Your Daily Escape

Luke Skywalker's Stompin' Grounds

With its vast salt lake, troglodyte dwellings, and Saharan landscape, southern Tunisia proved the perfect setting for director George Lucas's vision of Tatooine, a desert planet of humans, Hutts, Jawas, and the sand people that appear in every Star Wars film except The Empire Strikes Back. While the location itself is impressive, it's the Star Wars props, stops, and background scenery that attract film-pilgrims worldwide. Southwest Tunisia's Chott El Jerid is home to Luke Skywalker's igloo-like residence in the original Star Wars. This same structure was dismantled and rebuilt, eventually appearing in the final shot of Revenge of the Sith. The set for Mos Espa—a Tatooine spaceport of dome-roofed adobes, including Watto's junk shop, and the pod-racing arena from The Phantom Menace—remains intact. And the village of Matmata, known for its underground cave houses, is where you'll find Hotel Sidi Driss, an operating hostel that served as the Lars Homestead.

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