Set-Jetting: Best Film and TV Destinations for Solo Women 2026

Why Film and TV Tourism Is Perfect for Solo Female Travelers in 2026

“Set-jetting” — the practice of visiting destinations because of their appearance in films or television — has moved from travel-industry buzzword to one of the primary drivers of global tourism patterns. A 2025 VisitBritain study found that 40% of international tourists to the UK listed film or TV appearances as a factor in their destination choice. Netflix’s internal data has shown that tourist visits to destinations featured in popular series increase by an average of 50–70% in the year following a show’s release. In 2026, set-jetting is not a niche behavior.

For solo female travelers specifically, set-jetting has particular appeal: it provides a built-in narrative framework for a destination, gives you specific “things to find” that structure exploration in a satisfying way, and creates a ready-made conversation starter with both other travelers and locals. There is a specific pleasure in standing in a location you have seen dozens of times on screen and experiencing the gap between the cinematic version and the reality — which is usually both less spectacular and more interesting than TV suggested.

This guide covers the most compelling set-jetting destinations for solo female travelers in 2026, with the big update: White Lotus Season 4 has now confirmed its setting. Here is where to go and what the shows get right — and wrong — about each place.

Key Takeaway: Set-jetting provides solo female travelers with a built-in exploration framework, strong social connection potential with fellow fans, and access to genuinely excellent destinations — while the best film locations reveal cultural and historical depth that no showrunner intended.

If you enjoy literary travel alongside film locations, the BookTok travel guide to literary destinations pairs perfectly with this one — many of the same cities appear on both lists.

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1. Sicily — The White Lotus Season 3 Effect

The third season of HBO’s “The White Lotus” filmed at San Domenico Palace in Taormina, Sicily, and the resulting tourism boom to eastern Sicily has been dramatic. Hotel bookings in Taormina increased by over 200% in the months following the season’s release, and the broader region around Syracuse, Noto, and the Baroque hill towns has similarly benefited from the show’s extraordinary visual rendering of the Sicilian landscape.

What the show captures: The extraordinary beauty of the Sicilian coast, the architectural grandeur of Taormina’s clifftop position above the Ionian Sea, and the particular quality of Sicilian light that makes everything look simultaneously ancient and impossibly blue.

What to actually do there: Taormina’s Greek Theater (Teatro Antico di Taormina, dating to the 3rd century BCE) is one of Sicily’s most spectacular ancient sites — a nearly complete ancient Greek amphitheater with Mount Etna visible behind the stage. The combination of a 2,300-year-old theater and an active volcano is one of the most distinctly Sicilian views imaginable.

The San Domenico Palace hotel (where White Lotus Season 3 filmed) is open for dining and hotel stays. A room costs approximately €500–€1,200 per night. A morning coffee on the terrace at the adjacent bar costs approximately €4 and provides essentially the same view at 0.5% of the price.

Beyond Taormina, the Baroque towns of the Val di Noto — Noto, Ragusa, Modica, Scicli — are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and among the most architecturally extraordinary places in Italy. They also appeared in various White Lotus episodes and in the long-running Inspector Montalbano Italian TV series.

For solo female travelers: Sicily is generally safe and increasingly well-developed for independent tourism. Taormina itself is very tourist-oriented and comfortable. In smaller inland towns, dressing modestly (covered shoulders and knees in traditional areas) is appreciated. The food scene is essential: arancini (stuffed rice balls), cannoli (best eaten at a local pastry shop, not a tourist stall), and granita (iced coffee or almond drinks at breakfast) are non-negotiable.

Getting there: Catania’s Fontanarossa Airport is the main gateway, served by Ryanair, easyJet, and other European carriers. Taormina is approximately 45 minutes from Catania by train.

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2. The French Riviera — White Lotus Season 4 (Coming 2026)

This is the big update for 2026. White Lotus Season 4 has confirmed its filming location: the Château de La Messardière, a 19th-century palace-turned-luxury hotel in Saint-Tropez on the Côte d’Azur. Filming is expected to run through October 2026, with additional scenes in Paris and other Riviera locations. The season is expected to air in late 2026 or 2027 — but savvy set-jetters are already planning ahead.

What the Riviera actually offers solo female travelers:

Saint-Tropez is beautiful and expensive — a cocktail at a beach club will cost €25–€40 and a Michelin restaurant dinner will comfortably exceed €100 per person. But the Riviera also has exceptional free and affordable pleasures: the old port (Vieux-Port) with its fishing boats and market stalls, the stunning Plage de Tahiti beach accessible by a 20-minute walk from the port, and the provençal character of the hilltop villages behind the coast.

For a more affordable Riviera experience, Nice is the practical base. Significantly larger than Saint-Tropez, it has a world-class old town, excellent transit to Monaco and Cannes by regional train, outstanding affordable restaurants (the salade niçoise and socca — a chickpea pancake — are local staples), and a cultural depth that the more glamorous resort towns lack.

Solo female tip: The Riviera in July and August is extraordinarily crowded and expensive. May, June, and September offer the same beauty at 30–40% lower cost with manageable crowds. The shoulder-season Riviera — cool mornings, warm afternoons, the hills turning golden — is genuinely better than the peak-season version.

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3. Paris — Emily’s City and the Real One

“Emily in Paris” (Netflix) has contributed significantly to the already-extraordinary tourist draw of Paris, particularly among younger international visitors. The show filmed extensively in the 1st and 5th arrondissements — the Palais-Royal gardens, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Pont de l’Archevêché, and various streets in the Marais — and created a version of Paris that is whimsical, color-saturated, and consistently 15–20% more charming than the reality.

What the show gets right: Paris is extraordinary. The architecture, the food, the café culture, and the energy of the city are genuinely as good as advertised. The specific locations used in Emily in Paris — the Palais-Royal arcades, the St-Germain-des-Prés area, the flower markets of Île de la Cité — are all worth visiting regardless of the show.

What the show gets wrong: Paris is also a real city with real challenges for solo female travelers. Pickpocketing on the Metro (particularly lines 1, 4, and the RER B from the airports) is a genuine concern — carry a RFID-blocking passport wallet under your clothing rather than a purse in tourist areas. And for the literary side of the trip, a Moleskine Classic Notebook in a jacket pocket is the ideal companion for writing in the cafés Hemingway frequented — a small act that connects the Emily in Paris fantasy to something more enduring. Street harassment exists, particularly near major tourist areas. The Eiffel Tower area has a persistent scam ecosystem (fake petition signers, friendship bracelet wrappers) that requires constant alertness.

Emily in Paris filming locations to visit:

• Palais-Royal gardens: Where Emily frequently walks and has picnics. The arcades surrounding the gardens contain some of Paris’s most interesting independent shops. Free to enter; open daily.
• Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots in St-Germain-des-Prés: The classic literary cafés where Sartre, de Beauvoir, Hemingway, and Picasso once worked and argued. Yes, tourist prices. Yes, worth one coffee.
• Pont de l’Archevêché: The bridge adjacent to Notre-Dame, which reopened in December 2024 after the 2019 fire. It features prominently in several Emily scenes and is extraordinary in person.
• Place de l’Estrapade: The pretty square that functions as the neighborhood landmark in the show. Located in the real 5th arrondissement near the Panthéon — a pleasant, lived-in neighborhood with far fewer tourists than St-Germain.

Solo female tip: Use the show’s locations as a framework for exploring Paris’s lesser-visited neighborhoods — the Marais, the Canal St-Martin, and Montmartre’s residential streets rather than the tourist-heavy main drag — where the real Parisian character lives.

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4. Chicago — The Bear’s Kitchens and the City Behind Them

“The Bear” (Hulu/Disney+) transformed public consciousness about Chicago in a way that no tourism board campaign could have achieved: the show’s visceral, technically precise depiction of professional kitchen culture is set in a version of Chicago that feels entirely authentic. While much of The Bear filmed on Los Angeles studio sets, numerous key scenes and exterior shots filmed at real Chicago locations — and the city’s food scene is every bit as extraordinary as the show suggests.

Chicago’s actual restaurant scene: The city has one of North America’s finest restaurant cultures, with a particularly strong tradition of high-end tasting-menu restaurants (Alinea, Girl & the Goat, Smyth) alongside excellent casual dining and an extraordinary sandwich culture. The Italian Beef sandwich that drives The Bear’s plot is a real Chicago staple, available at Al’s Beef and Portillo’s among many others.

The Bear filming locations:

• Al’s Beef on West Ontario Street: An iconic 1938-founded Chicago beef sandwich institution, partially inspiring the fictional “The Beef.” The Italian Beef sandwich — thinly sliced seasoned beef on Italian bread, dipped in cooking juices, topped with hot or sweet peppers — is as good as the show suggests. Approximately $8–$12.
• Wrigley Field area (Lakeview): Features in several exterior scenes. The neighborhood around the stadium (Wrigleyville) has an extremely active bar and restaurant scene.
• The Chicago River and Riverwalk: Feature in establishing shots throughout the series. The Riverwalk is excellent for solo walks — it runs along the river through downtown with cafés, kayak rentals, and views of the extraordinary architecture.

Chicago for solo female travelers: Chicago is a genuinely excellent solo travel destination — well-organized public transit (the L elevated rail covers most tourist areas efficiently), a walkable lakefront, excellent accommodation options, and a culture that is notably warm and direct. Safety is neighborhood-dependent: the Loop, River North, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, and Lakeview are all comfortable for solo female tourists. The lakefront path running the length of the city is one of the world’s great urban walks.

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5. Bath — Bridgerton’s Regency Romance

“Bridgerton” (Netflix) used Bath’s UNESCO-listed Georgian architecture as the visual grammar for its alternate-history Regency England setting, and the result has been a consistent surge in visitor numbers to one of England’s most beautiful cities. The Royal Crescent, the Circus, and the Pulteney Bridge all feature prominently in the series, and they are every bit as extraordinary in person as they appear on screen.

Bath’s real history is better than Bridgerton’s fiction: Bath was the actual leisure and society capital of Georgian England (18th–early 19th century), and Jane Austen — whose novels predate Bridgerton’s fantasy by two centuries but occupy the same cultural space — lived here from 1801 to 1806. The Jane Austen Centre on Gay Street is an excellent museum covering Austen’s time in Bath and the city’s role in her novels.

The Roman Baths are the city’s most extraordinary historic attraction: a remarkably preserved 1st-century CE Roman bathing complex built around the city’s hot springs (the only natural hot springs in the UK). The adjacent Thermae Bath Spa allows you to swim in modern rooftop pools fed by the same spring water. Booking in advance is essential.

Bridgerton filming locations:

• Royal Crescent: The enormous curved Georgian terrace is the most iconic Bridgerton exterior. The No. 1 Royal Crescent museum gives access to period-decorated rooms showing Georgian interiors.
• Holburne Museum (at the end of Great Pulteney Street): Used as Lady Danbury’s house. The museum’s permanent collection includes important works by Gainsborough and Turner and is free to enter.
• Assembly Rooms: The 18th-century social rooms where Bath’s fashionable society gathered for balls and card games — directly equivalent to Bridgerton’s social season events.

Bath for solo female travelers: Bath is excellent for solo women — a compact, beautiful, highly walkable city with excellent independent restaurants, a lively arts scene, and the kind of manageable scale that makes independent exploration consistently rewarding. Significantly smaller and much more affordable than London, it rewards two to three days of genuine exploration.

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6. Bucharest — Wednesday’s Gothic Romania

“Wednesday” (Netflix) filmed its spooky Nevermore Academy scenes at Cantacuzino Castle in Buşteni (approximately 100 kilometers north of Bucharest in the Prahova Valley) and at various Bucharest locations, triggering a significant increase in Romanian tourism. Romania is genuinely extraordinary for solo female travelers — dramatically undervisited, extraordinarily beautiful, highly affordable, and historically fascinating.

Bucharest beyond the Wednesday aesthetic: Romania’s capital is a complex, fascinating city with an architectural legacy that mixes Belle Époque French-influenced design (Bucharest was called “the Paris of the East” in the early 20th century) with brutal communist-era concrete, including the Palace of Parliament — the second largest building in the world by floor area after the Pentagon, built by Ceaușescu at tremendous human cost. This contrast makes Bucharest one of the most intellectually interesting capital cities in Europe.

Key sites:

• The Old Town (Centrul Vechi): Bucharest’s historic center has been extensively renovated and houses an extremely active bar and restaurant scene.
• The Palace of Parliament: Absolutely worth a guided tour to understand the megalomania and human cost behind its construction. Tours run daily; book online at the palace website.
• Cantacuzino Castle (Buşteni): The “Nevermore Academy” exterior — accessible on a day trip from Bucharest via CFR train (approximately 1.5 hours, 30–50 RON / $6–$10 each way). Combine with Peleș Castle in Sinaia on the same route — one of the most beautiful royal palaces in Europe.

Romania for solo female travelers: Romania is safe and increasingly well-developed for independent tourism. English is widely spoken in Bucharest and tourist areas. The currency (Romanian Leu, RON) makes the country extraordinarily affordable — budget travelers can explore comfortably for $35–$50 USD per day including accommodation.

For solo women planning Romania as part of a broader Balkans circuit, the Balkans solo female budget guide covers regional transport and accommodation. For the social side of visiting film locations — where you often want to share the experience — the strategies in meeting people while traveling solo apply directly to the set-jetting community that gathers at popular filming locations.

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How to Plan a Set-Jetting Trip Without It Feeling Like a Chore

The risk of set-jetting is over-systematizing the experience — turning a spontaneous, joyful form of travel into a checklist of filming coordinates. Here is how to keep it fun:

Use the show as an entry point, not a script. Start with the filming locations as your orientation, then let the actual city reveal itself. The best set-jetting experiences happen when you find something that the show never captured.

Travel with the community. Every major set-jetting destination has an active fan community. Reddit (r/WhiteLotus, r/BridgertonTV) and Instagram are full of people sharing their own location visits. Connecting with fellow fans before or during your trip creates an instant social network.

Time your visit strategically. The first three to six months after a show releases are the peak interest period — and also the most crowded. If you can wait 12–18 months, you get the cultural legacy without the peak tourism impact.

For travel planning tools that help structure any trip — including set-jetting research — the AI trip planning guide for solo women is worth reading before you book.

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Related Reading

• Balkans Solo Female Budget Guide
• BookTok Travel: Literary Destinations for Solo Women
• Meeting People While Traveling Solo