This weekend the family friendly 3D sequel to the 2008 hit Journey to the Center of the Earth heads into theaters. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island centers around Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson), who receives a message from his long-lost grandfather Alexander Anderson (Michael Caine) from a fabled Mysterious Island. Sean decides to find the island but has to take along his stepfather, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), their pilot Gabato (Luis Guzmán), and his strong-willed daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) on this journey of a lifetime.

The movie's plot might not sound too original, but its locations make up for it. Journey 2 was filmed in Oahu, Hawaii, around the Waimea Valley and Kualoa Ranch.]]> cmb 2012-02-10T13:28:39-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/2/3/141324/8942

Today, Big Miracle opens in theaters across the country and the timing couldn't be better with Alaska's whale-watching season right around the corner.

The film, starring Drew Barrymore, is based on the real-life rescue of several gray whales near Barrow, Alaska in 1988. Barrymore plays a Greenpeace volunteer who, along with her reporter ex-boyfriend (John Krasinski), convinces rival world superpowers to come together and help save the whales. ]]> cmb 2012-02-03T15:31:58-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/29/141752/09

It's that time of the year again, the time when the year just plain ends. Alas, we can't just let 2011 go that easily, especially since travelers spent it both up in the air and up in arms over a crazy range of topics, encompassing everything from nudie scans to tarmac delays. Needless to say, we're ready for 2012, but first we're taking a brief look back at the best of 2011 with the Jaunted Travel Awards,—or as we fondly refer to them—The Jauntys.

With so many travel-centic movies hitting the big screen in 2011, like We Bought A Zoo, The Hangover 2, Contagion, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (which is part of a series that inspired not only an amusement park, but also a museum), and Tower Heist (which was filmed almost entirely in one of NYC's best hotels), it was hard to choose the Best Travel Movie of 2011, but in the end there was really only one ideal choice.

This year, the Best Travel Movie has to be Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. It's hard to watch a Woody Allen movie, whether it's one of his more recent projects like Vicky Cristina Barcelona or a classic like Manhattan, and not want to hop on the next flight to that city, and Midnight in Paris is no different. ]]> Jaunted11 2011-12-29T14:17:52-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/27/135159/55

With a movie version currently in theaters, a Tony Award-winning play on Broadway, a novel on the best-sellers list and a past SNL parody, War Horse has completely invaded pop culture. But, it has also offered an opportunity to find travel inspiration in all of its various incarnations.

While War Horse (the movie) was filmed at several locations throughout the U.K., including Devon where it is set, none of the movie's locations is more picturesque than the village of Castle Combe in Chippenham. The small village was shut down last fall while Steven Spielberg filmed scenes for the movie outside the Cotswold homes that line its streets. ]]> cmb 2011-12-27T14:55:18-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/23/12166/793

Cameron Crowe’s We Bought A Zoo, starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, and Thomas Haden Church, hits theaters today and is based on the true story of a father who moves his two children to a dilapidated zoo which they restore to its former glory.

The movie is set in the U.S. and was filmed just outside of Los Angeles, but the real-life zoo the story is based on is actually located in Devon, U.K. The Dartmoor Zoo is now the thriving home of dozens of animals including monkeys, reindeer, cheetahs and goats. The zoo also hosts special events, like photography tours, family days, and weddings.]]> cmb 2011-12-23T13:07:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/16/103617/81

The latest Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked!, opens today, and follows the characters we all got to know as kids as they embark on their first cruise vacation.

Most of the movie was filmed on the Carnival Dream cruise ship last January, on open decks and within the ship’s recreation areas. ]]> cmb 2011-12-16T10:45:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/12/163926/46

Pizza. Fine wine. Fellini. Some of the finest things to have come out of Italy. But while you can eat and drink till you pop in homage to the glorious foodstuffs, things are a little thin on the ground if you want to do a Fellini pilgrimage. There’s the Trevi fountain, of course, to recreate La Dolce Vita, but that’s touristy; and his hometown of Rimini doesn’t really have a huge amount to offer other than beaches.

But if you travel to the south of Tuscany – to the glorious Val d’Orcia, with its rolling clay hills and snaking cypress trees – you’ll find Chianciano Terme, the spa town where Fellini used to come to take the waters, and where he set 8˝.

First things first: Italian spas are not generally like UK or American spas. Go to a spa town and you’ll be confronted with foul-tasting water to swill for the good of your liver, vapor to inhale and doctors to consult. Even for the most “spa”-like treatments – mud wraps – you’re stripped naked, slapped in mud, wrapped in a blanket and then ordered into a bath of thermal water. Therapeutic it may be; classically relaxing it aint.

Chianciano used to be like this back in Fellini’s day – in fact, it was like that the first time we visited; but then about six years ago, they decided to modernize the spa, knocking out a vast block of toilets (a side effect of the water) and installing a mega-spa. There are treatment rooms on top, but what you really go for is the spa: the Terme Sensoriali, with 20 different stages of spa-dom, based around the elements.]]> juliab 2011-12-12T16:39:26-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/