Visit to Cheers, courtesy On Location Tours
Sometimes you can lose yourself in a destination the same way you would get wrapped up in a good movie. Whether it’s the allure of exploring a way of life foreign to your own, the joy of getting caught up in the storyline of the city or even just meeting interesting characters along the way, travel and film are becoming more interrelated for groups. Film-related tours display the directors’ perspectives of numerous movie locations across the country.
Tour companies in cities from San Francisco to Boston are rolling out the red carpet for groups of tourists looking to go behind the scenes of their favorite cities on a film-freckled adventure. Here are a few of our favorite film-related tours for group travel.
On Location Tours
Boston
The historic yet modern city of Boston has played host to tons of box office hits — “Field of Dreams,” “Good Will Hunting,” “The Departed” and “Legally Blonde,” to name a few — and the guided bus or walking tours with On Location Tours offer the perfect blend of history and cinematic fun for anyone looking for a unique Boston experience. Groups can take advantage of customized packages with step-on guides, combination city-tour tickets, group rates, and other features before following in the footsteps of their favorite television and movie characters and seeing more than 40 filming locations, among them sites used in “Ted,” “Fever Pitch,” “21,” “Ally McBeal” and “Cheers.”
On Location Tours offers groups two touring options to go behind the scenes of this city. The Boston TV and Movie Sites bus tour runs year-round and lasts approximately two and a half hours, bringing guests to more than 40 locations. The Boston Movie Mile walking tour runs from April to October and lasts about an hour and a half, showcasing more than 25 locations.
“Our tour guides are all locally trained Boston actors who give guests insider secrets to filming movies,” said Jenny Gomeringer, Boston marketing manager with On Location Tours. “Having grown up in Boston, my favorite aspect of the tour is that it shows you a completely different way to view the city. The park bench you sit on all the time in the Public Garden? That’s actually where Matt Damon sat to deliver his famous monologue in ‘Good Will Hunting.’ It’s so fun to start to uncover facts about movie magic.”
www.onlocationtours.com
Philadelphia Movie Sites Tour
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is heralded as the birthplace not only of America but also of some of the country’s greatest films. More than 100 major motion pictures have been shot in and around Philadelphia, from “Rocky” and “Transformers” to “The Sixth Sense” and “Marley and Me.”
The Philadelphia Movie Sites Tour is the official tour of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office and provides group tours in the company’s vehicle or on the group’s motorcoach. The company’s tour covers 30 movies in two and a half hours, and guests onboard get to see clips from their favorite movies as they drive by each filming location.
“We bring Hollywood right up to your window as the sites, scenes and secrets of moviemaking in Philadelphia unfold in front of you,” said Mark Beyerle, president for Specialty Tours Philadelphia, parent company for the Philadelphia Movie Sites Tour. “The tour will take you to the actual movie site and sprinkle in some great secrets and stories of the filming. It’s great fun to hear about what the stars did while in town filming, where they stayed, where they ate, continuity errors. We even offer guests their very own Rocky Run at the ‘Rocky’ steps.”
www.moviesitestour.com
