Italy has been the set for more internationally recognized films than any other country outside the United States, a function of the Italian landscape's photogenic quality, the relative accessibility of the locations, and the specific tradition of Italian neorealist and arthouse cinema that produced a generation of masterpieces shot on location rather than in studios. The consequence: virtually every significant Italian city and many of its rural landscapes can be walked as film sets, with specific scenes from specific films still visible and recognizable in the physical locations where they were shot.
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Italy's Most Famous Film Locations
Rome: Roman Holiday and La Dolce Vita
Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953): The Audrey Hepburn-Gregory Peck tour of Rome on a Vespa hit the major landmarks of the 1950s city, the Bocca della Verità in Santa Maria in Cosmedin (the scene where Gregory Peck pretends to have his hand bitten off by the stone mouth, the queue for this photo opportunity is one of Rome's longest). The Spanish Steps (where Hepburn eats gelato in the opening sequence). The Mouth of the Tiber at the Foro di Augusto. And Piazza Navona. All locations are unchanged and immediately recognizable. La Dolce Vita (Fellini, 1960): Via Veneto (the opening scene with the helicopter carrying the Christ statue over Rome). The Trevi Fountain (Anita Ekberg in the fountain, the fountain was rebuilt specifically for the filming after the city briefly drained it). Via Flaminia approach to the city. The Trevi Fountain scene has inspired so many imitations that it has become one of the most photographed single moments of cinema history at its original location.
Sicily: Cinema Paradiso
Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988) was filmed primarily in Palazzo Adriano, a small town in the Palermo hinterland. Piazza Umberto I where the outdoor cinema screenings occur is the most immediately recognizable film location in Sicilian cinema. The town is accessible by bus or car from Palermo (approximately 80 km, 1.5 hours). The Palazzo Adriano Piazza is marked with a Cinema Paradiso plaque and receives steady pilgrim traffic from cinema enthusiasts.
Tuscany and Lombardy: Call Me By Your Name
Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017) was filmed in Crema (a small Lombard city 45 km east of Milan), which stood in for an unnamed northern Italian town. The Villa Albergoni where most of the film was shot is visible from the outside. Piazza del Duomo of Crema, the medieval center, and the surrounding Lombard plains are the dominant visual landscape. Crema is accessible from Milan by regional train (approximately 1 hour 15 minutes).
The Amalfi Coast and Naples: The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999) used Ischia (the thermal island in the Bay of Naples, standing in for Mongibello), the harbor of Positano, and Palazzo Farnese in Rome as primary locations. The Ischia harbor of Sant'Angelo and the Positano beach scene are immediately recognizable and accessible.
Q&A: Italy Film Locations
What is the best film location tour in Rome?
A self-guided Fellini Rome walk: starting at the Trevi Fountain (La Dolce Vita), walking north to Via Veneto (the same film's opening sequence), then to Piazza del Popolo (Roma, 1972), then to the Cinecittà studios (Via Tuscolana 1055, open for guided tours on weekends, the studio where Fellini made virtually all his films). This 4-5 hour walk traces the specifically Roman imagination of Fellini in the physical locations he used across his career.
