Best Feel Good Wanderlust Films to Inspire Travel

Feeling restless and eager to travel? I am certainly getting itchy feet being stuck in my home town in England. Longing for a chance to get back on an aeroplane and explore! So I have compiled my best feel good wanderlust films to inspire travel. 

Sit back, open up the popcorn or Ben and Jerry’s and be transported to beaches, sun and beautiful scenery!

1. Eat, Pray, Love

My first feel good wanderlust movie is a classic travel film, inspiring many (including my own) travel adventures! Based on the best-selling book and a true story.

Feeling stuck in her life, Liz Gilbert decides to leave everything familiar behind to go on a year-long adventure. Starting in Italy she enjoys good food, spirituality in India, and of course love in Bali.  

With beautiful scenery, inspiring characters, and raw honesty, this heartwarming film will make you laugh, cry and inspire you. This is my favourite feel good wanderlust film of all time!

Available on: Netflix

2. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Staying in India, we have our next feel good wanderlust film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Filled with bright colours and light, this fun film will instantly perk up a dreary day stuck indoors. 

Seven strangers travel to India to spend their retirement truly living life to the full.

With laugh out loud moments and poignant scenes, this film shows what life living in India can be like.

Starring excellent actors, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Maggie Smith to name a few. Not to mention the delights of Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), this is a real feel good classic!

Available on: Google Play

3. Mamma Mia

Going slightly more feel good and less travel. Mamma Mia is a fun film filled with plenty of songs to sing and dance along to! Based on the hit musical created by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA). 

The film tells the story of a young woman getting married but wanting to meet her father before the big day.

Going through her mother’s diary, she finds three possible suspects and invites each of them to her wedding. Hoping she will know her father once she meets him. 

Filled with ABBA songs and set in the beautiful backdrop of Greece. This is a really sweet feel good film which will leave you feeling inspired to explore the Mediterranean!

Available on: Google Play

4. Letters to Juliet

Sticking with the love theme and Amanda Seyfried! Letters to Juliet is a romantic classic. It follows a girl who visits Italy with her fiance and discovers the secret balcony where Juliet calls out to Romeo.

People all over the world write letters to Juliet asking for help with their love life. After discovering a letter written fifty years ago, Sophie replies to help the writer reunite with her lost lover.

A really sweet film about finding and losing love, all set in the romantic backdrop of Italy. This is a feel good film which will have you reaching for the tissues. As well as looking up the best romantic hotels to stay in Italy!

Available on: Amazon Prime and Netflix

5. The Love Punch

Next onto a random film that I discovered on Amazon Prime. This probably doesn’t feature in any other top feel good wanderlust film list! But I found it fun, refreshingly British and set in the pretty scenery of France. Making me want to live in a vineyard in the South of France!

Starring Emma Thompson and Pierce Brosnan, The Love Punch follows a newly divorced couple who flee to France. After realising all of their pension funds have been stolen. 

On a wild expedition which involves a rather comical car chase! We follow the characters as they track down the money in a bid to restore the funds. 

This is a fun, playful film which will make you laugh and possibly cringe a little bit! But a lot of fun and definitely worth it if not just for the idyllic setting. 

Available on: Amazon Prime

6. The Hundred-Foot Journey

This touching story tells the tale of a Michelin-starred restaurant set in France. Owned by traditional chef Helen Mirren.

All is well until an Indian family moves across the road, and open a bright and colourful Indian restaurant. 

Demonstrating the clash of different cultures. This heartwarming story shows how even the most different tastes can come together and learn from each other.

As well as lots of mouth-watering shots of delicious food!

A beautiful and touching film which will make you both laugh and cry. So get the tissue box ready along with lots of snacks, as this will definitely make you hungry!

Available on: Amazon Prime (with StarzPlay)

7. Mystic Pizza

Staying with the food theme, this film is a slightly controversial choice as it is set in Connecticut, America. However, there is something sunny and bright. It reminds me of holidays in Devon which makes me feel nostalgic to travel again.

A coming-of-age story follows three waitresses at a pizza restaurant journeying through love, heartache, and true friendship.

One of Julia Roberts' earlier films, this is a sweet, relatable story full of young hopes and summer dreaming. And lots of yummy pizza shots! 

Perfect for a chilled night-in with pizza delivery!

Available on: Netflix

8. Moana

Okay, so all the beautiful scenery in Moana is computer-animated. But this inspirational story still makes it into my top ten due to the inspiring tale. 

We follow young, confident Moana as she grows up in the islands of Polynesia. Always longing to see the wider world but wanting to obey her parents' rules.

After some encouragement from her grandmother. Moana takes the courageous decision to explore beyond the reef in a bid to rescue her village from the curse placed there long ago. 

With uplifting songs (written by Lin-Manuel Miranda) which will empower you to go on your own solo adventure. A heartwarming story, this is one of my faves. It will leave you inspired to travel someplace new!

Available on: Disney+

9. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

I admit, I always had written this film off as one for the lads upon hearing about a girl on girl kiss scene. However, after reluctantly watching it due to the promise of beautiful Spanish scenery, I was pleasantly surprised!

Set in the picturesque city of Barcelona, this film follows two friends and their different ways to escape their home life.

With a soundtrack of Spanish guitar and lots of hazy, summer scenes, this film tells of romance, beauty and passion.

It definitely makes me wanderlust to visit Spain but perhaps not for a steamy affair…

Available on: Netflix

10. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

It took me a while to find my tenth feel good wanderlust film but it was definitely worth the wait! Somehow I missed this film growing up but better late than never.

This heartwarming, coming-of-age film follows four friends on their summer holidays. Trading the mysterious jeans they found which fits each of them perfectly.

As they grow into women, we follow the journey of each of them through Mexico, Greece and America.

The different locations make this film filled with wanderlust, the romantic, pretty scenes of Greece, and the fun, lively scenes of Mexico. Plus the storyline is sweet, beautiful and with the raw honesty of growing pains of moving from girlhood to womanhood. 

Perfect for a lazy Sunday shared with friends, and a tissue box close by! 

Available on: Google Play

Hope you enjoyed my blog on Top 10 Feel Good Wanderlust Films to Inspire Travel. Let me know in the comments if you have other suggestions, I would love to hear from you!

Some of my other contenders for this list which are definitely worth watching are Fool’s Gold, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, and The Bucket List.

Happy watching my friends 🙂