Bantha Canyon (real name Desolation Canyon in Death Valley National Park) is where the Tusken Raiders mount their Banthas on Tatooine in A New Hope. The scenes immediately after this where Luke gets attacked by the Sand People were filmed in Tunisia at Star Wars Canyon.

The original Bantha was an elephant draped in fur with fake horns and is one of the few creatures that Lucas didn't replace with CGI at some point in the last twenty years.

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Ajim, a ferry port on the island of Djerba, Tunisia, was transformed into the streets of Mos Eisely for the filming of A New Hope. The exterior of the cantina where Obi Wan and Luke first meet Han Solo is currently an unused building in need of repair. Interiors were shot at Elstree Studios.

Some nerdy trivia: the full name of the cantina is Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina named after its owner, a wookie named Chalmun.

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The interior scenes of the Lars Homestead, the moisture farm on Tatooine where Luke lives with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru at the beginning of A New Hope, were filmed at the Hotel Sidi Driss in Matmata, Tunisia, and Lucas and crew revisited it during the filming of the prequel Attack of the Clones.

Star Wars fans (or anyone for that matter, but let's be honest, it's mostly Star Wars fans) can spend the night in the hotel's underground cave-rooms and visit the Lars family kitchen and dining room.

The aboveground igloo exterior in the movie is located over 240 km west near Nafta.

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The igloo-like exterior of the Lars Homestead from the beginning of A New Hope is located in the salt flats of south-west Tunisia. The crater the film crew dug gives the illusion of the underground courtyard that was actually filmed 240 km away at a hotel in Matmata, Tunisia.

The igloo was dismantled after the filming of A New Hope, but it was rebuilt in the same spot to be used in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. After the prequels it fell into disrepair, and some Star Wars fans raised money and restored the small building in 2012.

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Located just south of Interstate 8 near the Mexicali border is Buttercup Valley, the filming site for Jabba's Barge and the Sarlacc pit scenes from Return of the Jedi.

See some incredible vintage photos of the filming here.

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