Astra Brit Flick Pilgrimage
After last week’s chaos of an erupting volcano, what better a reason to holiday at home? With three quarters (76%) of Brits expected to holiday in the UK this year and over half (55%) keen to visit locations they’ve seen in a film, car company Vauxhall has teamed up with Visit Britain to create a film fanatic’s dream expedition, the Astra Brit Flick Pilgrimage.
The trip, devised to celebrate the introduction of the new British built Astra, with the help of leading film historian, Tony Reeves, covers an impressive 1016 road miles around the UK taking in Scotland, Wales and England. This includes 10 stops, visiting 23 film locations of 39 films, all based around the top 10 favourite movies filmed in the UK as voted for by Brits:
1 The Full Monty (1997)
2 The Italian Job (1969)
3 Harry Potter (series of films 2001 - 2009)
4 Gladiator (2000)
5 Braveheart (1995)
6 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
7 Billy Elliot (2000)
8 The Da Vinci Code (2006)
9 Hot Fuzz (2007)
10 Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (1991)
Whether you are an action film lover of movies such as Gladiator or a chick flick fanatic keen to watch the likes of Shakespeare in Love, the Astra Brit Flick Pilgrimage offers something for everyone.
The whole trip is available to buy from 29th April from britflickpilgrimage.co.uk. The price includes bed and breakfast accommodation at all 10 stops and admission fees to all the tourist attractions used in the various films covered. The dedicated web pages provide information on all the film locations along the route, as well as some great trivia about various films.
‘It’s amazing the amount of UK locations used in international blockbusters, so we thought we’d pay homage to the best of British through devising a road trip with a twist,’ explained Stephanie Lucas, from the Vauxhall Astra team
Justin Reid, from Visit Britain, adds ‘Film tourism has become very popular in the last few years, with films such as Harry Potter estimated to have brought in £9million in tourist revenue to Alnwick Castle with a 120% increase in visitors. We are thrilled to have worked with Astra to devise a trip that is on trend for our audience.”
FILM TRIVIA
It was in front of Alnwick Castle’s Outer Bailey that Harry Potter and his classmates were taught to fly their Nimbus 2000s by Miss Hooch.
BroughtonCastle(where Shakespeare in Love was filmed) is now the home of Lord and Lady Saye and Sele who are, coincidentally, cousins to Shakespeare in Love star Joseph Fiennes and his brother, Ralph.
For Robin Hood, a giant, purpose built encampment was constructed at Freshwater, which, in honour of its star, became known amongst the cast and crew as ‘Russell Square’.
