Private Florence Cinetour: discovering the locations of Italian and foreign movies

Please note: this is a private tour and the price refers to a guided tour of about 2 hours for groups of 2 to 10 people. For groups larger, please contact us.

It is not surprising that for years Florence has been the ideal setting for an incredible number of Italian and foreign films. Its treasures and views have enchanted directors throughout time. If you want to visit the wonderful Tuscan city, do not miss this tour that offers an itinerary in search for the locations of movies in Florence. You will follow the invisible common thread in the movies of Italian directors such as Zeffirelli and Monicelli but also international ones such as James Ivory, Ridley Scott and Ron Howard.

At the beginning of the visit, you will be provided with a tablet on which, once you have reached the selected locations, you will be able to watch again the scenes of the various films. Some of the movies in Florence you will watch include unnerving scenes in Florence from the 'Hannibal' movie, romantic ones from ‘A room with a view’, or the light-hearted ones typical of Tuscany from 'Amici Miei' and Pieraccioni’s films such as 'I Laureati'. Just like the directors who scoured the city in search of the perfect framing, the right lighting and the ideal view, thanks to this tour you will also see the city from another perspective: the one behind the film camera.

The itinerary will weave through the main points of interests of the Renaissance pearl: the start is from the heart of Florence, Piazza del Duomo, overlooking some of Florence's most significant buildings such as the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with Brunelleschi’s Dome, Giotto’s Bell Tower and the Baptistery. You will continue to Piazza della Repubblica, surrounded by 19th century palaces and numerous historic cafés, amongst them Giubbe Rosse and Paszkowski. You will then arrive in the luxurious Via Tornabuoni and then reach the beautiful Bridge of Santa Trinita. Speaking of bridges, the itinerary could not forego a stop off at Ponte Vecchio, captured in million photos by tourists from around the world but also the locations of an incredible number of Florence movies places. After this, the next stop off can only be Piazza della Signoria, one of the most important sights in the city and adorned by so many beautiful monuments that you will really not know which way to look: Palazzo Vecchio, the Loggia dei Lanzi, the Neptune Fountain, the palaces that surround the square and the nearby Uffizi Gallery. Even in this case, it is no surprise that many directors have chosen it as the set for their films!

I bet that reading this has pushed you to try and bring back to mind some Florence movies scenes. It will mainly depend on your age and your interests, but we are sure there are several that all of you have watched at least once! Many of you will recall that Mario Monicelli filmed ‘Amici miei’ in Florence in 1975, in which he narrates the pranks of a group of friends past their younger years but still young at heart. Monicelli’s Florence is not the one you see in postcard: Church of San Lorenzo excluded, the rest of the scenes were shot in the more genuine and working-class places of the city, epitomized by 'Bar Necchi' in Piazza Demidoff. Memorable is also the scene shot at Santa Maria Novella train station, where the bunch of jokers cuff passengers leaning out of the windows of the departing train. Speaking of hearty people from Tuscany, Pieraccioni and Florence will surely come to your mind. Not only is the actor and director a Florence man born and bred, but also Florence, as expected, often appears in his works. Among the films by Leonardo Pieraccioni, the one where Florence is repeatedly shot is certainly ‘I Laureati’, the 1995 movie that tells the story of a group of students lagging behind their course of studies and suffering from a severe case of the 'Peter Pan' syndrome. You will surely remember the unforgettable scene when the protagonists run for the hills to avoid paying the bill of 'Coco Lezzone' restaurant on via del Parioncino. But Florence has also charmed Massimo Troisi, a Napoli man born and bred, who chose Florence as the location of ‘Ricomincio da tre’. The story of Gaetano moving to Florence shows in the background many of the most beautiful Troisi Florence’s spots, amongst them Ponte Vecchio framed with Troisi and Lello Arena on the Bridge of Santa Trinita.

Among the Italian movies filmed in Florence there is more to just comedy with films of a more pondering character, as is the case with 'Tea with Mussolini’, a semi-autobiographical film directed by the famous director Franco Zeffirelli in Florence. In describing the period of his childhood during the twenty-year-long Fascist rule, a Florence imbued with culture is portrayed in which the close relationship with the English community is depicted as one the of the bonds that can still be felt not only in the city but also throughout Tuscany. The attachment of English people to Florence and Tuscany is in fact well known. One can guess that this same feeling affected the American director James Ivory who chose Florence and the hills of Fiesole as one of the ‘Room with a view’ film locations for his 1985 film of the E.M. Foster’s novel. With breath-taking views in the background, James Ivory’s Florence film displays the romantic love story between two English young people on holiday in Tuscany in the early 1900s. 'Room with view' over Florence of James Ivory contains wonderful views of the River Arno embankments and the Fiesole hills. Not all films filmed in Florence depict a romantic and bright city, there are others that portray it with the darkest and eeriest hues. In the movie 'Hannibal', Florence is where the story of Professor Lecter – in Tuscany under a false name – is unfolded. Some of the locations of 'The Silence of the Lambs’ 2, released in 2010, were chosen amongst the best known points of interests in Florence: Palazzo Vecchio, the loggias of Market Square, Santa Maria Novella and the shops on Ponte Vecchio. One of the latest foreigner movies filmed in Florence is 'Inferno' of Dan Brown's novel and directed by Ron Howard. In this film, the city centre of Florence is virtually the setting of most of the scenes.

We have only given you a few examples of Florence in movies, but with our tour you will discover many other interesting facts about the film sets arranged in the streets and squares of the Tuscan capital. If you are cinema aficionados this is the perfect tour for you, but it will be equally interesting if you just want to visit Florence under a different perspective. During the itinerary you will follow the invisible common thread that runs through Italian and foreign cinema and filmmakers from all over the world. Everyone ready? Engine, rolling, action!