World's best: Picture-perfect filming locations you can actually visit

If you're hopping around the Greek Islands this summer, it's likely you were inspired to visit by either Instagram - or one of the sun-drenched movies shot here. Or both. It was hard not to fall in love with Shirley Valentine (1989), when a life change transported the heroine to Mykonos to reinvent herself. Later, in 2002, the final scenes of Bourne Identity (2002) shared the location. Or jukebox favourite Mamma Mia! (2008), set on a fictional Greek island called Kalokairi (that's really Skopelos).

Directors can't get enough of Tokyo, a city where neon blazes one minute and incense wafts through temples the next. Sofia Coppola captured the whiplash of Japan's capital perfectly in Lost in Translation, set largely across the busy districts of Shinjuku and Shibuya. That was in 2003, but in the 20 years since the metropolis has starred in everything from Babel (2006) and Inception (2010) to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) and multiple Godzilla movies, not to mention 2022's TV drama Tokyo Vice.

If you find yourself yearning to book a stay at the Four Seasons Resort Maui Wailea, perhaps that's because the "White Lotus effect" is real. Since filming here, fans of this hit HBO drama series have flocked to Maui's powdery, palm-fringed shores to walk in the footsteps of the characters they love - or love to hate. Years before, George Clooney spent time on neighbouring Oahu shooting The Descendants (2010), and years before that Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves for surf flick Point Break (1991), followed by The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997).

From Times Square and Central Park to the Empire State Building and Wall Street, few other cities have the same cultural pull on the imagination as NYC. The list of movies and TV shows that star the Big Apple range from cults like Black Swan (2010), Taxi Driver (1976) and Donnie Brasco (1997), to contemporary shows including Succession, Billions and Mad Men. And each nails the details - the chaotic hum of the streets, the borough-specific dialects, the juxtaposition of old and new ... the city is like a character unto itself.

Home to some of the world's biggest film studios - and with glam and grit present in equal measure - LA has naturally captured the imagination of directors and actors for as long as the film industry has existed. The razzle-dazzle of the "City of Angels" has showed up in shows like Melrose Place and Beverley Hills 90210 (back in the heyday), and more recently Entourage, You and Insecure. On the movie front? Think La La Land (2016), The Big Lebowski (1998) and Boyz n the Hood (1991), among so many others.

Few can resist the distinctive magic that radiates from Italy's grandest lake, with its gilded palaces and grand villas and celebrity locals. James Bond among them - in Casino Royale (2006), he jetted in with his lover Vesper Lynd to spend downtime at the gorgeous 13th-century Villa Balbianello. He was likely inspired by scenes from 2002's Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. Villa Erba, meanwhile, took pride of place in 2004's Oceans Twelve as well as Gwen Stefani's single Cool.

Paris - the city that never goes out of style? Certainly not among filmmakers, who have been using its atmospheric streets and iconic attractions as a backdrop for decades. There are the classics: Midnight in Paris (2011), Before Sunset (2004), Da Vinci Code (2003) and 360 (2011). And then there are those casting the 2024 Olympic city in a new light, including the last series of Sex and the City as well as Emily in Paris, both spotlighting the Eiffel Tower and Seine as well as taking you down moody back alleys for apero.

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London's epic skylines, atmospheric streets and royal palaces have played a starring role in endless blockbuster movies and hit TV shows. Daniel Craig is a particular fan of the city, having dropped in for both Layer Cake (2004) and Skyfall (2012), the latter as James Bond. The city attracts broad genres, from romantic comedies (Notting Hill, 1999, Bridget Jones's Diary, 2001) to action (Sherlock Holmes, 2009, Mission: Impossible, 1996) to Harry Potter, of course - in the Philosophers Stone (2001), Harry wanders along Kings Cross Station.