Are you heading to Italy this summer? Or maybe daydreaming about it? Every day that I’m not in Italy I am dreaming about going back there. I love reading books set in Italy, but nothing prepares you or gets you in the mood to book that vacation quite like watching movies set in the sumptuous landscape of la belle Italia!

10 Gorgeous Movies Set In Italy

Roman Holiday

I used to work with Gregory Peck so I get extra joy out of watching this film! It can really only be described as a delightful romp through Rome. Set in 1953 with Audrey Hepburn playing a wayward princess and Gregory Peck playing a reporter, this was actually Hepburn’s first movie and she received her only Academy Award for this role. Roman Holiday Available on Amazon.com

The Tourist

Although largely panned by critics this absolutely gorgeous film starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp is well worth seeing! The visuals of Venice are spectacular and will leave you desperate to get there, to the most unique city on earth. The Tourist Is Available on Amazon.com

Under The Tuscan Sun

Very loosely based on Frances Mayes book of the same name, this film gives you a healthy dose of romance wrapped up in some of the most gorgeous views of Tuscany, as well as visits to Rome and Positano. How many Italian dreams began with this film?? You ca safely watch this film before reading the book as the stories are vastly different.

Under the Tuscan Sun is available on Amazon.com here

Eat Pray Love

Based on the book of the same name, Julia Roberts plays Liz Gilbert, an American writer who takes a year out to find herself, traveling to Rome, then India and finally to Bali. The scenes in Rome are shot in my favorite areas around the Trastevere and Piazza Navona. If you watch this film before heading to Rome you will recognize every street she walks along, you can drink water from the same fountain she does, sit where she sits and eat gelato. It’s wonderful! Eat Pray Love is available here on Amazon.com

The Talented Mr. Ripley

Travel all over Italy from Ischia to Rome to Venice in the late 1950’s with a young Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow in this psychological thriller. The views are astounding and the story will keep you on your toes. The Talented Mr. Ripley is available here on Amazon.com

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

The wardrobe in this film is to die for! This is another fun romp through Rome, this time with the CIA and KGB of the 60’s. It’s fabulous! The Man From U.N.C.L.E, available here on Amazon.com

To Rome With Love is a Woody Allen film set in the Eternal City. By no means one of Allen’s better films it nonetheless has fabulous visuals of Rome. To Rome With Love is available on Amazon.com

Il Postino

This exquisitely beautiful film about a mailman and the friendship he builds with an exiled poet, Pablo Naruda, is set on the Aeolian Island Salina and was shot both on Salina and on the island of Procida. The music is hauntingly lovely and the story is wonderful. I couldn’t find it on Amazon, but if you find it somewhere please tell us in the comment section below!

Quantum of Solace. From Lake Garda to Siena to Matera and Craco the combination of James Bond and Italy is intoxicating! I need to re-watch this one ASAP if only to see the scenes in Matera and Craco! Actually I need to re-watch it period. Quantum of Solace is available on Amazon.com

The Italian Job (2003) Although mostly set in the USA there are sumptuous views of Genoa, Venice and Trentino in this remake of the 1969 film. After watching Charlize and co you will have so much more fun renting a stick shift Mini Cooper on your Italian adventure! The Italian Job is available on Amazon.com

Lipari, Aeolian Islands, Sicily.

Midnight in Sicily, on the beautiful island of Lipari

Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere.
And sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.

This year I lead a private tour of Italy.
We called it the Corinna B’s World Glam Italia Tour.
It really was quite glamorous.
We spent a few days in the Aeolian Islands, with home base being the beautiful island of Lipari.

Lipari-Aeolian-Islands-Corinna-Bs-World-Glam-Italia-Tour

Lipari town, Lipari

From Lipari we took boat trips to other islands in this breathtakingly beautiful volcanic chain.

boating in the Aeolian Islands

Boat trip in the Aeolian Islands

Aquacalda, Lipari

One of the most magnificent things about the Aeolians is the lack of Hiltons. And Marriots. And any other major chain of hotels.
There were no condo complexes blighting the horizon.
It was perfect.

Lido on the beach in Porticello

scooters at Canneto Beach, Lipari

If you venture to Lipari, stay in Canneto Beach. It is only 5 minutes from the main harbor and Lipari town, but is quiet, lovely, and has a perfect view of the active volcano Stromboli across the water.

Blue waters off Canneto beach in Lipari, with a view of Stromboli smoking in the distance

From Aquacalda in Lipari you can see Salina, the island from Il Postino

There are fantastic places to eat in Canneto Beach, and you can walk to them all.
(Just make sure you avoid La Papisca. They charge tourists a ridiculously inflated prices and are surly and mean. Everywhere else is fantastic).

Canneto Beach at night

We stayed at the beautiful Hotel La Zagara. The service was amazing and very personable, and we loved everything about this hotel. I most definitely plan on staying there again next year.

10 Movies Set In Italy