Never Mind Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' — The Unexpected Design Destinations Found Hiding in Its Filming Locations Make for the Journey of a Lifetime
We've retraced the steps of the director and its crew so you don't have to, and uncovered six interior and lifestyle gems not to be missed along the way
It's not every day that I, an ancient Greece self-professed geek, get to write about The Odyssey here at Livingetc, and while this time it's Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of Homer's epic we are talking about, that doesn't impact my enthusiasm.
Set for release on 17 July, 2026, the anticipated movie features a star-studded cast, including Matt Damon as Odysseus, Tom Holland as his son, Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, and Robert Pattinson as villainous suitor Antinuous. We'll see Zendaya as goddess Athena, and Charlize Theron as the intoxicating Calypso. Lupita Nyong'o will play both Helen of Troy and her sister, Clytemnestra, while Benny Safdie will portray ruthless Agamemnon. Shot across Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, and Malta, the story is steeped in myth and projected to travel watchers back in time between contended blockades, romantic intrigue, fierce battles, and alluring, mystical journeys.
For some, Nolan's The Odyssey is an opportunity to revisit one of the most influential stories ever recounted in an immersive setting, as "the film was shot and designed to be experienced on the biggest screen possible," as explained by Hathaway. For us, it's the perfect chance to embrace one of this year's biggest travel trends and go 'set-jetting', retracing the steps of Nolan and his crew from North Africa to just south of the Arctic Circle in search of design inspiration — and that's exactly what you can expect to find at the addresses listed below, each rooted in a different filming location from The Odyssey.
1. Riad Caravane. Aït Ben Haddou, MO
A marvel of contemporary design awaits steps away from one of the key sets of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.
Design Destination: Ksar d'Aït Ben Haddou, Ait Ben Haddou, Ait Ben Haddou - Ouarzazate 45000, Morocco
Filming Location: Aït Ben Haddou, Morocco, a UNESCO mud-brick village near Ouarzazate, standing in for Troy at the end of the war in the opening battle sequence of Nolan's The Odyssey
Dotted in earthen adobe architecture, the ksar ("village") of Aït Ben Haddou rises from the banks of the Ounila River along the ancient caravan route that goes from the Sahara to Marrakech, and is flanked by the snowy southern slopes of the High Atlas mountains. Its UNESCO World Heritage-protected honey-amber towers and ancient granaries have made it one of the most filmed locations on the planet. Like many directors before him, including Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, and Peter Jackson, Nolan couldn't escape Aït Ben Haddou's allure: his take on The Odyssey opens here, in war-torn Troy, in a captivating sequence before the epic's main journey begins.
Sandy tones dissolve the boundaries between the interior and the outdoors.
Less than five minutes from the ksar you'll find Riad Caravane, a charming guesthouse nestled in the heart of the village's ancient Kasbah. Co-founders Andréa and Hassan first visited the town in 2013, when, having fallen for it, they decided to set up a stay that blended its storied legacy with a modern decor aesthetic. Within a traditional architectural shell, a mosaic of Boucharouite rugs, funky armchairs, tadelakt walls, art-deco lamps, and low tables styled into a tapestry of pattern and color welcomes guests, along with sculptural wooden furniture, crunchy linens, and earthy tones for a sophisticated look. Its five rooms and three suites are your ticket to savor the area's suggestive landscape, thanks to two terraces stretching onto the ksar and further onto the Atlas. (As you're here, don't forget to make note of our guide to Marrakech, one of today's rising design capitals).
Book your stay at Riad Caravane.
2. Le Jardin des Douars. Essaouira, MO
Coastal charm meets Moroccan heritage at Le Jardin des Douars.
Design Destination: N1, Essaouira, Morocco
Filming Location: Additional Moroccan scenes of The Odyssey have been filmed as coastal and city backdrops for the post-Troy world across Essaouira and Marrakech
Designed by French military architect Théodore Cornut and English architect Ahmed al-Inglizi for Alawid Sultan Mohammed bin Abdallah in 1765, the Atlantic coastal city of Essaouira vibrates with life, its grid-shaped, airy urban plan filled with light, wind, spiced flavours, and music from early in the morning till late at night (trust me, I have been there myself). Its pulsating energy and timelessness, alongside its slow-burning, wide sunsets, convinced Nolan to set some post-Troy world secondary scenes here.
A short 17-minute drive inland from the city rises Le Jardin des Douars, a luxury boutique hotel tucked into the hills above the Oued Ksob river on a seven-and-a-half-acre botanical estate. Built with magnificent curvy shapes using local materials in the strictest Moroccan tradition, the property is home to 19 rooms, six suites, and six private villas thoroughly immersed in thriving bougainvillea and aromatic cypresses, palms, citrus trees, and daisies. Inside, zellige tilework, tadelakt plasterwork, and subtle shades of beige pair natural tones with tactile, handcrafted materials, while fireplaces and Berber blankets warm up the rooms on desert-cool evenings. You bet Odysseus would have loved it here, as does anyone seeking an aesthetic digital detox retreat.
Book your stay at Le Jardin des Douars.
3. Barbouni. Gargalianoi, GR
Feel the breeze at Barbouni, a masterpiece of wood, fabric, and sand, designed to embrace the movement and suble shifts of water, light, and air.
Design Destination: Gargalianoi 240 01, Greece
Filming Location: The Cyclops Polyphemus sequence of The Odyssey has reportedly been filmed along the Pylos coastline, with shots of the Methoni Castle and Almyrolakkos beach also featured in the film
Centuries have passed since Nestor ruled the southwest Peloponnese from Pylos. Yet its limestone coastline, striking architecture, and cobalt blue bay have endured the passing of time, making Messenia an obvious choice for Nolan's Cyclops sequences in The Odyssey, which were filmed along Voidokilia Beach and inside Nestor's Cave above it, with additional scenes shot at the Methoni Castle. But the historical landmarks punctuating the rugged geography of this region aren't the only worthwhile spots around here.
The natural elements are both the inspirations for and the active protagonists of this Greek seaside restaurant.
The restaurant of the Navarino Dunes resort, Barbouni has got to be the most ambitious architectural structure ever realized on a Greek beach. The eatery, envisioned by Athens-based K-Studio co-founders Konstantinos and Dimitris Karampatakis, sits on an elevated wooden platform that lets the sea waves rush beneath. From either angle, it unfolds as an intricate web of natural wooden columns and slabs, with an L-shaped cabin in river sand housing the kitchen, bathrooms, and storage. What caught my eye while researching addresses to include in this The Odyssey-inspired design itinerary, though, was its layered, undulating roof, inspired by the movement of wind and water. Made up of sprawling fabric sheets hanging from the ceiling beams, this canopy lets air and sunshine in throughout the day, lighting and shading the space simultaneously. A masterpiece you can eat in.
4. Salicornia. Favignana, IT
Take a break from it all at Dimora Cala del Pozzo, one of the most spectacular stays on Favignana island, just off Sicily, the location picked by Nolan as Polyphemus's home in his The Odyssey.
Design Destination: Contrada Ettore e Infersa, snc, 91025 Marsala TP, Italy
Filming Location: The Castle of Santa Caterina on the Sicilian Egadi island of Favignana, known by the Ancient Greeks as "Goat Island", traditionally identified as Polyphemus's island, also plays a part in Nolan's The Odyssey. Actors Matt Damon and Tom Holland have filmed on its rocky coast
Known for its unspoiled natural beauty, Favignana is the largest of the Egadi Islands, a wind-flattened butterfly of yellowish tufa limestone off the western tip of Sicily, known to the ancient Greeks as Aigusa — "Goat Island" — and traditionally identified as the island of Polyphemus the Cyclops in Homer's text. Nolan, of course, had to film here. His crew and cast members Matt Damon and Tom Holland took to the Castle of Santa Caterina, capturing its rocky interior hillside as well as along its volcanic coastal formations, in spring 2025. The island itself is a design statement of a different order: its defining building is the neoclassical Stabilimento Florio, the 19th-century tuna cannery built by the Florio dynasty, which gives Favignana its architectural scale and its character.
Still, the island conceals more design-worthy stops than it reveals at first glance, Salicornia, the intimate restaurant of Dimora Cala del Pozzo, being one of them. Nestled inside a boutique B&B converted from a typical rural farmhouse of the mid-19th century in the western part of the island, a stone's throw from the turquoise cove of Cala del Pozzo, Salicornia is an intimate and refined vegetarian restaurant with few seats, the air smelling of salt, and the poetry of candles casting their shadows on ancient stones. The menu is built on organic vegetables from the estate's own farm and the island's wild herbs, with a philosophy of slow, gentle gestures: the same elemental quality that made this reef of limestone irresistible to Christopher Nolan, and that continuously informs some of the most beautiful hotels in Italy.
Book your table at Salicornia.
5. Hotel Vík í Mýrdal. Vik, IS
A little Nordic getaway to stay cool amid sweltering temperatures also features in our The Odyssey itinerary, as Iceland, too, appears in the film as the haunting Hades and the Underworld.
Design Hotspot: 870 Vik, Iceland
Filming Location: Hades, the Underworld, was recreated along the dramatic glacial landscape of Iceland's Hjörleifshöfði mountain, with a large ship set built near the harbor
Iceland's South Coast is among the world's most scenic destinations for lovers of the great outdoors, and Nolan returned to it deliberately: having already shot here for both Batman Begins and Interstellar, this time he picked Hjörleifshöfði mountain and the glacial highlands around it to stand in for Hades — the underworld — in The Odyssey, building a large ship set near the dramatic coastal harbor of Landeyjahöfn and letting black sand beaches of volcanic basalt, sea stacks erupting from pewter water, and glacier-capped volcanoes brooding at the horizon render the most haunting chapters of the story.
Staggering views are included in the price whenever one travels to Iceland, and at Hotel Vík í Mýrda, they wrap all around you.
Located a 58-minute drive south-east of that port, Hotel Vík í Mýrdal calls the southernmost settlement in Iceland its home. Icelandic architect Guðbjörg Magnúsdóttir is the mind behind its contemporary atmosphere, incorporating concrete, basalt, wood, and glass elements inspired by the property's natural surroundings in rooms rooted in the Nordic aesthetic. Here, crafty wood features, gray and moss-green textiles, and minimalist furniture set the tone for a grounding sojourn alongside natural and organic skincare products made from local wild herbs. A glass-faced modernist structure containing clean-lined, light-filled bedrooms, the hotel holds its own against one of the most theatrical natural backdrops in the world. If there's a Hades on Earth, Nolan has got there and enjoyed a coolcation while at it.
Book your stay at Hotel Vík í Mýrdal.
6. Casa Bonavita. Attard, Malta
A sunshine-filled heaven to wrap it all up, Casa Bonavita is the new Malta hotel already rewriting the rules and look of hospitality on the island.
Design Destination: 147 Triq Sant Anton, Attard ATD 1285, Malta
Filming Location: The picturesque Malta, already starring in epic films Troy and Gladiator, becomes the setting for The Odyssey's Calypso's Cave scenes in Nolan's reinterpretation of Homer's classical poem
A big screen habituée, Malta has been appearing in films as the ancient Mediterranean since the heyday of Hollywood in the 1960s, and counts mentions in Troy, Gladiator, and Game of Thrones, among others. In Nolan's anticipated film The Odyssey, it hosts the Calypso's Cave sequences, where old-world charm and otherworldly ambiences combine to a surreal effect. Still, that's not the only piece of news Malta is a protagonist of this year. Tucked away in Attard, one of the island's historic Three Villages, between aristocratic palazzi and fragrant walled gardens, Casa Bonavita is the newest Maltese hotel opening of 2026 to get design-conscious travelers talking.
Opened in May after a seven-year restoration, the property sits inside an 18th-century Baroque family estate reinvented into a 17-room retreat by Rug Company founders Christopher and Suzanne Sharp. Intentionally grand, the destination reinterprets Malta's quirkiest side and faded grandeur for the contemporary globetrotter. Inside, Sicilian marble, Murano glass chandeliers, bespoke de Gournay wallpaper, and antiques gathered over decades recreate the feeling of a collector's residence, while beautifully preserved vaulted ceilings and flagstone floors root the stay in a timeless atmosphere. Local pottery house Villa Bologna dot the interiors with its characterful ceramics, while a raw Mediterranean garden growing at the hotel's heart imbues the air with heated jasmine, rosemary, and citrus tree fragrance for guests to take in as they enjoy dinner under the palms.
Book your stay at Casa Bonavita.
A Sneak Preview of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'
In the mood for more travel advice? Read on to discover everything about the hottest hotel openings of summer 2026, or dive into our design-forward edit of hotel pools in London to keep cool in the heatwave.
