11 Iconic Music Video Locations You Can Actually Visit
Go see where Beyoncé got in “Formation.”
At any given moment, there are countless tours running all over New York, LA, Paris—pretty much anywhere you can think of—that take tourists to locations from their favorite TV shows and movies: the Seinfeld restaurant, the Rocky steps, the house from Halloween, and so on. Music videos, however iconic, influential, and formative they may be, have tended to get ignored when it comes to those questionably safe van tours whisking people around to see important locations.
That’s why we’ve put together a guide to 11 of the most iconic music video locations you can actually visit. Use this list and plan your trip to the Toronto spot where Rihanna did her “Work,” the Chåteau where Lana Del Rey was “Born To Die,” and the faux-New Orleans home where Beyoncé got in “Formation.”
Toronto, Ontario
A spicy Caribbean eatery in Toronto, The Real Jerk Restaurant hosted Rihanna and Drake for the “Work” shoot back in 2016. You can take nighttime exterior shots outside of the restaurant, like in the video’s opening, or throw on a mesh dress, a statement lip, and grind it out inside, like the “Work” dancers. Just make sure to grab a plate of jerk chicken when hunger hits, because this restaurant’s take is legendary.
Huntington, New York
Any Swiftie worth their stuff knows Oheka Castle, which hosts Swift and company in the “Blank Space” video. A massive mansion-turned-hotel on Long Island, the Oheka Castle also hosts events like weddings, wine dinners, and Bridgerton-inspired high teas, so you don’t necessarily have to book a room to enjoy the grounds. And if you think the Castle looks familiar, you’re right: It’s been in dozens of movies and TV shows, including Citizen Kane, The Americans, Gossip Girl, and Succession.
Alfred Rosenheim Mansion
Los Angeles, California
Though it’s perhaps best known as the “murder house” in American Horror Story, the Alfred Rosenheim Mansion in LA’s Mid City neighborhood has hosted dozens of other productions as well, including Halsey’s “Colors” shoot. The mansion was briefly listed on Airbnb a few years back, boasting it could sleep up to 16 people, but unfortunately you can’t go inside now, unless you’re part of a crew that’s booked it for a production. Most of the time, it’s just a private residence, though there’s still a great view of the home’s exterior from the street.
Palmdale, California
Lady Gaga has made a lot of really amazing, cinematic music videos, but only one also starred Beyoncé. In “Telephone,” released in 2009, Gaga and Bey poison Tyrese Gibson and an entire diner of people thanks to some tainted honey. All that action takes place at the Four Aces Movie Ranch out in California’s Mojave Desert, and while you can’t go inside what’s essentially a totally fictional “dive” used purely for film and TV shoots these days, you can still cruise up to the outside in your version of the Kill Bill “Pussy Wagon,” throw a few Diet Coke cans in your hair, and get some sweet photos.
Dorset, United Kingdom
The video for Coldplay’s “Yellow” is stark and sad at the same time, shot in muted color with a very young Chris Martin walking along a beautiful (but barren) beach. In real life, that setting—Studland Beach in Dorset —is actually pretty lovely, with the area hailed as one of England’s seaside gems. While it’s still totally possible to throw “Yellow” on some headphones and channel your inner Martin if you happen to visit, it’s also worth noting that decades earlier, that same stretch of beach was also featured in the very first scene of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Pasadena, California
You might think Beyoncé’s “Formation” video was shot in New Orleans and that’s understandable, since the song does call up Louisiana, hot sauce, and Creole culture. And yet, it was actually shot in Southern California, with the Fényes Mansion in Pasadena sitting in for some stately NOLA home. The home currently houses the Pasadena Museum of History, so it’s totally open for visitors during operating hours, too, though you’ll have to bring your own pearls, oversized hat, and no-bullshit attitude.
London, England
A London institution for almost 250 years, the St. Pancras Renaissance boasts one of the most majestic staircases in the whole country. And if that staircase looks familiar, there’s a good reason: It was prominently featured in The Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” video, a clip so ubiquitous that it seemingly played every 15 minutes on MTV in the mid-’90s. The video features more than just the staircase, too: The building plays a pretty key role in the video, with not only the exterior getting prime placement, but also the entire lobby, which the Girls run through in a famous tracking shot.
Fontainebleau, France
Taylor Swift might have shot “Blank Space” at a house called a castle, but when Lana Del Rey made “Born To Die,” she landed an honest-to-God Chåteau. The Chåteau de Fontainebleau is a centuries-old palace located about 34 miles outside Paris and is one of France’s largest former royal homes. The Chåteau served as a hunting lodge and residence for Louis VII, Francis I, Henry II, Louis-Philippe, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Napoleon III, to name a few French leaders, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. If you’re looking to summon up your inner LDR, make sure to check out the palace’s 17th century Chapel of the Trinity, where some of the most monumental “Born To Die” scenes were shot.
Kingston, Ontario
Like “Formation,” Fall Out Boy’s “Centuries” takes a viewer assumption—in this case, that the Roman-themed video was actually shot in Rome’s Colosseum—and runs with it, peppering CG exterior shots and Gladiator-like footage amongst footage shot on location not in Italy, but in Canada. In actuality, “Centuries” was filmed in Ontario’s historic Fort Henry, which sits at a strategic posting near the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the St. Lawrence River, and the east end of Lake Ontario. The Fort hosts visitors all year round, offering guided tours, waterfront dining, and rifle firing demonstrations, as well as a spooky Halloween event it calls “Fort Fright.”
Fremont Street
Las Vegas, Nevada
More than a few famous music videos have been shot on Las Vegas’s brightly-lit Fremont Street, and for good reason: It’s a spectacle in its own right, with flashing signs, heaps of tourists, and tons to see. U2 shot its “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” clip strolling along Fremont after a show in April 1987 and The Flaming Lips harnessed the weirdness of the street for their “Do You Realize” video. The street has also been featured in Katy Perry’s “Waking Up In Vegas,” Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic,” and The Weeknd’s “Heartless.”
LA Grand Hotel
Los Angeles, California
Shot by legendary video director Spike Jonze over just two days right before Christmas, Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon Of Choice” video stands alone as a piece of art. Featuring a very campy Christopher Walken, the clip uses the stark and boringly corporate interior of what was then a Marriott Hotel as a sort of counterpoint for both the song and the action, which is fantastical and wild. Fun fact: Christopher Walken actually trained as a dancer for musical theater before settling on serious acting as a career path, so in some ways “Weapon Of Choice” is the perfect use of all of his skills.
The hotel has been updated shockingly little in the almost 25 years since the video was shot so the bones of the building are still there, like the big window Walken sits near in the clips’s opening, the lobby escalators he struts down, and the balcony Walken jumps off near the end of the video. While the hotel doesn’t appear to be accepting reservations at the moment—the struggling facility was turned into a sort of de facto homeless shelter back in 2022 and has been the subject ofa flurry of lawsuits and controversy since—you could probably still try and pop in if you’re in the area and feeling gutsy.