Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Locations: FULL List + Map!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one of the only 1960s movie musicals that has a scrumptious sing-a-long soundtrack and fairytale filming locations. Aside from The Sound of Music (1965), of course. But the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang locations are quirky, gorgeous, and severely wanderlust-inducing.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) follows the inventor and widower, Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke). When his young children meet Truly Scrumptious, who is the daughter of a sweet manufacturer, she practically becomes part of the family and joins them on adventures. Most of the movie is a dramatic retelling of Caractacus’s story that he tells the trio about their noisy family car, a country named Vulgaria, and the evil Baron Bomburst.

I absolutely adore this film and the songs. The characters are wonderfully melodramatic, it’s like a pantomime. Plus, the family lives inside a windmill! And there’s a beautiful Bavarian village! Okay, let’s get to it. These are all the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang locations in England, Germany and France.

Where Was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Filmed?

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Filming Locations in England

1. Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang begins with Potts competing in various Grand Prix events. The Pinewood Studios backlot is the main “location” for these scenes. But the forest where the track continues during the 1908 Grand Prix in Germany is the first proper Chitty Chitty Bang Bang filming location, Black Pack Country Park in Buckinghamshire.

Black Park is a popular filming location because it’s so close to Pinewood. It’s featured in Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and the Harry Potter film series.

Read next: Snow White and the Huntsman Filming Locations in the UK

2. Box Hill, Zig Zag Road, Surrey

The 1909 British Grand Prix is where things go disastrously wrong for Potts. He flies down Zig Zag Road on Box Hill, Surrey and is just about to finish first when a girl chases after her dog on the track. Veering out of the way, Potts crashes and his car goes up in flames.

3. Kiln Barn, Russell’s Water, Oxfordshire

A few years later, the car ends up at Coggin’s Garage, a shell of its former self. This garage looks like a farm but it’s actually a rather expensive private house called Kiln Barn in Russell’s Water, Oxfordshire. It recently sold for just under £2 million and, completely renovated, became a rental property in June 2018.

I ask you… Who voluntarily spends £3,750 per month on rent?!

4. Duck Pond, Russell’s Water, Oxfordshire

Upon leaving Coggin’s Garage, Jeremy and Jemima startle Truly Scrumptious and cause her to veer off-road into a Duck Pond. This pond is directly next to Kiln Barn in Russell’s Water, Oxfordshire.

5. Cobstone Windmill, Turville, Buckinghamshire

One of the best Chitty Chitty Bang Bang filming locations by far. Truly takes Jeremy and Jemima home, and what a home it is. The children live with their dad in a farm complex next to Cobstone Windmill in the village of Turville, Buckinghamshire.

It still exists and it looks exactly the same as it did 50+ years ago! Actress Hayley Mills used to live there and renovated the estate, but luckily the windmill remained.

6. Kempton Park Water Treatment Works, Hanworth, Middlesex

Potts realises his sweets with holes provide a delightfully annoying whistling sound when you blow through them. So, off he goes to the local sweet factory run by The Scrumptious Sweet Company to sell his idea to Lord Scrumptious.

The factory’s exterior is the old Kempton Park Water Treatment Works in Middlesex. Today, it’s Kempton Steam Museum. I imagine Chitty Chitty Bang Bang shot the interior in Pinewood Studios.

7. Hambleden, Buckinghamshire

After earning the money to pay for Chitty from performing in a skit at a travelling fairground (is there another way to describe that scene?), Potts fixes her up. Then, he takes his kids on a celebratory picnic and drives through the village of Hambleden in Buckinghamshire singing the titular song. It’s a tiny village, so the main road isn’t difficult to decipher.

8. Shottesbrooke Park, Maidenhead, Berkshire

After running Truly into the duck pond, again, she joins the Potts family on their picnic. With the four of them packed into Chitty, they drive past Shottesbrooke Park which is a private home in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

9. Longmoor Training Camp, Hampshire

Caractacus drives Chitty on a road next to a steam train to emphasise Chitty’s speed and endurance. Yes, they’re still on the way to this chuffing picnic. This railway is the old Longmoor Military Railway between Longmoor Training Camp and Liss Station in Hampshire. The railway closed down in the late 1960s but the track is probably still there.

And the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang beach location where the Potts and Truly Scrumptious enjoy that picnic? You’ll need to keep reading to find out about that location!

10. Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios, Berkshire

Can you believe that Truly Scrumptious’s house, that crisp-white, pristine and undefiled house, is Heatherden Hall which stands on the grounds of Pinewood Studios? Yes, even the garden too with the small white bridge over the pond and that frilly cupcake swing! It’s actually part of the studios now. I wonder how many other films it’s appeared in…

11. Old Iver Lane Bridge, Iver, Buckinghamshire

We’ve begun the magic realism section of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Baron Bomburst has unleashed two vaudevillian-esque minions in England to snatch Chitty away from Caractacus. I can’t blame him, it is a smashing car. And because the minions look like silent movie characters, naturally they attempt to blow up a bridge with crates of dynamite which have DYNAMITE written on the outside. Their plan to trap Chitty backfires.

This bridge is the Old Iver Lane Bridge in Iver, Buckinghamshire. I’ve pinned on the google map at the top of this blog post exactly where the bridge is located.

12. Ilmer Railway Bridge, Ilmer, Buckinghamshire

Stan and Laurel don’t fall at the first hurdle. Their next attempt, which is a far more creative plan, involves dropping a stage background under a railway bridge so Potts will unintentionally drive Chitty right into their cart.

Of course, it doesn’t go to plan. Fatty Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin trap Lord Scrumptious driving his distinctly average motor car instead of Chitty. This bridge is the Ilmer Railway Bridge in Ilmer, Buckinghamshire.

13. Turville, Buckinghamshire

The next location is the general countryside surrounding Turville, Buckinghamshire. The village where Potts’ windmill is situated. We see this location when Baron Bomburst’s airship flies overhead so he can collect Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and ship them back off to Vulgaria.

Along with Mr Potts Snr in his posh travelling hut, of course. What a farcical turn of events!

14. Beachy Head, East Sussex

And the final Chitty Chitty Bang Bang film location in England is at Beachy Head in East Sussex. Chitty is, of course, a flying car so Mr Potts & Co. put her to the test when they follow Grandpa in his little hut as he flies away against his will. While you briefly wonder whether the Potts family will plunge to their deaths in the English channel or not, rest assured Chitty works her magic. You can see Beachy Head Lighthouse as they fly away, too.

Thanks to Fred Wells in the comments for letting me know about this filming location. Extra intel is always appreciated!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Filming Locations in Germany

15. Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau

The first view of Vulgaria is a stunning one. Various locations in Germany help create the fictional land, but it’s the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang castle you’ll instantly recognise. If you’ve spent literally one day on Instagram, you’ll know Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. It’s a magnificently turreted hilltop castle originally built for King Ludwig II in the 19th century.

It’s Baron Bomburst’s humble abode in the film. The castle also inspired the design of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1959) castle.

Read next: 75+ Famous Movie Locations You Can Actually Visit

16. Balthasar-Neumann-Brücke, Tauberrettersheim

After a hostile welcome from the locals, Caractacus lands Chitty next to a bridge in a Vulgarian village. In reality, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang location is Balthasar-Neumann-Brücke which is a bridge in Tauberrettersheim, Bavaria. 

17. Kobolzeller Tor, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

The Potts family attempt to communicate with the locals so they can get directions to the castle. What the English family don’t know is the Baron has outlawed children, so Jeremy and Jemima are probably making the Vulgarians very nervous.

The Potts (and Truly, of course) enter the village through the archway underneath the Kobolzeller Tor (Tower) in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria.

18. Marktplatz, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Oh, this is my favourite out of all the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang filming locations and I’m sure it’s yours too. The Martktplatz in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria is the village’s main square. This is where the toymaker ushers the Potts family into his workshop to escape the child catcher.

My mum used to do a fantastic impression of the child catcher when I was little. It was a bit too good really, but I don’t think it left any emotional scars.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a fair distance from any main transport routes or major cities which is probably why it sidestepped modernisation. But now, it’s an extremely busy tourist town because it is so dang pretty. There’s a brief glimpse of this town in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) during a flashback when Grindelwald steals a wand.

Read next: Harry Potter Filming Locations in Scotland: A Complete Guide

19. Alpsee, Schwangau

In an odd turn of events, Mr Potts Snr is tasked with flying Chitty over Vulgaria with the Baron and Baroness as passengers. He accidentally ejects the Baroness out of the backseat and her massive skirt keeps her suspended in the air so her husband shoots her down. Mad.

She lands in a lake and the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang location is the Alpsee lake in Schwangau, Bavaria.

20. Strafturm für leichte Vergehen, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Potts’ children are locked up in the castle’s tower, so he and the toymaker climb it to rescue them. In reality, the tower is Strafturm für leichte Vergehen in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It’s name means “criminal tower for light offenses” and I assume that’s exactly what it’s former use was!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Filming Locations in France

21. Cap Taillat, Ramatuelle

Chitty is a bloody good car. One minute she is steaming down a country road in Buckinghamshire, and the next she’s driving up to a beach in France so the Potts family can have a nice picnic.

Yes, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang beach isn’t even in England! It’s Cap Taillat in Ramatuelle in the South of France. I have no idea why no beach in England was suitable, the warmer water maybe? It is a highly photogenic peninsula beach, though. Secluded and idyllic, the perfect place to persuade a confectionary heiress to join you back at your windmill.

And those are the top Chitty Chitty Bang Bang locations in England, Germany and France! Have you watched the film or visited any of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang film locations? Let me know in the comments below!

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