Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Filming Locations from Turville to Neuschwanstein

Inventor Caractacus Potts, a widower with two children, lives in a windmill, and the real one is Cobstone Mill on Turville Hill in Buckinghamshire. Built around 1816, it was cosmetically restored in 1967 for the film. Cameras rolled from 17 July to 4 October that year. The mill is still a private home, so enjoy it from the lane and the hill around it.

Visitor guidance: Private home; view it from the public roads and Turville Hill only.

Truly Scrumptious, heiress to the big Scrumptious candy company, lives in a mansion. On screen that house is Heatherden Hall, the Victorian country house at the heart of Pinewood Studios at Iver Heath. Pinewood grew on the Heatherden Hall estate. It is a working studio site, not a sightseeing stop.

On the family's first trip in the car they head to a beach for a picnic, and Truly joins them. The weather in England was so miserable that production moved to Cap Taillat in the South of France, near Saint-Tropez. A sandy isthmus ties the cape to the coast. Today it is protected land, so walk the coastal paths with care.

Location precision: The film names Cap Taillat, but not the exact stretch of beach; the pin marks the cape.

Visitor guidance: Protected coastal site; stay on marked paths.

In Caractacus's story, Baron Bomburst's spies kidnap the wrong man. They take Grandpa Potts, outhouse included, aloft in the Baron's airship, and the family follows in Chitty, which sprouts wings. The airship was filmed hovering over the hillside near the village of Turville. The village has historic stone and timber houses around a green, and the hill above it is the same one that carries Cobstone Mill.

Location precision: The guide places the airship over the hillside near Turville; the pin marks the village.

Visitor guidance: Turville is a village with public footpaths; the green and church are easy to see.

Vulgaria is a land where children are outlawed because the Baroness cannot stand them. The creepy Child Catcher and the cavalry search the town square for the hidden kids. That square is Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria, best known for its well-preserved medieval old town.

Location precision: The location guide names Rothenburg's town square; the pin marks the Marktplatz.

Visitor guidance: The old town is open to walkers all year.

Baron Bomburst's castle is Ludwig II's kitsch fantasy of Neuschwanstein. Inside the story, the Vulgarian children swarm the banquet hall on Bomburst's birthday, overcome his guests and capture the Baron. King Ludwig died in 1886 and the castle opened to the public soon afterwards. Tickets are sold in Hohenschwangau village below.

Visitor guidance: Tickets are sold in Hohenschwangau village below the castle.