You’d have to be hiding inside a cramped and – likely smelly – wooden horse to have missed all the buzz surrounding Christopher Nolan’s latest film, The Odyssey. Yep, Homer’s epic poem has officially been adapted for the big screen again (with many scrambling to experience it exactly as Nolan intended) and its jaw-dropping filming locations have us feeling all kinds of wanderlust.
Good thing, then, that many of the film’s locations can be visited IRL – and even better, with Contiki. And given the current demand for IMAX tickets, you might end up seeing Troy, Ithaca and Circe’s house (body horror aside) before you make it to the cinema.
Here’s how to turn Nolan’s The Odyssey into your very own travel wish list.
Greece
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Look, Odysseus had a pretty intense ten-year journey home following the Trojan War. Between battling stormy seas (thanks, Poseidon) and encounters with the Cyclops (which Nolan filmed in Nestor’s Cave in Messinia), it wasn’t exactly a relaxing getaway.
We’ll save you the trouble with our Greek Island Hopping trip, complete with a stay at a dreamy resort, ferries to the major islands and a speedboat safari featuring snorkelling around a shipwreck and exploring underwater caves. No Cyclops encounter, we promise. Best of all? You’ll be home before your annual leave runs out. Odysseus could never.
Italy
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Favignana, just off the coast of Sicily, transforms into Ithaca in Nolan’s film. The Castello di Santa Caterina – a 15th-century mountaintop fortress – stands in as the home of Odysseus’ family: son Telemachus and wife Penelope, played by Tom Holland and Anne Hathaway respectively.
Hop aboard Contiki’s Real Sicily trip for a taste of the ancient world. Think ancient ruins, postcard-worthy coastlines and enough history to satisfy your inner classics nerd – all without any sirens trying to lure you off course.
Morocco
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Fancy a taste of Troy without spending several hours trapped inside a giant wooden horse? Head to Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, specifically Aït Benhaddou. Better yet, it’s included on Contiki’s Morocco to Casablanca trip. You’ll get to wander through its iconic clay architecture without having to worry about an aura-farming Agamemnon and his army showing up.
Or opt for Morocco Uncovered, which stops in Essaouira, where the dramatic coastline doubled as one of the film’s most striking locations, including scenes featuring the Trojan Horse half-embedded in the sand. History-core, if you will.
Scotland
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One of the film’s standout scenes – and definitely one of its creepiest – unfolds against the dramatic cliffs of the Scottish Highlands. Here, the landscape becomes Circe’s home: beautiful, unsettling and filled with more than a few things you’d rather not meet after dark.
Thankfully, on Contiki’s Scotland in a Week trip, the only mythical creature you might encounter is good old Nessie*.
*Sighting not guaranteed
Iceland
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Three hours east of Reykjavík, on a remote black sand beach near Hjörleifshöfði mountain, sits Hades. Or at least Nolan’s version of it.
Our recommendation? The Iceland Fire and Ice trip. You’ll still get your fix of dramatic black sand beaches, but you’ll also tick off camera-ready waterfalls, what might just be the world’s prettiest lagoon and authentic Icelandic cuisine at a traditional farm. All that, plus a guaranteed return ticket from Hades… sorry, Reykjavík.
Odysseus needed ten years to make it home. You only need two weeks to tick off these epic locations for yourself.
