The Glenfinnan Viaduct, as seen in the Harry Potter films. Picture: VisitScotland
Scotland has been voted the world’s best cinematic destination in an online poll run by one of America’s biggest newspapers.
The vote in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice awards, saw the country beat Petra in Jordan (as seen in the climactic scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and New Zealand (which features in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies) into second and third place respectively.
Scotland has featured in a number of high-profile movies in recent years, including the Harry Potter series (2001 to 2011); Skyfall, Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises (all 2012); World War Z (2013); and the upcoming films Macbeth, starring Michael Fassbender, and Victor Frankenstein, starring James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe.
Scotland also plays a starring role in the hit US television series Outlander, which is now being shown in the UK on Amazon Prime.
Set-jetting, where people visit their favourite filming locations, is hugely popular in Scotland and the local tourist board offers a dedicated site for visitors to download maps and itineraries at www.visitscotland.com/about/arts-culture/films/locations.
