Italy is the most filmed country in the world. Here is the complete guide to visiting the actual movie locations.
Plan my Italy trip →Italy is the most filmed country in the world: Roman Holiday (1953, Rome), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999, Naples, Ischia, Positano), Cinema Paradiso (1988, Palazzo Adriano, Sicily), Call Me By Your Name (2017, Crema, Lombardy), and The Godfather (1972, Savoca and Forza d'Agrò, Sicily) are the reference films — and every filming location is visitable. Here is the complete guide to Italian cinema locations.
Roman Holiday (1953 — William Wyler, Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck) — Rome: Roman Holiday was filmed entirely on location in Rome in 1952, during the specific post-war period when the Italian film industry (Cinecittà Studios) was being used by Hollywood productions that found Rome cheaper and architecturally richer than American studio backlots. The specific locations: (1) The Bocca della Verità (the ancient marble face — mouth of truth — embedded in the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin church; the scene where Gregory Peck pretends his hand is bitten is the scene that made the Bocca della Verità a tourist attraction; before 1953 it received very few visitors); (2) The Colosseum and the Roman Forum (visible in the background of multiple scenes — the specific Colosseum used as backdrop for the opening scene of the motor scooter ride); (3) Piazza di Spagna (the Spanish Steps scene — Hepburn eats a gelato on the steps in the scene that established this as the definitive Roman tourist image); (4) Piazza Venezia (the Vittoriano monument as backdrop); (5) The Tiber river scene (Castel Sant'Angelo as backdrop during the boat chase). The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999 — Anthony Minghella, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow) — multiple Italy locations: Ripley is the best Italian location film of the 20th century for the sheer diversity of locations: (1) Naples (the Galleria Umberto I — the glass-covered gallery where Ripley meets Dickie's father; the Piazza del Plebiscito — the harbor view scene; the specific Naples street market scenes in the Quartieri Spagnoli); (2) Ischia (the Procida-as-Ischia exteriors — the film uses Procida's Marina Corricella as the fictionalized "Monghibell" where Dickie and Ripley stay; visiting Procida gives you the specific harbor and church backdrop of the film's first act); (3) Positano (the Amalfi Coast villa scenes — the villa used for filming is La Villa Tre Ville, now a luxury hotel, visible from the beach); (4) Rome (the Palazzo Farnese and the Campo de' Fiori area for the later scenes); (5) Venice (the Palazzo Labia and the Ca' Rezzonico interiors for the Venice sequences). Cinema Paradiso (1988 — Giuseppe Tornatore) — Palazzo Adriano, Sicily: Cinema Paradiso (the Oscar-winning film about cinema and memory in a Sicilian village — Tornatore's masterpiece, winner of the 1990 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film) was filmed primarily in Palazzo Adriano (a small town of 1,600 inhabitants in the Sicilian interior, in the Palermo province — 80km south of Palermo). The specific locations: Piazza Umberto I (the central square of Palazzo Adriano — the "Piazza del Cinema" of the film, where the church, the fountain, and the Cinema Paradiso building were positioned); the church interior (used for the specific scenes of the village audience watching projected films on the church wall in the early scenes). The Cinema Paradiso pilgrimage: tours to Palazzo Adriano from Palermo are available through Sicilian tour operators; the journey takes approximately 2 hours by car (the inland road via Corleone). The square itself (Piazza Umberto I) is essentially unchanged from the 1988 filming. Call Me By Your Name (2017 — Luca Guadagnino) — Crema, Lombardy: Call Me By Your Name (the Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer film based on André Aciman's novel) was filmed in Crema (a small city of 34,000 inhabitants in the Cremona province of Lombardy, 55km east of Milan). The specific locations: the Villa Albergoni in Moscazzano (the fictional Perlman family villa — private property, visible from the road via San Michele 4, Moscazzano); Piazza Duomo in Crema (the outdoor café table scenes); the Parco della Folaga (the swimming pond scenes); the Adda river (the bicycle riding scenes). Crema from Milan: train from Milano Centrale to Crema (1h, €5.60) or car via A35 BreBeMi (45 min). The Godfather (1972 — Francis Ford Coppola) — Sicily: The Sicily sequences of The Godfather were filmed in Savoca and Forza d'Agrò (two villages in the Messina province, eastern Sicily, 40km north of Catania — the area is accessible from Catania by car in 50 minutes). The specific locations: Bar Vitelli in Savoca (the bar where Michael Corleone asks for Apollonia's hand — still a functioning bar with The Godfather memorabilia; open daily in tourist season); the Chiesa di San Nicolò in Savoca (the church where Michael and Apollonia's wedding was filmed); the ruins of the Castle of Forza d'Agrò (visible in the background of several scenes from the hilltop above the village).
Cinecittà (i "Studi Cinematografici di Roma" — fondati da Mussolini il 28 aprile 1937 come parte della politica fascista di utilizzo del cinema come strumento di propaganda e di proiezione culturale internazionale) fu la risposta italiana alla Hollywood americana: uno studio cinematografico di 400.000 mq alla periferia sudest di Roma, con 22 teatri di posa (il numero maggiore d'Europa all'epoca), laboratori di sviluppo, strutture di post-produzione, e la prima piscina cinematografica d'Europa per le riprese di scene marine. Il motto che Mussolini fece incidere sull'ingresso — "La cinematografia è l'arma più forte" (attribuito a Mussolini ma probabilmente di incerta attribuzione) — identificava il cinema come strumento politico primario. Dopo la guerra, Cinecittà divenne "Hollywood sul Tevere": la combinazione di costi di produzione inferiori agli USA, maestranze tecniche di alta qualità (il cinema italiano aveva sviluppato durante il fascismo una scuola di fotografia, regia, e scenografia di eccellenza), i paesaggi italiani, e il glamour di Roma attirò le grandi produzioni americane degli anni '50-'60: Quo Vadis (1951), Ben-Hur (1959 — l'Oscar per la migliore regia a William Wyler; la corsa dei carri girata negli studi di Cinecittà con 15.000 comparse), Cleopatra (1963 — la produzione più costosa della storia del cinema fino a quel momento, con Elizabeth Taylor e Richard Burton che si innamorarono durante le riprese negli studi di Roma). La specificità italiana del neorealismo: parallelamente alle superproduzioni americane, Cinecittà e le strade di Roma producevano il neorealismo (Roma Città Aperta di Rossellini, 1945; Ladri di Biciclette di De Sica, 1948; La Dolce Vita di Fellini, 1960) — il movimento cinematografico che usava le strade reali di Roma, gli attori non professionisti, e la luce naturale come strumenti espressivi opposti ai costosi set americani.
Ten Italy local secrets that guidebooks consistently miss: (1) The Italian supermarket is the best cheap meal: Italian supermarkets (the Esselunga, Conad, Coop, Pam chains in northern and central Italy; the Conad and Despar in the south) have prepared food sections (the reparto gastronomia) that sell sliced meats, cheeses, prepared salads, and hot dishes at prices roughly 30-40% below a sit-down restaurant. The specific strategy: assemble a lunch from the gastronomia counter (€3-5 total for a substantial meal) and eat in any park, piazza, or riverside — this is what Italian office workers do, and it gives you access to quality Italian ingredients without restaurant markup. (2) The free water fontanelle: Rome has approximately 2,500 "nasoni" (the small cast-iron street fountains — named for the shape of the curved spout, the "big nose") providing continuous free cold drinking water from the Acqua Vergine, the same Roman aqueduct (first constructed in 19 BC) that supplies the Trevi Fountain. Carrying a refillable water bottle and drinking from the nasoni eliminates the €2-3/bottle water purchase entirely. Milan, Florence, and other Italian cities have equivalent systems. (3) The Italian train seat reservation culture: On Frecciarossa trains, your seat is reserved (the specific seat number is printed on the ticket). On regional trains, there are no seat reservations and any seat is available to any passenger. However, some Intercity trains have marked seats that belong to passengers who boarded earlier at a previous station — if someone arrives and indicates their seat, move without discussion. The specific Italian etiquette: don't occupy a seat reservation window seat if you only hold a corridor seat reservation. (4) The Italian church opening schedule: Italian churches close for lunch (12-3:30pm in most regions, longer in the south) — the specific frustration for visitors who arrive at a famous church after lunch and find it locked. The morning hours (9am-12pm) are the most reliable for church visits. Free entry to most Italian churches does not mean 24-hour access — the schedule is posted at the entrance. (5) The Italian gas station cashier payment: At many Italian highway service stations, you pay for fuel at the cashier inside before pumping — a "prepago" system (pre-payment) that confuses visitors used to paying after. Approach the cashier, tell them which pump number and how many euros, pay, then pump. At non-highway fuel stations, you typically pay after pumping. (6) The best Italian coffee times: The Italian bar is at its best in the early morning (7-9am) — the coffee machine is freshly warmed, the cornetti are freshly arrived from the bakery, and the bar staff are at their most efficient. The specific coffee quality at 7:30am is consistently higher than at 3pm when the machine has been running for hours and the coffee grounds have been in the portafilter too long. (7) The Italian lunch price drop in non-tourist areas: In any Italian town away from the main tourist circuit, the menù del giorno (the fixed daily lunch) costs €10-14 for two courses with water and wine — significantly below the equivalent dinner price. This is the specific pricing that Italian factory workers, teachers, and office staff pay at the local trattoria every weekday. Finding these restaurants: walk away from the historic center toward the train station or the commercial area, and look for handwritten signs in the window. (8) The Italian Sunday afternoon closure: Sunday afternoon (2pm-7pm) in Italy is the specific void in Italian public life — shops are closed, many restaurants are closed after lunch service, and the streets of non-tourist areas are empty. Plan Sunday afternoons as rest or museum time (major tourist-area museums stay open); do not plan Sunday afternoon as shopping or market time. (9) The Italian museum free Sundays: The first Sunday of every month, all Italian state museums (the Colosseum, the Uffizi, Pompeii, Capodimonte, the Borghese Gallery, the National Archaeological Museums) are free — this is the "domenica gratuita" established in 2014. The trade-off: the free Sunday is the most crowded day of the month at every major museum. If you plan to use the free Sunday, arrive at the museum opening time. (10) The specific Italian train WiFi quality: The Frecciarossa train WiFi (the system branded "Free Wi-Fi" on the high-speed trains) is adequate for email and messaging but inconsistent for video calls or large file transfers. Download any materials you need before boarding and save streaming for the stations.
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