 mi), and the only means of transportation available is a lawn tractor.

You can see it here.

15. Roman Holiday (1953)

Rome becomes the protagonist of this film in which a princess wants to escape from her obligations and a journalist, pretending not to recognize her, offers himself as her guide through the city. Onboard a Vespa they cross the Colosseum, the Piazza de Spagna, the Trevi Fountain, and the Piazza Venezia, all the while, love mounts between them.

You can see it here.

16. ¡Mamma Mia! (2008)

The talented Meryl Streep plays a very unconventional hotelier in Greece who never wanted to reveal her father’s identity to her daughter. Now that she is about to get married, she has invited 3 of her mother’s ex-lovers to her wedding because she believes that one of them could be her father. The Greek islands as a stage and Abba as a soundtrack, what could go wrong?

You can watch it here.

17. The Before trilogy

We left these 3 films starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke for last. In the first movie, Before Sunrise, the couple meets on a train and they spend a night together in Vienna. As they walk through its streets, they reflect on life, death, and love. In Before Sunset, the couple meets again 9 years later, but this time in Paris. They decide to spend the day together touring the Parisian parks and cafes. Another 9 years later, their lives cross again in Before Midnight, but this time in Greece, south of the Peloponnese region.

You can see it here.

Do you know any other movie that shows you various places in the world in detail? Which of these sites in the world would you like to visit?