10 Holiday Movie Locations You Can Actually Visit This Holiday Season

It’s a Wonderful Life

Location: Seneca Falls, NY

The filming may have taken place on a studio set in California, but the inspiration all came from Seneca Falls in Upstate New York. Today, you can visit Seneca Falls to relive classic scenes, including a glimpse of the George Bailey Bridge.

This location embraces its ties to the iconic holiday movie with a movie museum and streets named after the film’s characters, like Angel Avenue and George Bailey Lane. Plus, each year there is a three-day festival celebrating everything to do with It’s a Wonderful Life.

Love Actually

Location: London, England

Now considered both a British and Christmas classic, Love Actually was filmed in various locations across the UK, most notably in London. If you’re flying into England’s capital, make sure to select a flight for Heathrow as you can begin your Love Actually as soon as you disembark – the location for the opening montage.

Other must-visit locations include Selfridges, where the hilarious wrapping scene takes place, Somerset House, for some festive skating, and St. Luke’s Mews to see the location of the infamous cue cards scene.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Location: New York

As holiday movie locations go, you can’t get much better than New York, with its prestigious landmarks, holiday displays, and chilly weather. And the city’s huge Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street is certainly up there among the most iconic holiday locations worldwide.

The setting for one of the most beloved films of all time, Macy’s, and Miracle on 34th Street will forever be linked. To this day you can still ride the original wooden escalators up to the eighth floor to visit Santa during the holiday season.

Home Alone

Location: Chicago, IL

Like many of John Hughes’s movies (he wrote and produced this holiday masterpiece), Home Alone takes place in Chicago. You can actually visit the McCallister family home in Winnetka. It’s about 16 miles outside of the Windy City and you’ll recognize many of the exterior shots of the home and the street.

You’ll also want to travel through Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to recreate the classic scene where the family makes a mad dash across the airport after sleeping in.

Elf

Location: New York, NY

In another film set in the Empire State, fans of 2003’s Elf can get up close and personal with plenty of the locations used on the holiday blockbuster. Take a trip up the Empire State Building (sadly the lift buttons aren’t shaped like a Christmas tree), have a snowball fight in Central Park, or visit Macy’s on 34th Street where the exterior of the fictional Gimbels Department Store was filmed.

Jingle All the Way

Location: Minnesota 

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s slapstick holiday movie, Jingle All the Way follows Howard Langston as he fights tooth and nail to get his son the number one Christmas toy of the season: Turbo-Man. During filming in 1996, it was the largest film production in Minnesota’s history.

Iconic places to visit include the Bloomington Mall of America, downtown Minneapolis, and Mickey’s Diner. The latter is still closed after the pandemic but it still stands so you can visit the exterior of the famous American diner.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Location: New York, NY

The highly anticipated sequel to one of the most iconic Christmas films took us to the Big Apple, with Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. With the help of his dad’s credit card and the innocence of youth, Kevin McCallister takes on New York, while evading the Wet Bandits.

You can visit many of the locations used in the films, including Wollman Rink, Bethesda Terrace, and Carnegie Hall. You can even stay at the Plaza Hotel, where Kevin took up residence, and pay for their Home Alone 2 package, complete with a 4-hour private limousine ride visiting all the filming locations, a large cheese pizza, and a Home Alone-inspired sundae!

White Christmas

Location: Vermont

It doesn’t get much cozier than Vermont during the holiday season and the producers of White Christmas took full advantage of that. Although set in a fictitious location, Vermont was the main inspiration for the 1954 movie.

You’ll find plenty of spots like the Columbia Inn where you can snuggle up, you can ski at Mad River Glen, and explore the local artisan shops and coffee houses in the Green Mountain State.

Die Hard

Location: Los Angeles, CA

It’s not even up for debate, Die Hard is a holiday movie and we won’t hear otherwise. Set inside the fictional Nakatomi Plaza for its entirety, you’re not exactly spoilt for choice on holiday movie locations for this film.

Luckily, the actual skyscraper used in Die Hard, the Fox Plaza Tower in Los Angeles, is still standing. Just a 17-minute drive from downtown LA, it’s a must-visit for any holiday movie fanatic when in the City of Angels.

Bad Santa

Location: California

The premise of an alcoholic con man disguising himself as Santa to rob department stores might not sound overly festive, but Bad Santa has earned itself as a cult classic among many holiday movie lovers.

Although set in Miami, most of the filming took place in California. You can visit O’Hara’s Pub in Venice where Billy Bob Thornton’s Willie T. Soke drinks or head to Mayan Bar & Grill in Monrovia or even stay at the El Capitan Motel in Long Beach.