Planning the Perfect Oscars-Inspired Road Trip

Can’t wait for the Oscars? Want to see where your favorite movies were filmed? Then, it’s time for an Oscars-inspired road trip!

Start with one of this year’s Best Picture nominees, Manchester by the Sea, which stars Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams. The movie is about an uncle who is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies. It was filmed in this small New England town that is only 21 miles from Boston, Massachusetts.

On your visit stop at the harbor and visit Singing Beach, a public beach that apparently makes a sound when it’s dry. Head over to the Trask House Museum, a Manchester Historical Museum and support the independent bookstore Manchester By the Book. Scenes from the movie were filmed in Talbot Rink, located less than 15 minutes away in nearby Gloucester, as well as Rosedale Cemetery in Manchester.

Hell or High Water, which stars Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine, takes place in West Texas but was filmed in Eastern New Mexico in the cities of Portales and Tucumcari that served as beautiful backdrops. The film focuses on divorced father Toby (Chris Pine) and his ex-con brother Tanner who rob the Texas Midlands Bank.

READ MORE Travel to These Locations Where 2017’s Biggest Movies Were Filmed  

Take a ride to Atlanta, Georgia if Hidden Figures was one of your favorite films this season. Based on three mathematically brilliant African American women -- Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson - who served as the brains at NASA behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. Most of the scenes at Langley Research Center which is really based in Hampton, Virginia, were filmed at Atlanta’s Morehouse College and around Atlanta. 

If you want to get closer to the Hidden Figures action, head down to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, where you can learn more about where rockets launch.

One of the most talked about movies in the Oscar race this year is La La Land,  which stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. It’s a musical, which is not your standard Hollywood blockbuster action movie and it’s definitely brought the spotlight back to the popular old-time movies (The Artist, a black-and-white, spectacular silent film from 2011 did the same thing). La La Land centers around the dreams of Sebastian (Gosling) who wants to open a jazz club in Los Angeles, but it’s not going well. 

He meets Mia who is also struggling to make her dreams of being an actress come true. The flick filmed at Hermosa Beach and its iconic Lighthouse Café, where you can hear some great jazz artists. One of the most popular scenes in the movie takes place at the Griffith Observatory, where you can visit and stand exactly where Mia and Sebastian stood. Look through telescopes, explore exhibits, see live shows in the Samuel Oschin Planetarium, and enjoy spectacular views of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Sign.