5 films to inspire your next UK break
Find British travel inspiration through the art of film
Banshees of Inisherin (2023)
“Perhaps he just doesn’t like you no more”
Destination: Ireland Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Set on a remote, fictional island off the coast of 1920s Ireland, this heart-wrenching yet hilarious tragicomedy follows the sudden collapse of a friendship based on a mutual desire to evade loneliness, unleashing a ripple of absurd and haunting consequences. The Banshees of Inisherin, doubling as a poetic allegory for the Irish Civil War, is also a love letter to Ireland’s unspoilt west. Shot on location in Achill Island and Inis Mór, the film bathes every windswept cliff, rolling green pasture, and ancient stone wall in a raw, ethereal glow.
With its brooding skies and breathtaking solitude, the landscape offers more than just a backdrop- it calls to travellers seeking escape, reflection, and a deeper connection to nature and Irish history. It's the kind of scenery that makes you want to breathe deeper, walk slower, and stay longer.
The Wicker Man (1973)
“You'll simply never understand the true nature of sacrifice”
Destination: Scotland Genre: Folk Horror
One for the horror fans. In this haunting folk mystery, Edward Woodward plays a devout Christian police officer from mainland Scotland, summoned to a remote island to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. His arrival sets off a slow-burning descent into local folklore, as he becomes ensnared in surreal pagan rituals, fertility rites, and a community cloaked in secrecy.
Shot in the Scottish Highlands, director Robin Hardy transports us back thousands of years to Celtic tradition, making us tap into a deeper, darker, primal side of Britain that’s been forgotten- ancient stone ruins, maypole dancing and eerie rituals. The lush, pastoral beauty of the island’s springtime landscape stands in stark contrast to the film’s looming dread, making the final act all the more disturbing- still haunting us more than half a century later.
Whistle Down the Wind (1961)
“You missed Him this time, but He'll be coming again”
Destination: Lancashire Genre: Crime/Thriller
This beloved British crime drama follows three church-going siblings on their Lancashire farm who believe they have Jesus Christ hiding out in their cow barn. With the help of their Sunday school peers they innocently attempt to shelter him from the grown-ups through fear that they may come to persecute him again. He’s actually a wife-murdering escaped convict, but it’s the thought that counts.
Whistle Down the Wind, though shot in black and white, stunningly captures the rawness of the farmland fields and wild rolling hills of rural England, perfect for a birdwatching or walking holiday.
Trainspotting (1996)
“Doesn't it make you proud to be Scottish?”
Destination: Edinburgh Genre: Crime Drama
A cult classic that captures the chaotic underbelly of 1990s Edinburgh like no other. Based on Irvine Welsh’s incendiary novel, the film follows a group of lost heroin addicts as they stumble through euphoric highs and crushing lows in a city caught between its historic charm and modern disillusionment.
Behind the grime of the bleak streets is a kind of brutal beauty- a hypnotic, hyper-stylised portrait of Scotland’s urban edge. Not your typical postcard of Edinburgh, but for fans of counterculture, music, and bold, unfiltered storytelling, Trainspotting offers a cinematic dive into a city that’s as complex and unforgettable as the characters who haunt it.
Watership Down (1978)
“They'll never rest until they've spoiled the earth”
Destination: Hampshire Downs Genre: Family Drama
This eco-conscious animated classic, adapted from Richard Adams’ novel, is an epic survival story wrapped in the soft glow of the English landscape. Following a group of rabbits fleeing the destruction of their warren, it charts a perilous journey through idyllic meadows, tangled woods, and misty hills that are as enchanting as they are unforgiving.
Set in the real-life Watership Down in Hampshire, the film turns rolling chalk hills and gentle streams into a mythic terrain—at once tranquil and terrifying. Nature is both sanctuary and threat, and every breeze through the long grass seems to carry ancient, unspoken wisdom. The animation, though stylised, captures the raw spirit of the British countryside in a way that lingers long after the credits roll.
