20 Famous Movie Scene Locations That You Can Actually Visit

18/20

Midnight Express – Istanbul, Turkey

It’s the stuff of traveler’s nightmares: ending up in prison in a foreign land with no clue of when you might ever be freed. And in this case, it just happens to be a true story. American student Billy Hayes was traveling in Turkey when he got caught trying to smuggle hashish across the border. He later wrote a book, which was turned into a movie.

While the chilling prison scenes were filmed at Fort St. Elmo in Malta after the shooting was denied in Turkey, the movie utilized beautiful shots of Istanbul, with the Bosphorus, Blue Mosque, and Aya Sofia featuring prominently.

• 

• 

If you are heading to Turkey and actually do want to stay in an ex-prison, the fabulous Four Seasons Istanbul was once the notorious Sultanahmet Jail and is located a stone’s throw away from the city’s most famous sites. According to the hotel’s website, the original wooden doors and arched hallways were preserved, and some of the marble pillars have carvings by the ex-inmate. Spooky.