There has never been a better time in recent history to spend your downtime lounging around watching movies. Good movies or even sometimes so bad they are good movies can transport us to another time and place and can us escape the mundane life of isolation most the world is currently experiencing.

Here are just a couple of movies that can transport you to places you explored before and to places on your bucket list:

1. Midnight in Paris

Being a Woody Allen film aside, Midnight in Paris is the perfect film for those obsessed with Paris, literature and the 1920s. Beautifully shot with a wonderful soundtrack it also makes you question how much your preconceived ideas of a place or time can warp how you see a holiday destination.

2. In Bruges

A little dark but also hilarious, In Bruges might not make everyone want to visit the beautiful medieval city but the film does a fantastic job of highlighting how gorgeous and moody the architecture of Bruges is.

3. L’Avventura

You should never be afraid of subtitles and films that made for and by those who know a country, place or time are arguably the most likely to transport you to any destination. Shot in Rome, the Aeolian Islands and Sicily during the 1950s L’Avventura is a gorgeous and uniquely structured film about a holiday and a mysterious disappearance all in one.

4. The Endless Summer

With beautiful cine showcasing equally stunning beaches across two continents and three islands, The Endless Summer not only introduced surfing to a larger audience but also acted as a launching pad for new forms of tourism based around surfing and beach culture.

5. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert

People from the US and likely other places may think of Crocodile Dundee when they conjure up the image of a classic Australian film that showcases rural and wild Australia but for this Aussie, it’s this story of three drag queens going to the outback that really represents Australia.

6. Marie Antoinette

The perfect film to not only transport to Versailles but also to 18th century France via a 1980s soundtrack.

7. The Grand Budapest Hotel

Although the Republic of Zubrowka is unfortunately not a real country, the Grand Budapest Hotel, arguably Anderson’s best film is full of a typical Anderson aesthetics as well as truly emotional moments which his films sometimes lack. Beautifully shot and often feeling like it is set in a colourful and fantastical version of Swiss, French or Italian Alps, this film might not be a travel film but it does transport you to another time, place and world.

8. Pierrot le Fou

A man becomes bored of his life and decides to run away with his ex-girlfriend and due to some unforeseen circumstances finds himself on a crime spree across France all the way to the French Rivera. If that doesn’t sell you, this film is a classic French New Wave film by Godard and transports you to perhaps the most famous period in the French Rivera’s history.

9. The Motorcycle Diaries

Based on the travel memoirs of one of the world’s most infamous and controversial political personalities, Che Guevara, this film is a beautifully shot retelling of the road trip across Latin America that framed political and social ideals.

10. Call Me By Your Name

Timothée Chalamet and Arnie Hammer falling in love amongst the backdrop of early 80s Northern Italy what more could you want?

11. Tracks

A fantastic adaption of Robyn Davidson’s memoir about her nine-month journey across Australia’s many deserts from Alice Springs to Western Australia with her dog and group of camels.

12. Withnail and I

Two unemployed, alcoholic actors escape 1960s London and head to the Cumbrian countryside in one of the best black comedies to ever be produced. Although not a traditional travel film it is a cult classic for a reason.

Two unemployed, alcoholic actors escape 1960s London and head to the Cumbrian countryside in one of the best black comedies to ever be produced. Although not a traditional travel film it is a cult classic for a reason.