Flights, camera, action: Set-jetting in Italy
From Roman Holiday to Sicilian satire, Italy has provided the setting for countless films and TV series—including Netflix’s new thriller, Ripley. Here’s where to get starstruck
Ever since the “Hollywood on the Tiber” period of the 1950s brought us La Dolce Vita and Roman Holiday, Italy has been a frequent backdrop for movies and TV shows. And now, it is shaping our vacation plans, with almost 30% of travelers saying that what they’re watching is influencing their travels more than ever.
Add to that the acclaimed new Netflix series Ripley, which places the set-jetting spotlight on a tiny village on the Amalfi Coast, population 800. For that and more inspiration for your next vacanza, read on…
A talented trip with Ripley
The new Netflix adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s thriller The Talented Mr Ripley, starring Andrew Scott in the title role, was shot all over Italy, from Naples to Venice. The most notable location, however, is the village of Atrani (pictured top)—home to just 800 people—on the Amalfi Coast. The show’s production designer chose it because of the incredible topography, including the maze of stairs and corridors that threads through the mountain, while one character has a villa that is actually a boat ride away on high-glamour Capri. The series was also shot in Naples, Palermo, Rome and the streets and canals of Venice, following in the footsteps of another memorable thriller, Nicolas Roeg’s supernatural masterpiece, Don’t Look Now.
Twilight in Tuscany
Devotees of the vampire and werewolf saga will know not to head to Volterra, the setting (lovely as it is) for the second book in the series, New Moon—because for the film version, producers instead plumped for Montepulciano, an hour away through the Tuscan countryside. Wander the narrow streets and head to the temple of San Biagio and the Palazzo Communale, as well as Piazza Grande where, inconveniently, there wasn’t a fountain that matched the scene in the book. (So what did they do? They built one from papier mâché, of course.)
The villages of Tuscany have been, and continue to be, the setting for many a movie and streaming series—the upcoming Netflix series The Decameron, out later this year, is set in Certaldo near Florence (though filmed in Cinecittà studios in Rome).
When in Rome, have a Roman Holiday
Audrey Hepburn’s breakthrough movie, 1953’s Roman Holiday, was the first U.S. film to be shot completely on location in Italy, and the cast and crew visited most of the must-see spots. Scenes were filmed at the Roman Forum, ancient center of public life in the Eternal City, and where Hepburn’s Princess Ann and Gregory Peck’s Joe meet. Visit the sacred sight of Joe’s apartment at Via Margutta 51, a street that was also the real-life home to Fellini, Picasso and Capote, and is now lined with upscale boutiques and restaurants. Ann’s royal residence in the movie was the opulent Palazzo Brancaccio, and memorable scenes were also shot at the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum. (Fans of a certain cinematic British spy will also enjoy a tour of filming locations in the city.)
A cultural guide to Rome
Follow the footsteps of a Gladiator
Val D’Orcia, a well-deserved UNESCO World Heritage site, is the Tuscany of postcards—think medieval castles, farmhouses, olive groves, vineyards and golden fields. No surprise that it takes a starring role in several movies, including the closing scenes of the 2000 Oscar-winner Gladiator.
Filming took place outside Pienza on a rustic road starting at the Pieve di Corsignano church and finishing at Podere Terrapille, a perfect place for pilgrims to hang up their gladiator sandals for the night. The English Patient, Stealing Beauty, and 8½ were also filmed nearby.
High style in House of Gucci
The cast of the 2021 film took to the ritzy shore of Lake Como (also pictured top), filming in the 16th-century Villa Balbiano, which posed as the palazzo of Al Pacino’s Aldo Gucci. In Milan, locations included Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the upscale shopping mall and Milanese landmark, and the arched courtyard of Palazzo Bagatti Valsecchi, a historic house museum. The Villa Necchi Campiglio, a mansion built by the Necchi family (the Italian sewing machine dynasty), served as Rudolfo Gucci’s home and is now a museum. And in skiing scenes, St. Moritz was portrayed by Gressoney-Saint-Jean in the Aosta Valley. Make like a movie star and stay in the three-star Hotel Dufour in Gressoney-La-Trinité, the modest choice of Lady Gaga during filming.
The Godfather’s historic hotspots
One of the most famous locations of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic is Bar Vitelli in the medieval village of Savoca, Sicily, an old farmhouse transformed into a bar for filming. Now, in a perfect case of life imitating art, it really is a bar, stacked with memorabilia and the prime location for Godfather pilgrims to put their weary feet up with a lemon granita.
Wedding scenes were filmed in the Forza d’Agrò cathedral, and the 18th-century Baroque Castello Degli Schiavi in Fiumefreddo posed as the home of Don Tommasino, a family friend of the Corleones. All can be explored on a Godfather tour of Sicily.
Lara Kilner is a lifestyle journalist who has contributed to The Times, The Telegraph, and more. She has traveled extensively through five continents, but her most memorable trip was the one on which she met her Malaysian husband.
