If you like going to the cinema and enjoy your films then combining a holiday with a trip to a famous film location may be the ideal way to spend some time on vacation.

We’re not talking about a trip up the Towering Inferno, now a hotel in San Francisco, or reliving the fight scene from the James Bond film “A View To A Kill” when Sir Roger Moore and Grace Jones came together on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but perhaps a visit to a warm, sun-blessed location to experience the best of both worlds.

Cartoon fans may remember the original versions of Popeye, but there were also real life film versions made of the little strong man’s antics and adventures. The north west corner of Malta is home to Sweethaven village, a location also known as Popeye village after it was used as a film set in the 1980 film of the same name starring Robin Williams. The film makers built an authentic village of ramshackle wooden buildings, some on stilts at the water’s edge. The small village remains today and is now a fun park for children featuring shows, rides, a museum as well as the interesting set. As well as being a popular summertime resort, the village also comes to life at Christmas time when it becomes Santa’s Toy Town for a few days, making it the largest children’s Christmas attraction on Malta. The authenticity of the village is quite remarkable and even for adults it makes a very worthwhile place to spend a few hours exploring.

Many tourists travelling to the Greek Islands will already know that some of the film version of the hit musical Mama Mia was filmed in Skiathos. The film crew and stars such as Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth arrived in the harbour area of the island and set up to spend a few days filming a scene where the stars arrived by car to just miss the departure of ferry leaving the jetty. The town does make play on the excitement that came to town back in August 2007 and if you visit you’ll find plenty of locals prepared to relate what went on. Of course this is a pleasant summer resort anyway, as is the rest of the island, but the Mama Mia legacy is not really enough of a reason to go there. In fact it does the place a little disservice in attracting bigger crowds than would usually go there.

For science fiction fans the Star Wars films were important landmarks, using new techniques and introducing new twists in story lines to the established genre. The films were amongst the first to use new, improved computer-generated images but that didn’t preclude the use of some real life locations. The Tunisian island of Djerba and its capital Houmt Souk are very attractive places to visit, even more so if you are a fan of the Star Wars films though. There a several spots that fans may recognise during one of the many desert safaris that are on offer. The village of Matmata was a location in the original Star Wars film as Luke Skywalker’s home and the set at Onc El Jmel will also look familiar as the scene where Quin-ion and Darth Maul did battle. It was also used as a location in the film The English Patient. The Ribat Monastery was a feature in Monty Python’s Life of Brian and was also used in Jesus of Nazareth.

In Tenerife the Clash of the Titans was being remade during 2009, mainly in the late summer. The original film, made in 1981 at Pinewood Studios, is receiving a fresh remake for release in 2010 and stars Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Gemma Arterton. The story of Perseus and his challenges in rescuing the Princess Andromeda was filmed in various locations including the Mount Teide National Park and Gu

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