Setjetting through the Mission: Impossible Movies

Movies and TV shows fuel our wanderlust. Watching James Bond looking dapper in a tuxedo at a Macau casino or Emily Cooper dining against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower inspire us to experience some global glamour for ourselves. According to recent surveys, one in four travellers say that their favourite movies and TV shows shape their travel plans. Setjetting is truly a thing, and few movies inspire us to setjet more than the Mission: Impossible films. To mark the release of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and to help you shape your own globetrotting adventures, let’s journey through the filming locations of the seven films in the series so far. 

Mission: Impossible (1996) 

In the showstopping opening sequence, Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and his team go undercover in Prague, Czechia, with filming locations at Liechtenstein Palace, the Prague National Museum, and Charles Bridge. Later, he heads to Liverpool Street in London, England as well as the Chunnel—and Langley, Virginia, though good luck getting access to CIA headquarters. 

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) 

The heart of the second film takes place in and around Sydney, Australia. The villain’s lair is Bare Island Fort at the entrance to Botany Bay, while the climactic motorcycle chase takes place up the coast at Boora Point in Malabar. Other scenes take place at Sydney Harbour and as far as Broken Hill in the outback. Earlier, we also see Ethan in Seville, Spain and free solo rock climbing at Dead Horse Point, Utah. 

Mission: Impossible III (2006) 

In M:i: III, Ethan and his team infiltrate the Vatican City in Rome to kidnap the villain before heading to Shanghai, China for a car chase near the Bund and Oriental Pearl Tower. Later, Ethan traces his kidnapped wife to the Xitang old town in Jiashan, China. 

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) 

In arguably the most famous sequence in the entire series, Cruise’s Ethan Hunt climbs the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to infiltrate a secret meeting. The film's opening sequences split between Budapest, Hungary and Moscow, Russia, while the climatic duel with the villain is in Mumbai, India in the Apollo Bundar area. 

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) 

In Rogue Nation, Ethan tracks the villains to Vienna, Austria where he attends Turandot at the Vienna State Opera. The standout motorbike chase takes place on the Marrakech Highway in Morocco as well as near the Kasbah of the Udayas in Rabat and the old medina of Casablanca. Later, Ethan follows the villains to London and Oxford, England. 

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) 

Ethan does a HALO jump onto the Grand Palais of Paris, France and chases Ilsa Faust through the streets surrounding the Arc de Triomphe. Later, he returns to London, England near Blackfriars and St. Paul’s. The climactic helicopter chase set in Kashmir was filmed in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand and Lysefjorden, Norway. 

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) 

The penultimate film takes Ethan to Abu Dhabi International Airport and the Liwa Desert of the United Arab Emirates before he returns to Rome for a car chase near the Colosseum. After a party sequence at Doge’s Palace in Venice, the setting shifts to the Austrian Alps and the Orient Express. While filming, Cruise rode his motorbike off a cliff at the Troll Wall of Møre og Romsdal, Norway, which stood in for the Alps.