When the dark, drug-infused drama Breaking Bad started filming in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the tourism board was less than enthused.

“Initially, we weren’t involved in the show because of its gritty content,” says Kelly Ryan, social communications and tourism manager at the Albuquerque visitors bureau. But when the show started to garner some serious attention, they were forced to take note.

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“It was inevitable that the fans would be interested in this city and we wanted to be at the forefront of that interest surge,” says Ryan. “At the beginning of the fourth season, we really started to use the show as a great tool for awareness and visibility for our city.”

From there, Breaking Bad ballooned to encompass everything from candy to body products.

Breaking Bad donuts ship across the country for up to $60 per dozen, The Candy Lady, creator of the fake meth used in the show, has experienced a 20% increase in sales this year, local company Great Face and Body have sold more than 5500 bags of Bathing Bad products and the manager of local tour company ABQ Trolley Co. says every second email in his inbox is about the show.

“We may not have always been the most recognizable city in New Mexico, but Breaking Bad has definitely changed that,” Ryan says. “People from all over the world recognize our city’s name and landscape.”

A similar effect has been seen in Iceland after HBO’s mega-hit Game of Thrones chose the country as a location to film the majority of the first and second season. The bleak landscapes and harsh weather of the winter months provided the perfect backdrop for the fantasy saga and, apparently, for holidays.

According to Iceland Travel eCommerce manager Rósa Stefánsdóttir, Game of Thrones “has made Iceland more appealing during the darker, winter months. We get a lot more individual travellers on our Game of Thrones tour than any of our other tours and it is our feeling that these individuals would not have come to Iceland were it not for the Game of Thrones connection.”

In the travel industry, this growing phenomenon is known as set-jetting – diehard fans choose their holiday destination based on the locations of their favourite television shows.

While it doesn’t sound so great if you’re thinking of Jersey Shore, many of the most popular series of today take place in dynamic, beautiful and fascinating surrounds.

Here, we collate the best of the best. Go Beyond the Wall of Game of Thrones in Iceland, walk the halls of the real-life Downton Abbey and, if you’re game, sample some fast-food fare from Breaking Bad’s Los Pollos Hermanos.

Game of Thrones

WHERE: Iceland

WHAT: Jon Snow’s stomping ground beyond the wall, crawling with Whitewalkers and majestic mountains.

SIGHTS:

Lake Myvatn: The lake and its surrounds provided the majority of the bleak but beautiful landscapes “Beyond the Wall”.

Þingvellir national park: A confirmed filming location for season four.

GETTING THERE:

Finn Air offers flights direct from Melbourne (codeshare with Qantas) to Helsinki, from there you can fly to Reykjavik.
Alternatively, if travelling from Europe, lots of European cities like London and Amsterdam have affordable flights to Reykjavik with Icelandic Air.

Iceland Travel offers five-day tours to Lake Myvatn out of Reykjavik, with the option to include flights to and from the UK. Local guide Jon Thor Benediktsson, who also showed the GoT cast around, leads the tour and can probably divulge some on-set gossip.

You can rent a car and drive to Þingvellir yourself, or Sterna Travel offers Golden Circle bus tours from Reykjavik that include a stop at the national park.  

WHERE: Old Town Dubrovnik, Croatia

WHAT: King’s Landing, stomping ground of evil King Joffrey and capital city of the seven kingdoms of Westeros.

SIGHTS:

Fort Lovrijenac: The imposing fortress used in the show as King’s Landing, the home to the Iron Throne overlooking Blackwater Bay.

Trsteno Arboretum: King’s Landing’s lush palace gardens.

Lokrum Island: Used as the ancient port city of Qarth.

Minčeta Tower: Qarth’s “House of the Undying”, the spiralling turret where Daenerys is trapped by warlocks in season two.

GETTING THERE:

Fly to a major hub city like London and then take a small internal flight to Dubrovnik. From London Gatwick, you can fly direct to Dubrovnik with British Airways. You can also fly direct with Lufthansa from Frankfurt, Finn Air from Helsinki or internally from Zagreb in Croatia.

Viator offers a three-hour walking tour of the UNESCO-listed Old Town focused on the filming locations from the show. 

Breaking Bad

WHERE: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

WHAT: The desert backdrop for Walter White’s transformation into Heisenberg.

SIGHTS:

Rebel Donut: Sells “blue sky” donuts inspired by Walter White’s trademark pure methamphetamine.

Candy Lady: Provided the blue rock candy used as crystal meth in the show.

Twisters: The burrito joint used on the show as Los Pollos Hermanos, a drug front for character Gus Fring.

Octopus Carwash: Known in the show as A1A, the carwash where Walt works part-time in season one.

Biking Bad Tours: Cycling tours taking you to the key filming locations, offering five variations based on characters and themes.

GETTING THERE: Qantas fly direct into Los Angeles, from LA you can fly direct into Albuquerque code sharing with American Airlines.

Downton Abbey

WHERE: Oxfordshire, England

WHAT: The sleepy area providing the charming sets for the popular British period drama.

SIGHTS:

Highclere Castle: In the county of Berkshire, bordering Oxfordshire, the castle was used to shoot the exterior shots of Downton Abbey. Highclere is privately owned and lived in by the Earl of Carnarvon and less than an hour’s drive from Oxford. Check opening times before you visit and ensure you buy a ticket to avoid disappointment.

The village of Bampton: Located in the Thames Valley, Bampton was used as the village of Downton, featuring many of the show’s original sets, including St. Mary’s Church where Lady Mary married Matthew Crawley.

The Swan Inn, Swinbrook: Located in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, The Swan Inn is the site of Lady Sybil’s scandalous elopement with the family chauffeur, Branson, in the show’s second season.

GETTING THERE:

Fly to London with any major airline. Trains run from London to Oxford several times a day.

Percy’s Travel run buses from Oxford to Bampton every Saturday, plus they include a cup of cream tea in the price.

Brit Movie Tours offer a three-day coach tour of filming locations, departing from Central London.

Broadchurch

WHERE: Dorset, England

WHAT: The quaint seaside town with the dramatic cliffs that provided the eerie backdrop for ITV’s eight part British murder mystery.

SIGHTS:

West Bay: a small town in Bridport Harbour on Dorset’s “jurassic coast”, is the main setting for Broadchurch’s action.

Harbour News, West Bay: The newsagency owned by character Jack Marshall in the show.

GETTING THERE:

It’s easy to fly into London with any major airline. From there, Dorset is approximately a four to five hour drive so it’s advisable to rent a car and make a day out of it. Alternatively, trains run reasonably often from major train stations in London such as Waterloo, Paddington and St Pancras.

Girls

WHERE: Brooklyn, New York

WHAT: Hannah Horvath’s urban playground and the site of her and her friends’ many awkward encounters in the HBO hit series.

SIGHTS:

Café Grumpy, Greenpoint: Ray manages this café where Hannah works in season one.

Spoonbill & Sugartown bookstore, Williamsburg: Located on the uber-trendy Bedford Avenue, this indie bookstore featured in the season two premiere.

45 Bushwick Place, Bushwick: Fans will know it as the grungy location of the “best party ever” in season one.

India Street, Greenpoint: The trendy neighbourhood street where Hannah’s apartment is located.

GETTING THERE:

You can fly into New York with Qantas, Virgin, American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines.

The L train will take you over to Brooklyn from Manhattan; get off at the Bedford Avenue stop for extra authenticity and great shopping opportunities.

All ‘getting there’ recommendations courtesy of Liam Hawkes at Flight Centre.