H is for Hanoi

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - all glistening seas, charming mountain villages and rustic peasants on donkeys - was always going to be more of a cinematic travel brochure than a decent film. No wonder, then, that after its release last year bookings to the Greek island of Cephalonia soared.

Films have always been great adverts for holidays. Just think what A Room With A View did for Florence, or The Beach for Phi Phi Leh off the southern coast of Thailand (one of the shores is even nicknamed 'Leonardo Beach').

So where is the next Cephalonia? Hot contenders include Newfoundland, the setting for The Shipping News, out this spring, and Vichy, the location for Charlotte Gray, out in February. However, the smart money is on Hanoi. The adaptation of Graham Greene's The Quiet American, out later this year, shows the Vietnamese capital in a fading last-days-of-colonialism light. And if the thought of Brendan Fraser swanning around the dusty streets in khaki trousers and a crisp white shirt doesn't attract the hordes, the promise of wondrous temples and excellent food should. Not that holidaymakers are unheard of here: the Apocalypse Now bar, complete with a dismembered cockpit of a B-52 bomber on the dancefloor, is already a must on the tourist trail.

A-Z travel guide for 2002