Cheapflights.com Ushers in the New TV Season

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Aug 28, 2013) - For TV fans, the countdown is on. The fall's season premieres are just around the corner, kicking off the ritual of being transported by the storylines and locations of our favorite shows. As we gear up to embark on these weekly flights on imagination, the travel experts at Cheapflights.com, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, have turned their focus to destinations that play key roles in beloved series past and present. Our Top 10 Trips for TV Lovers is a must-see list for those who can't get enough of television's top shows. 

The world has become a stage for television shows (and fans) with many TV series now being set and filmed around the globe. However, the US still remains a hotbed for memorable small-screen moments with these five destinations all well known to television audiences worldwide:

• New York, New York - Skinny tie-wearing "Mad Men" fanatics, "Girls" groupies and faithful "Seinfeld" re-run watchers can all come together in the city that never sleeps. New York City has been the backdrop for -- and almost a character in -- countless small-screen favorites, including past hits like "Gossip Girl" and the "Sopranos." So, whether you'd like to belly up to a 1960s-inspired bar à la "Mad Men," taste a cupcake at Magnolia Bakery like the ladies of "Sex and the City," or see the bright lights of Broadway as captured in "Smash," the Big Apple is the place for fans of shows past and present. You can even make like a reality TV star by heading to the Fashion District where the contestants on "Project Runway" shack up, sew and shop for fabric. Those hooked on current series can reserve spots in a guided "Mad Men" tour, or explore Brooklyn's Greenpoint and Bushwick neighborhoods featured in "Girls." Thanks to TV tour companies like On Location Tours, visitors can hop around to filming locations from shows like "Sex and the City" and the "Sopranos." Or, do your own research and scour New York to find the real-life versions of memorable on-screen sites.
  
  
• Albuquerque, New Mexico - Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the hot spot for "Breaking Bad" loyalists addicted to the story of Walter White, a chemistry teacher with terminal cancer who starts a meth lab with a former student as a means of making money for his family. The TV series has sparked a spike in Albuquerque visitors itching to see filming locations such as Jesse Pinkman's house, fast-food joint Twisters Grill (which doubles as Los Pollos Hermanos on the show) and the local Octopus car wash. "Breaking Bad" fans can get their fix with a limo, trolley or "Biking Bad" tour, each of which features visits to about a dozen locations from the show and views of the New Mexico landscape. Beyond "Breaking Bad" locales, Albuquerque offers top-notch southwestern food, plenty of arts and culture, and outdoor recreational activities. The city has embraced its newfound TV fame. Local businesses have taken everything from bath products to donuts and given them a "Breaking Bad" twist. After you see the filming locations, hit up The Candy Lady in Old Town Albuquerque for a $1 bag of the blue ice candy featured on the show.
  
  
• New England - New England destinations have acted as the settings for shows ranging from the animated comedy "Family Guy" to classics from days gone by, like "Cheers," which centered around a Boston bar and told the stories of its regular customers. "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, a former Rhode Island School of Design student, developed this popular series that follows a dysfunctional family living in the fictional Rhode Island town of Quahog. The show's characters regularly reference Rhode Island attractions, leading the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council to launch a "Family Guy" self-guided tour of Rhode Island in 2012. Tour highlights include a lookout point with a view of the Providence skyline and visits to places like Spooner Street and Del's Lemonade. On Location Tours also features a Boston TV and movie tour that takes visitors to landmarks from "Boston Legal" and "Ally McBeal." Past series, "Cheers," was shot in Los Angeles, but the exterior shots of the bar were straight from Boston's Bull & Finch Pub, which is now known as Cheers Beacon Hill and draws regular crowds of tourists. And who can forget the 1990s sitcom "Wings" based around a fictional airport on Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts? The show offered up real exterior shots of Nantucket Memorial Airport.
  
  
• Hawaii - The spectacular scenery of the Hawaiian Islands has made them irresistible as filming locations for countless movies and plenty of television favorites too. Current series "Hawaii Five-O," which follows members of a special task force (Five-O) as they tackle crime on the islands, is a revival of the original series that aired mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. The show is filmed on location in Oahu and features picturesque locales like Kualoa Ranch (which offers a movie and TV tour), Ali'iolani Hale and the Hilton Hawaiian Village along Waikiki (the team sometimes meets for dinner at one of the hotel's restaurants -- Tropics Bar and Grill). "Lost" was also shot in Oahu and racked up a long list of filming locations during its six-year run. Many of the Oahu locales were meant to replicate the scenery from the fictional tropical island in the show.
  
  
• Pacific Northwest - Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, have raked in their fair share of tourists looking to catch a glimpse of various landmarks from hospital drama "Grey's Anatomy" and sketch comedy "Portlandia," respectively. Heading into its 10th season, "Grey's Anatomy" still holds onto a strong following of long-time watchers determined to see the story through. Many episodes open with impressive aerial shots of Seattle, and while the interior scenes are filmed in L.A., Seattle-goers looking for their fill of familiar "Grey's" sites have a few stops to make. Head to the Queen Anne neighborhood to find Meredith Grey's house, then make your way to KOMO-TV's headquarters -- the station's helipad doubles as the helipad on the roof of the show's fictional Seattle Grace Hospital. "Portlandia" pokes a little fun at Portland's reputation as an extremely progressive city. Starring former Saturday Night Live cast member Fred Armisen, "Portlandia" is filmed on location in and around Portland, and features plenty of places for the show's fans to see up close, including Gilt Club restaurant, Voodoo Doughnut, Wealth Underground Farm and Pier Park.
  
  

The five destinations from around the globe that round out our list of top spots for loyal TV fans are home to some of today's hottest series: Newbury, United Kingdom ("Downton Abbey"); Dubrovnik, Croatia ("Game of Thrones"); Copenhagen, Denmark ("The Killing" and "The Bridge"); Toronto, Ontario, Canada ("Nikita," "Covert Affairs," "Suits," "Rookie Blue," and more); and A world tour ("The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette," "The Amazing Race"). To read the complete details on Cheapflights.com's Top 10 Trips for TV Lovers, visit www.cheapflights.com/news/top-10-trips-for-tv-lovers.

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Momondo Group is an online travel media and technology company that is driven by the belief that an open world is a better world. The group now serves travel search and inspiration to over 13 million visitors a month -- plus 6 million travel newsletter subscribers -- via its Cheapflights (www.cheapflights.com) and momondo (www.momondo.com) brands.

Skygate began the sourcing of complex air-travel data in 1992, while Cheapflights pioneered the online comparison of flight deals for users in 1996 and momondo launched meta-search in the Nordic countries in 2006. 

The Group has offices in London, Copenhagen, Boston and Toronto, with a consumer base across more than 20 core international markets but users all over the world.

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