Where is The Holiday filmed? Locations featured in the iconic Christmas film

The Holiday features romance and stunning backdrops - what more do we need?

Cameron Diaz and Jude Law in The Holiday
(Image credit: Colombia Pictures/Maximum Film/Alamy)

The 2006 film The Holiday, has become a staple of Christmas viewing schedules up and down the country. From chocolate box UK to contemporary stateside locations, viewers always want to know where the timeless movie filmed.

Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet continue to steal hearts every year at Christmas, when festive favourite The Holiday is watched by those looking for some warming yuletide romance. The leading ladies portray two women, Iris and Amanda, engaging in a house swap over the Christmas holidays - both are looking to escape their recent relationship heartbreak.

Amanda lands a quaint cottage in the English countryside, and Iris a huge modern dream house in the US. Apart from a rocky and sometimes hilarious ride to the pair finding happiness, the stunning scenery providing a backdrop to the action also steal many scenes. Read on to find out exactly where The Holiday was filmed, a romcom that continues to delight audiences year after year.

Where is Iris's house in The Holiday?

Iris's home, Rosehill Cottage doesn't exist in real life, but was based on a cottage named Honeysuckle Cottage, in Holmbury St Mary, near Dorking. The exterior of the cottage was constructed by film crews, while interior shots of the cottage were recreated to emulate the real Honeysuckle Cottage in a studio.

The cottage was last sold in June 2019 according to Rightmove, and listed for £625,000. The couple who purchased the property were unaware of its links to the film, and were surprised to find tourists regularly visiting their home asking if they'd met Jude Law. They briefly made the cottage available to rent on Airbnb in 2022, although it's no longer listed on the site.

Speaking about the enduring popularity of the film on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on November 26, Jude Law explained a little more about how the cottage for the film came to be constructed. "So the director, she’s a bit of a perfectionist, toured that whole area and didn’t quite find the chocolate box cottage she was looking for," he said, adding, "So she just hired a field and drew it and had someone build it."

Cottage featured in The Holiday

(Image credit: Colombia Pictures/AJ Pics/Alamy)

Was The Holiday filmed in The Cotswolds?

Most of the UK village scenes depicted in The Holiday were filmed in Surrey, specifically Shere, Godalming, and Wonersh. The only part of the Cotswolds to appear in the film was Cornwell Manor in Cornwell, near Chipping Norton.

One scene in the film depicts Amanda and Graham going on a date and stopping for lunch, with Cornwell Manor being used for their lunch spot. Although not open to the public, the picturesque manor house is occasionally available for wedding and event hire.

Found in Surrey's Guildford, Shere is considered just as quintessentially British as the Cotswolds, and is famous for also featuring in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and The Wedding Date.

In Godalming, Cameron Diaz's character can be seen shopping in the town, while Wonersh village played host to Mill House, the exterior Jude Law's character's house.

Godalming

(Image credit: Graham Prentice/Alamy)

Where is the pub in The Holiday movie? 

The pub featured in The Holiday is actually The White Horse in Shere, Surrey. The pub's website describes it a former 15th century farmhouse and Grade II Listed building. The description reads "In its former life, The White Horse was a 15th century farmhouse called ‘The Cripps,’ and it became an inn sometime in the 17th century."

The site continues, "It is also rumoured to be a former smugglers’ pub after a secret cellar was discovered during extensive renovations. Authentic timbers taken from Nelson’s ship, ‘Victory,’ are thought to be part of the pub, and there are also some traditional village stocks on the premises too."

Inside the pub, you'll find two private dining rooms that can be hired out for functions, along with "plenty of nooks and crannies" for diners to have their food and drinks. After taking root in the 15th century, an inglenook fireplace and new wing were added to the building in the 16th century. By the late 18th century, the farmhouse became an alehouse with its own brewery, meaning this ancient pub has a huge amount of history.

Where is Amanda's house in The Holiday?

Amanda's house can be found in San Marino, California. The Tuscan-style property was designed by Wallace Neff, who has built homes for celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston.

The property features seven bedrooms, and six bathrooms, and can be found at 1883 Orlando Road in San Marino. However, only the exterior was used during filming, and interior shots of Amanda's house were shot in a studio.

How to watch The Holiday

In the UK, you can watch The Holiday for free if you have a Prime Video subscription. If you aren't a Prime Video member, you can rent the title from Amazon for £3.49 or buy it for £5.99. Alternatively, you could try a 30 day Prime Video free trial and watch the film within that time if you aren't a subscriber, before cancelling at the end of your trial period. 

The Holiday is also available on Apple TV, but there are no free options for viewing it - you still have to purchase it even if you subscribe to the streamer. Here, it will cost you £3.49 to rent or £5.99 to buy.

Lucy Wigley
Entertainment Writer

Lucy is a multi-award nominated writer and blogger with seven years’ experience writing about entertainment, parenting and family life. Lucy worked as a freelance writer and journalist at the likes of PS and moms.com, before joining GoodtoKnow as an entertainment writer, and then as news editor. The pull to return to the world of television was strong, and she was delighted to take a position at woman&home to once again watch the best shows out there, and tell you why you should watch them too.