Not so long ago, on a planet not very far away at all…

Star Warson Earth

Four continentsThe real places

A galaxy far, far away is mostly a long-haul flight. Tatooine is in Tunisia and California, Hoth is a Norwegian railway stop and the rebel moon is a Maya temple you can still climb.

Three young actors laughing together in a newspaper photograph: Hamill, Fisher and Ford — Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford between press interviews on a Fox soundstage, Hollywood, June 1977. Argus photographer (The Rock Island Argus) · Public domain

George Lucas, bearded, in a checked shirt, in black and white — George Lucas in 1986, three years after Return of the Jedi. AP Wirephoto · Public domain

A young Mark Hamill with a tartan scarf, smiling, in black and white — Mark Hamill after a press conference for The Empire Strikes Back, Amsterdam, December 1980. Rob Bogaerts / Anefo (Nationaal Archief) · CC BY-SA 3.0 NL

Carrie Fisher, aged 21, with long wavy hair and a pink dotted blouse — Carrie Fisher in Hollywood, April 1978, a year after Star Wars opened. Alan Light · CC BY 2.0

A large studio stage building with the name George Lucas Stage — The George Lucas Stage, Elstree Studios, 2010: where the jumps begin. Steve Daniels · CC BY-SA 2.0

Earth · Borehamwood

Elstree Studios · 51.66°N 0.27°W

NAVICOMPUTERSix planets, all on Earth

Punch it

Choose a planet, then hold the button to charge the drive. With a keyboard, press Enter or Space to jump straight there. Every landing is a real place; the odometer counts real kilometres.

This jump: 0 km
Odometer: 0 km
Planets: 0 of 6

Docked at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood. Choose a planet, then hold Punch it.

In 1976 George Lucas decided to base his new science fiction film, Star Wars, at Elstree.

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TATOOINEOne planet, two continents

Twin suns

The desert planet was filmed in southern Tunisia and in Death Valley. Light one sun, then the other: the Mos Espa set and Artists Palette are 10,313 km apart.

Now lit: Tunisia.

A round sunken courtyard cut into pale earth, with whitewashed doorways and steps — The sunken courtyard of the Hotel Sidi Driss, Matmata, 2022. Habib M'henni · CC BY-SA 4.0

Hotel Sidi Driss

The Hotel Sidi Driss is a traditional troglodyte cave dwelling in the small Berber village of Matmata.

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Domed adobe-style film-set buildings standing on desert sand — The Mos Espa set at Ong Jemel, near Tozeur, 2022. Habib M'henni · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Mos Espa set, Ong Jemel

The set was put up outside Tozeur as a backdrop for the 1999 film.

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People standing on a ridge above white salt flats and distant mountains — Visitors on the ridge at Dantes View, Death Valley, 2026. Christian David · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dantes View

This ridge was the vantage point over the fictional Mos Eisley spaceport; the city was painted into the shot.

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Hills streaked pink, green and gold above a dry wash — Artists Palette, Death Valley, 2013. Tuxyso · CC BY-SA 3.0

Artists Palette

The dull brown wash below and to the left of the car park is where R2-D2 entered the canyon and was captured by Jawas.

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Hotel Sidi Driss

Matmata, Tunisia

Sleep in the troglodyte dwelling that was the Lars homestead. Rooms are windowless and simple; in 2014 a night cost around US$20.

Read before you book

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Tozeur and Ong Jemel desert tours

Tozeur, Tunisia

Live marketplace results for 4x4 trips from Tozeur out to the Mos Espa set. Check each itinerary.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

Snow blowing across a white plateau with buildings barely visible — A March storm at Finse, 2017. Kolbkorr · CC BY-SA 4.0

HOTH60.60°N 7.51°E

There is no road to Hoth.

Finse was the location used to film the icy planet Hoth. Finse has no roads; you reach it on the Bergen Railway.

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Hotel Finse 1222

Finse, Norway

A mountain hotel 1,222 metres up beside a glacier, reached only by train. Hoth is outside the door.

View the hotel

Giant redwood trunks rising out of ferns into a dim canopy — Where in the galaxy is this? Chmee2 · CC BY-SA 3.0

QUIZRound 1 of 5 · score 0

Which planet?

A real place, photographed recently. Which film world did it play?

Choose an answer.

AHCH-TO51.77°N 10.54°W

The last Jedi’s island

618 steps to the monastery180 people a day11.5 km by boat

Skellig Michael was chosen as the planet Ahch-To in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. The island is closed for the 2026 season and will welcome visitors again in 2027.

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Dry-stone beehive-shaped huts on a grassy terrace high above the sea — The monks’ stone beehive huts on Skellig Michael, 2018. Stinglehammer · CC BY-SA 4.0

Green headland and rocky shore under a wide sky at the tip of Ireland — Malin Head, Ireland’s most northerly point, 2019. Kent Wang · CC BY-SA 2.0

Malin Head

Malin Head is home to scenes from Star Wars Episode 8. Local guide Bren Whelan worked on the film as a safety assistant to Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill at Malin Head.

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Office of Public Works

Skellig Michael landing tours

County Kerry, Ireland · Season 2027

Licensed boats from Portmagee, Valentia and nearby harbours land 180 people a day. The 2026 season has closed; landings return in 2027.

See the landing rules

Skellig Experience Visitor Centre

The Skellig Experience

Valentia Island, Kerry

A visitor centre on Valentia Island with films on the Star Wars shoot, and summer boat trips round the rocks.

See the centre

Malin Head Movie Tours

Star Wars Movie Tour, Malin Head

Malin Head, Donegal

Bren Whelan, safety assistant to Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill on the shoot, walks the filming ground. Not connected to Disney or Lucasfilm.

See the tour

HOME BASEWhere the films were made, and where they live now

Home base

A stage in Borehamwood, a small bronze Jedi in San Francisco, palaces and squares that played the prequels, and two lands built for walking into.

Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England

Elstree Studios

In 1976 George Lucas decided to base his new science fiction film, Star Wars, at Elstree.

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A brick office building behind trees and lawns in the Presidio — Building B of the Letterman Digital Arts Center, the Presidio, 2015. Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0

One Letterman, the Presidio, San Francisco, USA

The Yoda Fountain, Letterman Digital Arts Center

A 32-inch bronze of the Jedi Master sits outside the Lucasfilm headquarters, in front of Building B.

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A curving street of weathered domed buildings and trees, in black and white — Architecture in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disneyland, 2019. .kit · CC BY 2.0

Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, California, USA

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disneyland

Galaxy’s Edge is a 14-acre Star Wars land at the Disneyland Resort.

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A vast marble staircase with lions and a vaulted ceiling — The grand staircase of the Royal Palace of Caserta, 2015. Livioandronico2013 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Caserta, Campania, Italy

Royal Palace of Caserta

The palace lists The Phantom Menace (1999) and Attack of the Clones (2002), both directed by George Lucas, among the films shot there.

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A curved brick and tile arcade with towers behind a canal and bridges — Plaza de España, Seville, 2024. Benjamin Smith · CC BY-SA 4.0

María Luisa Park, Seville, Spain

Plaza de España

The plaza has been a setting for Lawrence of Arabia and for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

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A villa with a loggia on a wooded promontory above Lake Como — Villa del Balbianello from the lake, 2019. FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano · CC BY-SA 4.0

Lenno, Tremezzina, Lake Como, Italy

Villa del Balbianello

The villa, its gardens and its terrace were a setting for Attack of the Clones (2002) and Casino Royale (2006).

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Disneyland Resort

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disneyland

Anaheim, California

A 14-acre Star Wars land in Anaheim. Built for the park, not a filming location.

Plan a visit

Walt Disney World

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Walt Disney World

Orlando, Florida

The second Galaxy’s Edge, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.

Plan a visit

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Lake Como boat trips

Lake Como, Italy

Live marketplace results for boat trips that pass or stop at Villa del Balbianello. Check each itinerary.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

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LOG15 landings available

The galaxy, by continent

Where it is now

15 places you can visit. Elstree Studios is a working studio, named here but not pinned.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel with simple, windowless rooms. Check the current rate before you travel.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open desert near Tozeur. Go with a local driver.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Book a 4x4 tour through your camp or the visitor centre.

The sunken courtyard of the Hotel Sidi Driss, Matmata, 2022. Habib M'henni · CC BY-SA 4.0
Matmata, Gabès, Tunisia
Hotel Sidi Driss
The Hotel Sidi Driss is a traditional troglodyte cave dwelling in the small Berber village of Matmata.
A working hotel with simple, windowless rooms. Check the current rate before you travel.
Nav log
The Mos Espa set at Ong Jemel, near Tozeur, 2022. Habib M'henni · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ong Jemel, near Tozeur, Tunisia
The Mos Espa set, Ong Jemel
The set was put up outside Tozeur as a backdrop for the 1999 film.
Open desert near Tozeur. Go with a local driver.
Nav log
Red sand and sandstone massifs, Wadi Rum, 2007. Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0
Aqaba Governorate, Jordan
Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum is seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and in The Rise of Skywalker, where it is the planet Pasaana.
Book a 4x4 tour through your camp or the visitor centre.
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Stay

Sleep on the planet.

A cave hotel that was a homestead, a glacier hotel by the Hoth snowfields, and a desert camp.

Hotel Sidi Driss

Matmata, Tunisia

Sleep in the troglodyte dwelling that was the Lars homestead. Rooms are windowless and simple; in 2014 a night cost around US$20.

Read before you book

Hotel Finse 1222

Finse, Norway

A mountain hotel 1,222 metres up beside a glacier, reached only by train. Hoth is outside the door.

View the hotel

Visit Jordan

Desert camps in Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum, Jordan

Bedouin-style camps in the protected area; your camp can book the 4x4 tour out to the sand.

Plan a stay

Book a way in

Boats, guides and lands.

The island boats, the Donegal walk, the theme-park lands and marketplace tours for the desert and the temples.

Office of Public Works

Skellig Michael landing tours

County Kerry, Ireland · Season 2027

Licensed boats from Portmagee, Valentia and nearby harbours land 180 people a day. The 2026 season has closed; landings return in 2027.

See the landing rules

Skellig Experience Visitor Centre

The Skellig Experience

Valentia Island, Kerry

A visitor centre on Valentia Island with films on the Star Wars shoot, and summer boat trips round the rocks.

See the centre

Malin Head Movie Tours

Star Wars Movie Tour, Malin Head

Malin Head, Donegal

Bren Whelan, safety assistant to Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill on the shoot, walks the filming ground. Not connected to Disney or Lucasfilm.

See the tour

Disneyland Resort

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disneyland

Anaheim, California

A 14-acre Star Wars land in Anaheim. Built for the park, not a filming location.

Plan a visit

Walt Disney World

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Walt Disney World

Orlando, Florida

The second Galaxy’s Edge, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.

Plan a visit

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Tozeur and Ong Jemel desert tours

Tozeur, Tunisia

Live marketplace results for 4x4 trips from Tozeur out to the Mos Espa set. Check each itinerary.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Tikal tours

Petén, Guatemala

Live marketplace results for guided days at Tikal, including the climb to Temple IV. Check each itinerary.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Lake Como boat trips

Lake Como, Italy

Live marketplace results for boat trips that pass or stop at Villa del Balbianello. Check each itinerary.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare trips

What’s on

The 50th anniversary.

Celebration in Los Angeles and the anniversary exhibition in Philadelphia.

Checking current event dates…

Take it home

Original posters, the books, the scores.

Original release posters from our store, from 1977 to 1999, with the making-of book and the first two soundtracks.