Anonymous wrote:Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey) was amazing! You can tour the castle and walk right through the rooms used in the series. Easy day trip from London.
Leavesden Studios (another London day trip) to see the Harry Potter film sets. Definitely worth it for fans of the series.
NYC for tons of shows.
Highclere was basically saved by Downton Abbey filming there. The house was in serious disrepair and was unlivable due to water damage, with parts of the house having collapsed. The owners were trying to find the money to fix it by promoting its King Tut connection (Lord Carnavron owned the house). They were able to afford the necessary repairs after Downton Abbey increased tourism. It needed something like 15 million in repairs.
A lot of those old houses have ended up owned by the National Trust because they're just too expensive for the individual families to maintain them.