There are countless movies filmed in Europe, but this list encapsulates wanderlust for the countries across the pond. Movies that paint a picture of the cities and towns of Europe. Films that make you want to buy a plane ticket and fly across the Atlantic. I leave for Europe in just short of two weeks so I hope this list inspires you as much as is does me! Descriptions from IMDB. List is in no particular order.
1. Vicky Cristina Barcelona – Spain
Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the
same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous
relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.
2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – Venice
When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. suddenly goes missing while pursuing the
Holy Grail, eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones must follow in his
father’s footsteps and stop the Nazis.
3. The Sound of Music – Austria
A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to the
children of a Naval officer widower.
4. Eat Pray Love – Italy
A married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is,
and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful
divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to “find herself”.
5. Bottle Shock – France
The story of the early days of California wine making featuring the now
infamous, blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has come to be known
as “Judgment of Paris”.
6. Leap Year – Ireland
Anna Brady plans to travel to Dublin, Ireland to propose marriage to
her boyfriend Jeremy on Leap Day, because, according to Irish tradition,
a man who receives a marriage proposal on a leap day must accept it.
7. P.S. I Love You – Ireland
A young widow discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages
intended to help ease her pain and start a new life.
8. Letters to Juliet – Italy
Sophie dreams of becoming a writer and travels to Verona, Italy where
she meets the “Secretaries of Juliet”.
9. Monte Carlo – France
Three young women vacationing in Paris find themselves whisked
away to Monte Carlo after one of the girls is mistaken for a British heiress.
10. My Life in Ruins – Greece
A travel guide rediscovers her romantic side on a trip around Greece.
11. When in Rome – Italy
Beth is a young, ambitious New Yorker who is completely unlucky in love.
However, on a whirlwind trip to Rome, she impulsively steals some coins
from a reputed fountain of love, and is then aggressively pursued by
a band of suitors.
12. National Lampoon’s European Vacation – England, France, and Italy
The Griswolds win a vacation tour across Europe where the usual havoc ensues.
13. Copenhagen – Denmark
While trying to track down his grandfather in Denmark, a surly
Canadian strikes up a friendship with a teenage waitress who agrees
to serve as his translator and guide.
14. Chocolat – France
A woman and her daughter open a chocolate shop in a small French
village that shakes up the rigid morality of the community.
15. A Good Year – France
A British investment broker inherits his uncle’s chateau and vineyard
in Provence, where he spent much of his childhood. He discovers a new
laid-back lifestyle as he tries to renovate the estate to be sold.
16. Julie & Julia – France
Julia Child’s story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined
with blogger Julie Powell’s 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in
Child’s first book.
17. Ratatouille – France
A rat who can cook makes an unusual alliance with a young kitchen
worker at a famous restaurant.
18. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 – Greece
Following freshman year at college, best friends find it increasingly
difficult to stay in touch. As their lives take different paths, it may take
more than a shared pair of well-worn blue jeans to keep their bonds
from completely unraveling.
19. The Tourist – Italy
Frank, an American tourist visiting Italy to mend a broken heart.
Elise is an extraordinary woman who deliberately crosses his path.
20. To Rome with Love – Italy
The lives of some visitors and residents of Rome and the romances,
adventures and predicaments they get into.
21. Tuesday it Must Be Belgium – England, Belgium, Italy,
Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands
A tour guide taking a busload of American tourists across Europe.
The group of travelers includes a World War II veteran, a wife and her
cynical husband, young lovers, an Italian-American meeting his relatives
for the first time, and Samantha Perkins, the beautiful but old-fashioned
department store buyer traveling on her own.
22. Summertime – Italy
A lonely American woman unexpectedly finds romance in Venice, Italy.
23. Roman Holiday – Italy
A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love
with an American newsman in Rome.
24. Under the Tuscan Sun – France
A writer impulsively buys a villa in Tuscany in order to change her life.
25. French Kiss – French
A woman flies to France to confront her straying fiancé, but gets
into trouble when the charming crook seated next to her uses
her for smuggling.
26. The Talented Mr. Ripley – Italy
In late 1950s New York, Tom Ripley, a young underachiever, is sent to Italy
to retrieve a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, named Dickie Greenleaf.
27. Midnight in Paris – France
While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée’s family, a nostalgic screenwriter
finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.
Lovely list. One detail missing: “Under the Tuscan Sun” was set in Cortona and Positano, not France.