Updated July 17, 2026 02:36PM
It’s considered the greatest adventure story ever told. A 2,800-year-old-epic poem that’s been retold for millennia is now reborn in theaters today. The Odyssey is Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan’s $250-million-budget film adaptation of Greek poet Homer’s classic. Matt Damon stars as the heroic Greek King Odysseus who embarks on a harrowing ten-year journey battling monsters, gods, and the high seas. The film’s cast includes a number of Hollywood heavyweights: Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Zendaya.
Beyond the all-star cast, one of the most extraordinary elements of the film is that it was shot almost entirely on location—and stunning ones at that. Instead of relying on green screen, Nolan filmed over 91 days in remote landscapes and rugged coastlines across six countries, from caves in Greece, to black sand beaches in Iceland, and pine woodlands and towering sand dunes in Scotland.
Nolan is known for his extreme commitment to practical filmmaking, calling his style “taking fanciful ideas and rooting them in reality,” per the film’s production notes shared with Outside. This approach to filmmaking is evident in his blockbuster hits like the Dark Knight trilogy, Oppenheimer, and Interstellar. But The Odyssey might be his greatest challenge yet. The director went to great lengths to make the epic myth feel as real as possible, avoiding relying on computer-generated graphics. From constructing a 60-foot animatronic one-eyed Cyclops to using a real Viking expedition ship for sailing on the open seas, Nolan brought this age-old myth to life with the first feature film in history to be entirely shot on IMAX cameras.
Shooting in extreme conditions was as arduous as it was exhilarating for the cast. Damon said this was the hardest film to shoot of his career, in production notes shared with Outside, and that it “felt more like an expedition than a movie.”
“Every location we went to, I would get there, and I would just start laughing, like, ‘Who thought you should shoot a movie here?’” Damon says. “I remember when we got to Iceland after shooting in these hard places, everybody kept saying, ‘Iceland will be easy; it’s summertime.’ And Iceland said, ‘Hold my beer, watch this.’ ”
While summertime in Iceland means long days shooting under the midnight sun on black sand beaches, that doesn’t mean sunny skies. This is the third time Nolan opted for Iceland’s challenging, but dramatic landscapes, after Batman Begins and Interstellar.
“We shoot Hollywood stuff all the time, but to go through it when Matt Damon says it was one of the hardest things he’s ever shot, we agree,” Nastasia Sasi Czechowska, operations manager at Truenorth, the production company which facilitated filming in Iceland, tells Outside.
“Iceland is the perfect location because you have different vistas and different landscapes so close to each other. So you are able to shoot something green, something black sand beach, something glacier… just within two or three hours of driving.”
The unpredictable weather conditions are also ideal for shooting. This is The Odyssey after all, so drama is welcome. “Iceland’s weather looks good on camera and fits the story,” adds Czechowska. “It’s very moody, and you have the perfect light, and you have the perfect scenario for what you want to shoot that you couldn’t have anywhere else.”
A Real Ocean-Faring Viking Ship Was Used in The Odyssey
Beyond using real-world locations, a full-scale traditional longship (called the Draken Harald Hårfagre) from Norway was used in filming across Scotland, Iceland, Greece and Italy. “Draken Harald Hårfagre was built as an experimental archaeology project to better understand how large Viking ships actually performed at sea,” Emanuel Persson, CEO and Expedition Leader of Draken Harald Hårfagre, tells Outside. Since her launch, she has sailed thousands of nautical miles, including a crossing of the North Atlantic to North America in 2016.
“Many days were spent working in genuine open-water conditions where weather, wind and sea state were simply part of the day. As a fully operational ocean-going Viking ship, Draken is designed for exactly those environments, so the production was able to film on a real vessel under real conditions,” says Persson.
“For our crew, it often felt much like any other expedition. Every day depended on the weather, and everyone onboard had to adapt to changing wind and sea conditions,” he adds. Unlike many vessels built or adapted for film, Draken is a working ocean-going ship first. Following the production, she returned directly to sailing expeditions.
How to Visit The Odyssey Filming Locations
This epic adventure tale, reimagined on screen and shot all over the world, is sure to spur viewers to wonder: “Where in the world is that scene in real life?” and maybe even inspire an epic adventure of their own in locations from Iceland to Greece.
Greece
A real-world cavern immersed in Greek myth was used to stage Odysseus’s encounter with the one-eyed Cyclops monster. Nestor’s Cave, located in the foothills of the Peloponnese region of Greece, has a vaulted ceiling 95 feet high. The prehistoric grotto is located above Voidokilia Beach in Pylos, Greece, and has been used since the Neolithic period and has been featured in several Greek myths.
How to have your own adventure here: For those interested in exploring the myths and legends associated with Odysseus and the Trojan War, New Scientist Discovery Tours, a provider of science-inspired tours, is offering a ‘behind-the-ropes’ access to Mycenae, one of Greece’s most important historical and archaeological sites, as part of its eight-day Mycenaean and Peloponnesian archaeology tour.
Coming in 2027, Terra & Tu Cultural Journeys is the newest travel collection from Natural Habitat Adventures, which offers travelers a chance to dive into the myth-steeped landscapes on its ten-day A Greek Odyssey: Hidden Villages of Arcadia & the Peloponnese Coast itinerary. And Backroads also offers a Peloponnese hiking and walking tour.
Iceland
Scenes of Odysseus venturing into the Underworld to seek counsel from the spirits were shot, ironically, near the top of the world in Iceland. Filmed in June 2025, , the scenes captured the mystical light of the all-day midnight sun, across desolate, stark terrain. “I knew early I wanted the landscape of Iceland to portray Hades,” Nolan says in the production notes. “This journey north, further and further into the cold, couldn’t be further away from Odysseus’s home in Ithaca.” The icy Highlands, the cave, and the black sands of Hjörleifshöfði were used to convey Hades and other otherworldly sequences.
How to have your own adventure here: Explora, the South American B Corp travel operator known for taking small groups into remote places from Patagonia to the Andes, is offering new eight-day expeditions to parts of Iceland very few tourists reach. Traveling through Iceland’s Highlands via 4×4 SuperJeeps, travelers are able to hike through remote lava fields and alongside ice caps. Or adventure-loving travelers can learn to drive your own fully modified Jeep Wrangler Rubicon on 40-inch tires across remote mountain roads with Rebel Roads.
Morocco
Production of The Odyssey began in February of 2025 in Morocco. The beaches of Essaouira on the Atlantic coast were used in the scene where the Trojan Horse was discovered. Aït Benhaddou, located near the Atlas Mountains, provided space and structures for De Jong to craft the massive, 360-degree set representing the fabled, doomed city of Troy. The ancient city of Troy was recreated at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Aït Benhaddou, with additional filming in Marrakech, Essaouira, and the coastal city of Dakhla.
How to have your own adventure here: Wilderness Travel’s Morocco: Camels to Casbahs guided adventure tour takes you to the hillside citadel of Ait Ben Haddou, the UNESCO World Heritage Site which stood in as the ancient city of Troy in The Odyssey. You’ll stay in traditional riads and a private Sahara Desert camp. Essaouira beaches are known for their ideal surfing conditions for beginners, and nearby wild beaches offer world-class breaks. It’s also known as the “Windy City of Africa,” and is a great spot for kitesurfing as well.
Sicily and the Aeolian Islands, Italy
The island of Favignana (the ancient “Goat Island”) near Sicily portrayed Ithaca, the kingdom Penelope, Telemachus, and long-lost Odysseus lived in. The 15th-century Castello di Santa Caterina, which sits atop a rugged hill 1,030 feet above the Mediterranean Sea was used for their home. But the fortress has no access roads, which meant the cast and crew had to hike each day to get to the castle for the three-week shoot. Nolan filmed dramatic sea scenes across the Aeolian Islands, a volcanic archipelago off the northern coast of Sicily (depicting the mythological island of Aeolia),including filming around the islands of Lipari and Vulcano, as well as the uninhabited islet of Basiluzzo. Lipari, the largest of the islands, is where Odysseus rested as a guest of King Aeolus, “keeper of the winds,” in the original epic poem.
How to have your own adventure here: Wilderness Travel’s new Volcano Trails of the Aeolian Islands & Sicily tour gives travelers a chance to summit Mt. Etna, hike up to the crater rim on Vulcano Island, watch spectacular volcanic eruptions on Stromboli, and hike on the coasts of Lipari and Panarea. Backroads offers a trip to Sicily and the Aeolian archipelago as well, including a women’s hiking trip option.
Scotland
Nolan chose Scotland’s dramatic Moray Firth coast as a primary filming location for his adaptation of The Odyssey. The rugged shores and ancient forests were used to construct scenes of Odysseus’s kingdom, Ithaca. The pine woodlands of Culbin Forest set the stage for an epic battle between warriors and giants. And the ruins of Findlater Castle, a 15th-century fortress perched on a 50-foot cliff, served as a striking backdrop in the film, too.
How to have an adventure here: Located near the Moray Firth coast, Sillyearn Mains Aire in Moray, Scotland, offers a base for exploring with a campground, bookable through Pitchup.com. It’s also just 20 minutes from Findlater Castle. Ride mountain biking trails directly from the campsite or take on part of the long-distance North Sea Cycle Route, which passes through the nearby coastal town of Buckie. Head to Lossiemouth for surfing lessons or set out from the nearby WDC Scottish Dolphin Centre on a boat cruise to spot bottlenose dolphins, seals, and whales along the Moray Firth.
Kathleen Rellihan believes she read The Odyssey in high school, but won’t forget taking her own epic odyssey through Iceland’s remote Highlands. She’s attempted to surf on Essaouira’s beaches, and visited Lipari while studying abroad in Italy. She believes”Zeus’s Law”—the divine rule that states hosts must welcome and protect travelers (and guests must behave respectfully)—as any stranger could be a god in disguise—is a timeless travel motto.
