12 Abandoned Movie Sets You Can Visit – Hollywood Left, But You Can Stay
All recommendations on World Wild Schooling are independently selected by our editors. We may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through our links.
Have you ever wondered what happens to cinemas’ most recognizable movie sets when the cameras stop recording? Are you a movie buff who enjoys hunting down filming locations? Looking for somewhere new to explore? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, you’ve landed in the perfect place.
While many real-life movie sets go on to become famous tourist attractions, such as Privet Drive from Harry Potter and Fort Lovrijenac from Game of Thrones, others fall into disrepair and ruin. This is a shame, but it doesn’t mean we can’t still explore some of films’ most iconic sets. To learn more, here are 12 abandoned movie sets you can visit.
Danvers State Hospital, Massachusetts, United States – Session 9
Let’s kickstart this list with one of the world’s creepiest abandoned movie sets. One quick glance at the abandoned Danvers State Hospital, and you’ll understand why the former psychiatric hospital was used to film Session 9. For those who don’t know, Session 9 is a 2001 American psychological movie set in an abandoned sanitarium.
While cleaning the sanitarium, the main character, Gordon Fleming, and his crew members start to discover mysterious objects in the hospital. As you can probably imagine, things only go from bad to worse for the characters. Unfortunately, many of Danvers State Hospital’s buildings were destroyed, but the iconic facade still stands, for now, so make sure you visit the location while you still can.
Read also: Iconic Movie Locations in the US
Tatooine in Tozeur, Tunisia – Star Wars
Unfortunately, visiting another planet isn’t possible right now, although billionaires like Elon Musk and Richard Branson are getting us closer. Therefore, for now, we’ll have to settle for a trip to Tatooine, a fictional world from the Star Wars Saga. It may be surprising to some, but Tatooine wasn’t created in a movie studio.
Instead, the set was constructed in various locations in Tunisia, primarily around the city of Tozeur. Conveniently for Star Wars fans, many of the movie sets were abandoned once filming had finished. Today, visiting the remains of Tatooine and other iconic locations featured in the movies is possible. Must-visit locations include Naftah, Chott el-Djerid, and Sidi Bouhlel.
Read also: Hot Beach Destinations in the World
Pearl Champagne Lounge, Florida, United States – 2 Fast 2 Furious
If you’re ever in Miami Beach, Florida, and love the Fast and Furious movies, make sure you visit the Pearl Champagne Lounge. Scenes from the franchises’ 2003 action flick 2 Fast 2 Furious, starring Tyrese Gibson and Paul Walker, were filmed at this once popular bar and nightclub.
The Pearl Champagne Lounge, located at 1 Ocean Dr, Miami Beach, FL 33139, was the setting for scenes featuring Eva Mendes and the late Paul Walker in the movie. Sadly, the Pearl Champagne Lounge has closed since the Fast and Furious movie was filmed there, and fans are restricted from going inside. However, you can still see the bar and nightclub from outside.
Read also: Iconic Movie Locations in the US
Wallilabou Anchorage, St. Vincent, Caribbean – Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the best movie franchises ever, thanks to Johnny Depp’s iconic portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow. Despite the first film being released over twenty years ago, the series is still hugely popular worldwide. Much of the film’s action was shot in the Caribbean, where remnants of the iconic franchise can still be found.
One of the best places to visit if you love Pirates of the Caribbean is Wallilabou Anchorage, a restaurant and hotel in St. Vincent. For filming the Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), a movie set was built around Wallilabou Anchorage. While the Wallilabou Anchorage wasn’t abandoned, the set was. Today, you can still find pirate costumes, props, and photographs on the set, which Wallilabou Anchorage has strived to preserve.
Read also: Weekend Getaways in the Caribbean
Sad Hill Cemetery, Contreras, Spain – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Sad Hill Cemetery might be one of the eeriest abandoned movie sets in the world. At first glance, It looks like any other cemetery. However, it turns out the cemetery isn’t real. Instead, it is a former filming location for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, released in 1968.
The set, situated in northern Spain, was designed by Carlo Simi in 1966. Interestingly, he enlisted the help of the Spanish Army to build it. Sad Hill Cemetery appears in the film in the last sequence. Despite being abandoned, the set still attracts many visitors and even film crews, who have used it to film various documentaries, such as the Sad Hill Unearthed documentary.
Read also: Places in Spain Overwhelmed by Overtourism
Popeye Village, Anchor Bay, Malta – Popeye
The next movie set on our list is an exciting addition because it could be argued it isn’t abandoned. However, it makes our list because the film crews who shot the 1980 musical Popeye, directed by Robert Altman and starring Robin Williams, left it standing with no intention of returning. For those who don’t know, Popeye is a fictional character who possesses superhuman strength after eating spinach.
To film Popeye, a 165-strong film crew constructed Popeye Village in a seafront location in Anchor Bay, Malta. Once filming had finished, the set was abandoned. However, it was then converted into a theme park. Today, you can visit the theme park to explore the set and meet Popeye himself.
Read also: The World’s Iconic Movie Locations
Hobbiton, Waikato, New Zealand – Lord of the Rings
Save this
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later.
Fans of the Lord of the Rings will likely already know all about Hobbiton. If you don’t, can you really call yourself a fan? When looking for the perfect place to film Lord of the Rings, Sir Peter Jackson’s team stumbled upon a stunning location tucked away in the rolling hills of Waikato, New Zealand.
As such, they quickly transformed the lush area into the fictional town of Hobbiton in the Shire. Hobbit homes were built into the hills, which were used in both trilogies. When production was over, the set was left hidden away in the New Zealand landscape. However, today, movie buffs can explore the Hobbiton movie set and step inside the homes of the film’s favorite Hobbits.
Read also: Scenic Hikes in Europe
Gas Station, Ouarzazate, Morocco – The Hills Have Eyes
One for horror film fans, there’s something spectacularly eerie and spooky about this abandoned gas station near the city of Ouarzazate in Morocco, North Africa, and it’s not just that the horror classic The Hills Have Eyes was filmed there. Even for those who haven’t watched the movie, the gas station is a chilling sight.
To make matters worse, this American-style gas station, surrounded by a vast desert, is occasionally mistaken by people for an actual gas station. Imagine stopping for gas at night to discover the station is abandoned. Sounds terrifying, right? This gas station set was purpose-built for the movie and even features stocked shelves, dust-covered furniture, and abandoned cars.
Read also: Lakeside Towns in Europe
Field of Dreams, Dyersville, Iowa, United States – Field of Dreams
Field of Dreams is a 1989 American sports fantasy drama film starring Kevin Costner. In it, Costner plays a baseball fan and farmer who builds a baseball field in his backyard. Despite baseball being incredibly popular across the United States, an existing sports field wasn’t used to film the movie.
Instead, Universal Pictures built a baseball field set for the film across two farms in Dyersville, Iowa. Once the filming wrapped up, the baseball field was left behind. However, to ensure the land didn’t reclaim the field, the farm owners decided to keep the field intact. As a result, movie buffs can still visit the Field of Dreams today. Visitors can tour the movie set and buy souvenirs from the gift shop.
Medieval Village, Augsburg, Germany – Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
The next abandoned movie set on our list is a mystery because many people debate where it’s located. However, this medieval village set from the Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters movie, starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton, is situated in woods near Augsburg, Germany, approximately an hour from Munich.
This hard-to-find abandoned movie set was once used to film the village scenes in the movie. As such, it features many things you would expect to find in a medieval village, including old timber houses, a well, trade stalls, and a pub. The fake town square is a sight to behold. If it wasn’t so run down, it looks like quite a nice place to live. Let’s just hope the witches are gone.
Read also: Haunted Roads in the US
Liban Quarry, Krakow, Poland – Schindler’s List
Perhaps the most hard-hitting abandoned movie set on this list is Liban Quarry, where all the scenes in the Płaszów Concentration Camp were filmed for Steven Spielberg’s 1993 movie Schindler’s List. Although Plaszow Concentration Camp is a real place, Spielberg didn’t want to use it out of respect.
Although Liban Quarry itself was used as a cruel labor camp by the Germans during WWII, 34 replica barracks and watchtowers were set up around the quarry during filming. While most of the set was removed or has since degraded, there are still ruins and traces of the movie in the quarry. Visitors who want to learn more about the quarry or see the movie set can do so on a tour.
Read also: Most Haunted Places in Europe
Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, United States – 12 Monkeys
The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, United States, is another abandoned movie set. When the directors of 12 Monkeys, starring Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis, were looking for a post-apocalyptic location to film their movie, the Eastern State Penitentiary fitted the bill perfectly.
This creepy former prison once housed Al Capone, a world-famous American gangster, so it’s fair to say it made an excellent filming location. Unsurprisingly, the Eastern State Penitentiary, which closed in 1971, is also considered one of the world’s most haunted buildings. Today, movie buffs can visit the film’s best-known filming spots on a building tour while listening to an audio guide narrated by Steve Buscemi.
Read also: Most Haunted Places in the US
