Room with a View Filming Locations in Florence
Did you love A Room with a View and want to walk in Lucy and Charlotte’s footsteps through Florence? In this post, I’ll take you to each filming location from the movie, with personal photos and travel tips.
The movie of E.M. Forster's 1908 novel, “A Room with a View” came out in 1985. It was prime time for us Gen X romantic dreamers! James Ivory’s film stars Helena Bonham Carter, the beautiful, relatable proxy for us. She tried to follow tradition but glimpsed and then realized her possibilities beyond society's expectations.
Oh, and the excitement of actual male frontal nudity! Such a funny and shocking scene.
Some quotes resonate with me still, “Beyond the eternal Why is a Yes and a Yes and a Yes”! and “One doesn't come to Italy for niceness…one comes for life!” My friends and I saw this probably a dozen times in the theater when it came out. It embodies hope, passion, self-realization, and possibility!
On a recent trip to Florence, I made a point of visiting as many of the Room with a View film sites, as I could. Please check them out below!
Hotel Degli Orafi
This was the hotel where Lucy Honeychurch, Charlotte Bartlett and the rest of the gang stayed in Florence. The name “Pensione Bertolini” is fictional, and its real name was Quisisana e Ponte Vecchio.
It was refurbished in the 1990s and is now the Hotel Degli Orafi. You can book their “Room with a view,” which has a terrace with views of the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio! One-night rates for this room in June 2024 ranged from €369 – €682.
The hotel has a rooftop bar, DISOPRA. We visited mid-weekday afternoon and were the only ones there. The views are wonderful! Notice my iced coffee in the photo below. 3/4 inches of coffee and one ice cube. 😄
Also, check out the amazing breakfast room in the photo below!
Piazza Della Signoria
Piazza Della Signoria is Florence's beautiful main city square. It is surrounded by the famous Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall containing the mayor's office.
The Neptune Fountain is in this square. This is where Lucy saw a man get stabbed.
Loggia dei Lanzi
Lucy sits on the steps of the Loggia after witnessing the stabbing!
The Loggia dei Lanzi is on the Piazza della Signoria adjoining the Uffizi Gallery. It is an open air sculpture gallery.
River Arno
Lucy – “I thought we were going to see the Arno.”
Charlotte – “The signora distinctly wrote “south rooms with a view and close together.” Instead of which she has given us north rooms without a view and a long way apart! Tsk. We must hurry and get dressed, dear, or we'll miss our dinner on top of everything else.”
Luckily, thanks to the Emersons, they do get a room with a view, and there are many shots of the Arno throughout the Florence portion of the movie.
Piazza di Santa Croce
Lucy wanders here and bumps into Mr. Emerson who tries to give her a tour.
This Franciscan Basilica originated in 1295. As with all of the sights in Florence, be sure to check opening times and ticket requirements. It was closed the day we visited 🙁
Piazza della Santissima Annunziata
This Piazza is where Miss Lavish and Charlotte walk and admire the Equestrian Monument of Ferdinando I.
Also on the square is the Ospedale Degli Innocenti, an orphanage from the 1400s to the 1800s. It is now the headquarters for UNICEF research and advocacy for children worldwide. The building is said to be the first pure early Renaissance style.
Final Thoughts from a Room with a View Fan
It was so much fun to visit these sites from one of my favorite movies of all time! I hope to visit the England filming locations at some point in the future. Please let me know in the comments if you have visited any other Room with a View filming locations!
Plan Your Visit – Map of Locations
Use this map for your own walking tour of the Florence filming locations. You will probably go to many of these sites anyway as part of your typical tourist visit to Florence.
