Hey all, I’m planning a trip to Almeria later on in the year (my first time ) and I’m trying to figure out where many of the locations used in spaghetti westerns are. I’ve got most of the locations in Leone’s movies but I’m struggling to find any idea as to where others are, mainly:
The Beach in Johnny Hamlet (I’m guessing Almeria beach?)
The Mushrooms from Johnny Hamlet/The Mercenary (Are these in Almeria, Cuenca Minera or Madrid way?)
The Location of the final duel in The Big Gundown
The final scene in The Big Gundown
The Horseback duel in Day of Anger
The dune during The Dirty Outlaws credits
The Ghost town from the end of Death Rides a Horse/The Ugly Ones
The Hunting scene in Four of the Apocalypse
The main setting (the hills with the windmills and canyon) in a Pistol for Ringo
The dune at the end of Face to Face
The Beach in Vengeance is Mine and the beach at the start of $10000 Blood Money (again Almeria beach maybe?)
The Valley where Garko and Camaso ride past each other at the start of $10000, which I think was also in
Wanted, Matalo, Johnny Yuma etc.
If anyone knows and/or has been to any of these location any help would be greatly appreciated
There’s a new guide that came out earlier this year in Spanish and English called La Almeria de Sergio Leone by Juanen Perez Miranda and Juan Gabriel Garcia with directions and pictures of the Leone locations shot in Almeria and in Northern Spain. You should be able to find it at most of the book stores in Madrid. Highly recommended.
I’ll be taking a separate trip to Northern Spain sometime so I’ll deffo checkout Ciudad Encantada while I’m there. I’ll try and do some digging for the book, can’t seem to find it for sale on sale over the internet. Many thanks guys. BTW I know Tuco Tours have finished but are any other western tours still going in Almeria?
Edit: I’m an idiot, this is actually an area in Italy. I’ll still leave it here though.
Here’s another location, Campo Imperatore. It’s the location where Garko and Camasso meet in 10,000 Dollari Per Un Massacro, and the beginning of Trinity is Still My Name. I’m not certain about any tours going on in Spain, possibly you could ask Seb?
Appreciated anyway man. I’ll (eventually) be going to Italy to check out Rome and what have you so there are some places I’ll try and visit while there
has anyone got some practical advice on visiting the theme parks in Almeria?
I would like to stay in Almeria town for a few days and visit the 3 studios and perhaps a tour to Tabernas desert.
Will probably go at Easter as I believe the Oasys Theme Park only opens from April.
How long is needed to visit the 3 theme parks?
Is it better to rent a car or is a taxi practical?
Definitely rent a car I would say. And I did them all in one day but then I wasn’t interested in the theme park elements of Oasys, only the western town. Likewise the others. I guess if you wanted to stay and watch all the shows and rides you might need two days. Just my take on it. Everyone will feel differently.
My advice would be to definitely hire a car - Taxis are very expensive, and as Almeria to Tabernas is about 30 km, it’s going cost a packet.
I can recommend staying at a small hostal, the Avenida in Tabernas … nice clean rooms and very inexpensive - about 25 Euro’s per night for a single room. Lot’s of cafes and bars in the area - and you’re right on the edge of the desert.
To be honest, the western towns are all a little disappointing - especially the Sweetwater Ranch, which has a lot of non movie related western buildings surrounding the original house, which has also suffered from some poor renovation work.
Fort Bravo is the most authentic looking set, though some buildings have been altered over the years. The real star of the area is of course the desert itself … and it costs nothing to wander around.
Check out some of the location related sites online, the best of which is http://www.western-locations-spain.com/ There are 100s of comparison photos, if you’re looking for a specific area or film.
I’ve made 7 trips in the last 10 years and still have only seen a small percentage of the places I wanted to visit … so give yourself as much time as possible, and avoid traveling with non SW fans (that’s from personal experience)
I managed to get a copy of the book referred to by Tom_B above: La Almeria de Sergio Leone.
Bibabuk (www.bibabuk.es) is a book shop in Almeria town that ships the book internationally (it cost me €6 plus €12 shipping).
I had to use Google Translate online to translate from Spanish and place the order online. Payment is by bank transfer - I was initially given the wrong bank transfer account information from the site so it is best to email info@bibabuk.es to confirm the account number before setting up a payment from your bank.
The book is very useful with GPS coordinates of film locations. There are 2 recommended routes to follow: along the coastline and around Tabernas.
NOTE: Google Maps online can be used to enter the full route using GPS locations and then email/text the route to yourself for future reference.
Time to plan a trip…
Sorry for a late response, (haven’t been on for a while) but I’d definitely say rent a car, it isn’t cheap but I went the other week and it made the whole trip really easy. The three parks are roughly all within 5 Km of each other so it only takes a few minutes to get from one to the next, you could do all three in one day no problem. The book Tom Betts recommended is great (thanks again Tom btw), it really breaks down all the different locations and they’re all dead easy to find when you have the coordinates and names, just whack it into a GPS and it’ll get you straight there…
Lot of inaccuracies regarding the history (Fort Bravo was built in the mid 60s, not 70s, and first used in ‘Death Rides a Horse’) … and really stupid statements in the comments section, like, ‘let the homeless live here’ - My god, some people are so dumb - the sets are just that, and not accommodation. Anyway it’s part of the area’s cultural history and attracts many visitors - to suggest housing the poor here is just maddening - some know nothing liberal wannabe, might make the same suggestion that cultural and historical sites in the UK, castles, abbeys, cathedrals etc could all be flattened to accommodate the housing problem. Jesus wept!
Just back from Almeria after driving up some roads that I should have walked up.
I realised when I got back that the wooden bridge in the 1st photo is the one that Tuco crossed in The good the bad and the ugly, when he made it to town after being left in the desert (Oasys Park) - I should have got a better shot.
The 2nd photo is taken from the dirt road above Oasys park - I turned the car around at this point.
The 3rd photo is a scene from inside the El Sotillo Hotel.
) and I’m trying to figure out where many of the locations used in spaghetti westerns are. I’ve got most of the locations in Leone’s movies but I’m struggling to find any idea as to where others are, mainly:
