Blessed with photogenic good looks and no shortage of main character energy, Britain has become a first-choice filming location for everything from cortisol-spiking spy thrillers to plush period pieces. According to data from Social Films, 220 feature films were made in Britain in 2022, and films shot here have won more Oscars than any other country other than the U.S.. It’s easy for travelers to get in on the action, as many of the most popular filming locations are within easy reach of London, making for picture-perfect day trips from the British capital.

Oxfordshire

Famed for its quintessential English countryside charm and ancient collegiate city, the county of Oxfordshire sits less than 60 miles northwest of London, making it a no-brainer for film fans. The county’s only city, Oxford, is about an hour from London’s Paddington Station by train and feels like the set of a moody, dark academia film with aristocratic architecture lifted from antiquity, shadowy lanes, and bookish students flitting off to tutorials. With such moody allure, it’s no surprise that the charming city has plenty of on-screen credits, including “Saltburn,” which was filmed in Radcliffe Square — with its pebble-paved streets and iconic domed library — as well as in front of the Divinity School, the oldest building in the university built for teaching, dating back to the 1420s. (The building was also used in the “Harry Potter” films as the infirmary and ballroom.) Open for visitors, Brasenose College, one of the 36 colleges that make up Oxford University, was used in “Saltburn” as well, as the main characters’ college. It’s been reported that filming even took place in actual dorm rooms, “lent” to production by real-life pupils.

The recent “Wonka” movie was also filmed in Oxford, using backdrops like Hertford Bridge, better known as the Bridge of Sighs because it resembles the famed bridge in Venice. During filming, Timothée Chalamet, who plays the top-hatted young chocolatier, was reputedly staying at the stylish new country hotel, Estelle Manor, located about a half-hour’s drive away in the rolling Oxfordshire hills. 

Another wildly popular filming location, the magnificent Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, is also about a half hour away from Oxford. Over 300 years old with a wooded estate stretching over 12,000 acres, this UNESCO World Heritage Site has hosted film crews from “Harry Potter” — check out the ancient, gnarled Cedar of Lebanon tree, to the left of the Grand Bridge, used in Professor Snape’s childhood flashbacks — as well as “Spectre” in the “James Bond” series; “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation;” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny;” and most recently, “Napoleon.” (Director Sir Ridley Scott was on location for the epic film for nearly a month.) The locations and filming backstories for all the big hits at Blenheim are handily marked on the self-guided Lights, Camera, Action! Trail, which can be followed via a QR-code map. 

Birmingham

Located about two hours by train from London’s Euston station, the United Kingdom’s second biggest city and the country’s one-time industrial and manufacturing hub, Birmingham has become synonymous with the Peaky Blinders television show, soon to be a major motion picture in 2025. 

According to the West Midlands Growth Company, Birmingham’s visitor numbers have grown by over a quarter since Peaky Blinders first aired in 2013. For fans of the show, which was inspired by a real 1920s street gang in Birmingham, the open-air Black Country Museum in Dudley — a “living” museum using unscripted live actors — is a must. Spanning over 26 acres and including over 100,000 original objects sourced from the community, historic buildings, and restored automobiles, the museum tells the story of the so-called Black Country (the sooty site of Birmingham’s iron foundries that rose to significance during the Industrial Revolution) from 1700 through 1968.

For historical accuracy, all six seasons of Peaky Blinders were partially filmed on-site, using museum locations like the canal-flanked scrap metal yard, the Blacksmith’s building, Canal Street bridge, and St. James’s church school. “It helped us get on the map,” Claire Packer, the museum’s Head of Audiences & Communications, told Travel + Leisure. “We started reaching people we otherwise may not have reached.”

Die-hard fans might also like to check out the hip-and-gritty neighborhood of Digbeth in Birmingham, which runs along the Fazeley Canal. A one-time hub for warehouses and factories now covered with vibrant street art, the area — in particular Fazeley Street — is the soon-to-be-home of the new Peaky Blinders film studio, fashioned by Peaky Blinders creator (and Birmingham local) Steven Knight, who wants to bring the area back to life. 

Bath

The elegant, refined Georgian city of Bath, an hour train ride from Paddington, is essentially one big romantic backdrop for the Regency-era-drama Bridgerton. With season three having just premiered, key on-screen sites include The Holburne Museum, a fine art gallery used as Lady Danbury’s mansion, and No. 1 Royal Crescent, used as the exterior for the Featherington family home. The real-life property is a townhouse museum and is missing the lion statues and other decorative flourishes, but it’s still undeniably photogenic. Used as a stomping ground for many characters in street scenes as well as a proxy for London’s Covent Garden, Bath’s picture-perfect city square Abbey Green — with a 200-year-old London plane tree at its center and Abbey Deli (The Modiste Shop onscreen) — is another recognizable spot. 

While most of the filming was done at a soundstage in Ascot, Bath is still rich with history, where fiction and nonfiction meet. For example, A.H. Hale pharmacy on Argyle Street is where Queen Charlotte — the only real character in the Bridgerton series — would have her prescriptions filled, and you can still see her royal crest of arms on top of the shop.