On Location peels back the curtain on your favourite films, television shows, and more. This time, we look into the world of Emily in Paris.
Following the runaway success of its first four seasons, Emily in Paris is back for a fifth outing. The series is launching on Netflix (UK) on Thursday 18 December 2025.
The story of a cheery Chicago marketing exec who lands a job with a French agency, Emily in Paris always had the credentials, not least in its American showrunner Darren Star, whose CV includes Beverly Hills 90210 and the immortal Sex and the City. It’s now outstripped even those, making a star of Lily Collins and also reminding us of the sheer beauty and glamour of its other leading lady, the city of Paris.
News about the new season has been closely guarded, but we do know that many of the fan favourites are back – including British heartthrob Lucian Laviscount (Alfie), lost-in-love Frenchman Lucas Bravo (Gabriel) and American in the big city Ashley Park (Mindy) – but this time, the gang are headed to Italy.
But, where is Emily in Paris filmed? Following on from the escapades of season 4, we take a look at the real-life Italian attractions, locations and neighbourhoods featured in the latest season.
Where is Emily in Paris Season 5 filmed?
This latest season of the show takes Emily to Rome, where her Italian boyfriend helps to run his family-owned fashion business, and Emily is tasked with opening an Italy office for Agence Grateau. After four seasons in and around Paris, it's a big change for the American fashionista but, according to creator Darren Star, it felt like the next logical step for Emily. “Every show evolves and develops its own life in an unexpected way,” he tells Conde Nast Traveller. “The characters tell you where to go. When you have characters you love and great actors, it keeps going because you just get invested in the reality of their lives. And it's happened with this show.”
Across the four episodes set in Rome, more than 40 iconic locations were used as backdrops. First up is Hotel De Russie, an immaculate Rocco Forte Hotel near Villa Borghese with an Irene Forte spa (where Darren and some of the team stayed during filming). It's got manicured 19th-century gardens to walk around, too – where the likes of Picasso and Stravinsky found inspiration in nature's beauty. They also shot at the chic La Posta Vecchia hotel, which is where the gang gathered for the Bavazza party. There was also a scene shot on the rooftop of the Orient Express La Minerva, and another bucket list location that features in this season is the Aventine Keyhole on Aventine Hill, which offers epic views over the city.
When asked why he chose Italy for season 5, Star said: “At the end of season three, I had an impulse to see Emily travel a little bit. To me, the show is about this American girl traveling. One thing about being in Europe and spending time there is you're not just in one country all the time. I really loved the idea of going to just shake it up a little bit.”
Naturally, plenty of big-name fashion addresses feature this season, too. “The Fendi headquarters [in the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana], which Mussolini commissioned. It’s on the outskirts of Rome. It’s an amazing architectural landmark. We filmed in the Dolce & Gabbana store and in the Fendi store.”
Beyond Rome, Emily heads out to the Tuscan countryside for truffle hunting – this was shot in the Monte Catillo Nature Reserve – and the town of Solitano was shot in Ostia, closer to the coast near Rome. Some of the Paris filming locations include the Fondation Louis Vuitton, LVMH, Maxim's and Bois de Boulogne season, but in a surprise ending, the finale takes Emily to Venice.
Star tells us that a lot of the research and coordination was done by the series' Italian producer and Italian crew members, and that locals were very welcoming. “They really embraced us,” Star says. “And for me, it's all about showcasing the beauty of where we are. That’s really what I wanted to do with Rome.”
Read Conde Nast Traveller's full interview with Darren Star here.
Where is Emily in Paris Season 4 filmed?
After the dramatic events of Gabriel and Camille’s wedding, we’re thrust back into the French capital. Camille is heartbroken, Alfie is aware of what’s been happening in the shadows, Gabriel is expecting a child with his jilted ex, and our protagonist, Emily, is more confused than ever about where her true feelings lie. The Agence Grateau team continues to navigate the twists and turns of the PR world, led by matriarch Sylvie.
Season four sees a host of new faces join the cast. These include straight-to-the-point Roman-in-Paris Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini) and Geneviève (Thalia Besson) – Laurent's bright twenty-something daughter from a past relationship who quickly befriends Emily.
While the exact locations across the city are yet to be revealed, the official trailers give Paris Aficionados a few clues. Lots of the action takes place across the city’s 1st arrondissement, where many of the previous series’ scenes have taken place. Other key locations appear to include the Pont Neuf (the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine) and Roland-Garros (The French Open) in the 16th arrondissement.
Outside of the city, one scene featuring love rival Camille appears to feature Claude Monet's Home in Giverny. Most intriguingly, we know that we’re heading to Rome in the latter part of the series. Episode nine is titled Roman Holiday, followed by episode ten, All Roads Lead to Rome. Pictures of Lily Collins and co-star Eugenio Franceschini exploring the Italian capital, lunching and hopping on a Vespa as they filmed scenes for the new series.
Where is Emily in Paris Season 3 filmed?
Season 3 picks up with Emily still torn between two jobs and two guys. Her bosses, Madeline and Sylvie, both approach with job offers, while Emily's relationship with Londoner Alfie struggles under the weight of her chemistry with Gabriel. But despite Alfie's move to London, the production doesn't take us to England's capital, instead staying firmly on familiar ground in Paris.
The season starts with a visit to the Eiffel Tower, where we find Emily in reflective mood. It’s revealed later in the episode that she’s dining at Le Jules Verne, the Michelin-starred restaurant situated on the second floor of the tower. While most of the dining this season is restricted to Gabriel’s Chez Lavaux, we return to Le Grand Véfour, seen in Season 1 (though this time it’s Emily’s colleagues meeting without her), while Emily and Luc meet at Le Flore en l’Ile on Quai d’Orléans for a drink with a view of Notre-Dame Cathedral. The big scene for foodies this time round is set on a rare trip out of the city, when Emily and the gang head to Provence for a big sportscar launch. Here, she and Gabriel dine à deux at “L’Esprit de Lubéron”, which is really the Clover Gordes, attached to the Airelles Gordes hotel in the Provencal village of Gordes. Here, with those spectacular views of the Lubéron valley, you can dine on dishes designed to celebrate local produce created by the famed Jean-François Piège.
Season 3 also gives us some of the city’s most glamorous hotels. In Episode 3, Emily meets her American boss Madeline in her suite at the George V, the Art Deco landmark that has remained the bar for grand luxe for almost a century. Confusingly, the establishing shot for her arrival is of another great hotel, La Régina on rue de Rivoli – we can see the gilded statue of Joan of Arc in the square in front of the hotel. It’s also outside La Régina that we see Emily in Episode 5 when she discovers that she’s made the cover of a magazine and is on “La Liste” of most influential people in Paris. The same episode also sees her in another hotel location, Le Molitor, where she meets Mindy poolside. This hotel on rue Nungesser in the 16th arrondissement was originally opened in 1929 as a swimming baths, becoming one of the city’s mid-century hotspots and since its restoration in 2014 has re-established itself as an upmarket hangout. Finally, there’s a visit in Episode 8 to Le Meurice, another five-star on the rue de Rivoli, where we see Sylvie meeting M DeLeon.
Paris’s parks also get a good showing, starting in Episode 1 when we see Emily and Alfie eat ice cream on an evening stroll through the Jardin du Palais-Royal, the formal garden close to the Louvre. Episode 4 sees the couple on a picnic in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont in the north-eastern corner of the city, where the lake and the Roman-inspired clifftop Temple de la Sibylle show Paris at its most classically romantic. In contrast, another al-fresco destination for the pair, also seen in Episode 4, is more modern: La Roue, the giant ferris wheel in the Jardin des Tuileries.
The blend of old and new continues with visits to some of the city’s grand attractions interspersed with some of its most modern. Emily streams herself at the Sacré-Coeur, the opulent basilica in Montmartre, in Episode 4 and then returns in Episode 9. This penultimate episode is a mini-tour, with Gabriel and Camille visiting the Musée d’Orsay, the great museum housed in a former railway station on rue de Lille, as well as Le Mur des Je t’aime (The I Love You Wall) in Square Jehan Rictus in Montmartre, a fresco of enamelled lava created by artist Claire Kito and calligraphist Fédéric Baron. Episode 9 also takes us back to one of Season 1’s big locations, the Opéra Garnier, with Sylvie.
For Episode 2’s retrospective for designer Pierre Cadault, we’re in the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in the Pavilion de Marsan, a branch of the Louvre that specialises in everything domestic from furniture and interior design to toys. In classic contrast, Mindy is in residence in a classic cabaret club, dubbed La Trompette Bleue but filmed at La Nouvelle Eve, a historic venue on rue Pierre Fontaine in Montmartre. Then, in Episode 7, Emily and Gabriel enter a new dimension with a spontaneous visit to Pop Air, a highly immersive experience involving inflatables hosted by La Grande Halle de la Villette, in the north-east of the city.
While Season 2 took Emily on an extended visit to the Riviera, this season’s trips out of the city are briefer. There’s Episode 6’s sojourn in Provence, and then in Episode 9 Emily and Alfie enjoy a balloon ride, filmed in the Loire valley with the medieval turrets of the Château de Montpoupon in Céré-la-Ronde visible behind them. Then, in the final episode of the season, the gang do leave Paris for the season's cliffhanger ending, for a party at Camille’s family home, supposedly in the Champagne region. Production actually took place at Le Château de Sonnay outside Tours once again, a country estate about 175 miles southwest of Paris. Here, the series comes to a dramatic head – with plenty for fans to look forward to in the following season.
Where is Emily in Paris Season 2 filmed?
Season 2 began with Emily after her contract was rather grudgingly extended, preparing for new adventures in Paris while avoiding her best friend Camille. Showrunner Darren Star, meanwhile, assured us that the show would push beyond the clichés that got up the noses of some viewers the first time around. He told Oprah Daily, “She’s going to be more of a part of the fabric of the world she’s living in, more of a resident of the city.” And, while the revered Le Monde newspaper reported that locals were growing irritated with filming (headline: “They think they’ve bought the neighbourhood”), there were indeed locations galore.
The big news was that Emily was leaving the capital, heading on vacation to the Riviera with her girls Mindy and Camille for Episode 2. Arriving at Villefranche-sur-Mer station, they stay at the Grand Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, the Four Seasons up the coast. Filming took place during the French lockdown, so the production had the run of the hotel, including a shoot at the rooftop Club Dauphin pool, in the style of lockdown hit The White Lotus, in Hawaii. ‘We took over what is probably one of the most glamorous places in the world,’ Darren Star told Vanity Fair. ‘The hotel was essentially closed except for us. We had our writers' room in a villa on the property, so it was surreal.’
Also in Cap-Ferrat is Paloma Beach, the restaurant that stands in for Emily’s friend Laurent, while the chapel where Emily and Camille meet up is back in Villefranche, the Chapelle Saint-Pierre on the harbour, decorated by Jean Cocteau. We also see them in St Tropez, on the harbour among the yachts and in front of restaurant Sénéquier in France’s most glamorous village, and in Grasse, where they drop in on a party at “Ragazzi House”, really the Château Diter, a lavish Italianate palace that is now available to rent.
The rest of the season gave us a similar whirlwind tour of Paris sights. In Episode 4, with her colleague Luc, Emily picnics in the Cimetière Père Lachaise – on the grave of author Honoré de Balzac – after a visit to Le Champo cinema on rue des Écoles for a screening of Jules et Jim. In the same episode, she visits the famed department store La Samaritaine on rue de la Monnaie, while Episode 7 takes her shopping in the Marché d’Aligre in the 12th (posing as the more central Marché Bastille) with Gabriel.
Emily also tours the city’s bars and restaurants. With English love interest Alfie (Lucien Laviscount), who she meets in French class, she drinks a pint in the pub The Bombardier on place du Panthéon and meets up in diner Breakfast in America 2 on rue Malher, before finally enticing him in Episode 10 to somewhere with a little more Gallic flavour for a tricky rendezvous at La Coupole, the famed Art Deco brasserie on boulevard du Montparnasse.
With Camille, meanwhile, we see her in Episode 1 at Le Café Marly on rue du Rivoli, while Episode 5 finds them meeting at Tortuga, the Julien Sebbag restaurant on the rooftop of Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann on rue de la Chaussée d’Antin with properly astounding views onto the Palais Garnier. Her boss Sylvie, meanwhile, pursues her gastronomic love affair with new beau Erik at Brasserie Lutetia on boulevard Raspail and then at La Société in St-Germain des Prés.
Emily’s musical friend Mindy takes the show into a different sort of venue. The drag bar where she performs in Episode 1 is La Nouvelle Eve on rue Pierre Fontaine in Pigalle to the north, though the interior scenes were shot in another club, Roxie, on rue de Ponthieu close to the Champs-Elysées. For Episode 10, meanwhile, Mindy’s show is set at riverside restaurant Huatian Chinagora in Alfortville, in the suburbs to the south-east, though again interiors were filmed elsewhere, this time at the Shang Palace restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel in the 16th.
Ending the season with a flourish is the fashion show that Emily directs for designer Grégory. A return to the first season’s use of grand locations, this was filmed in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palais de Versailles, built in 1678 with a ceiling decorated with a fresco celebrating the reign of Louis XIV, who made the Palais his court. We leave the season back in Paris, though, with Emily preparing for some big decisions looking out from the Pont Neuf, the oldest of the city’s bridges.
Where is Emily in Paris Season 1 filmed?
The first season of EinP made its intentions clear from the start with a mix of picture-perfect residential Paris and the grand spectacle.
For Emily’s base, the production chose the lovely Place de l'Estrapade in the 5th arrondissement, which comes complete with a fountain at the centre (though the history is less sweet since it earned its name by being the site of public floggings). The rue des Fossés Saint-Jacques, running either side of the square, is where you’ll find all Emily’s home bases, including the apartment where she lives with Gabriel as her neighbour. The bakery, La Boulangerie Moderne, is at No 16 and the Café de la Nouvelle Mairie is at No 19. For Gabriel’s restaurant, originally Les Deux Compères and renamed Chez Lavaux in S2, the production use Terra Nera, an Italian family bistro at No 18. With a bookshop and shoe-repair service close by, and the Panthéon and Jardin du Luxembourg (one of Emily’s haunts) in walking distance, it’s a classic Parisian vista, seemingly too good to be true but almost entirely real. Likewise Emily’s workplace, the agency Savoir, which is in place de Valois near the Louvre in the 1st arrondissement, as is the Bistro Valois, the agency’s favourite after-work haunt.
As for the spectacle, we see Emily attending the opera at the legendary Palais Garnier, the magnificent monument to Napoleon III’s lavish reign in the late 19th century, all marble and gilt and aged French aristocrats (not to mention the famous phantom who lived in the cellars). In Episode 4 she attempts to stage a work dinner in the equally historic and every bit as gilded Le Grand Véfour on rue du Beaujolais, one of Paris’s oldest and most distinguished restaurants. Opened in 1784, this was a haunt of the (original) Napoleon as well as Victor Hugo and Jean Cocteau, and still has two Michelin stars, along with some of the most impressive mirrors in the city.
In Episode 3, we also find her on the Pont Alexandre III, the flamboyantly ornate Beaux-Arts bridge that looks up towards the Champs-Elysées and down to the golden dome of Les Invalides. The bridge was seen in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, as was another Emily location, the Musée des Arts Forains, the funfair museum on avenue des Terroirs de France on the south-eastern outskirts, which we see in Episode 7.
There’s more history in a location used in Episode 10, the Monnaie de Paris. This imposing 18th-century neoclassical construction on the banks of the Seine is the French mint but here its exterior is the venue for a fashion show, with 250 extras and a lot of neon costumes. In Episode 5, there’s also a visit to one of Paris’s newer galleries, L’Atelier des Lumières on rue Saint-Maur in the 11th. Opened in 2018 in a former foundry, this is a dazzling digital exhibition centre, where works of art are brought to life in immersive form, as we see with Emily’s trip to a Van Gogh exhibition.
Setting the template for Emily’s tour of the Riviera in Season 2, she leaves the city in Episode 8 for a visit to the Loire Valley and Camille’s family home, supposedly in the Champagne region. For this, the production borrowed Le Château de Sonnay outside Tours, about 175 miles southwest of Paris. An impressive country estate, Sonnay is now well known as a wine producer – though perhaps even better known now for its appearance in the show.
