Top 15 MUST-VISIT Audrey Hepburn Locations

August 20, 2016 by California Globetrotter 41 Comments

Unless your parents didn’t have Audrey Hepburn films in their massive movie collection or you’re not a fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood glam or a fan of Classic films, it’s likely you haven’t heard of Audrey Hepburn…unless you were born anytime after the 90s.

As a little girl, I was bored out of my mind one day and started perusing my parents’ ridiculously large movie collection, I stumbled upon a pretty collection of 3 of Audrey Hepburn’s most famous films. I pulled them out and put the first one in the VHS player. (For those of you who are too young, a VHS player was how we watched movies before DVDs haha)

Ugg. It was in black and white. No matter, I was still bored so I watched the movie Roman Holiday. By the end of the movie, I was IN LOVE with Classic films and the era of Hollywood glam long since gone. And so began my obsession with Audrey Hepburn, who unbeknownst to me then, would become my life idol!

I wanted to be like her, act like her and dress like her. Unfortunately, the fashion from this era is long outdated and I was a kid. Over the years, I have searched out locations where she once was. While I certainly haven’t made it to all of the locations (7 of 15! – Although I was younger and didn’t know it at the time!), I’m here to share with you some of the top 20 Audrey Hepburn (film) locations that you can visit if you’re an über Audrey Hepburn fan!

Roman Holiday Film Locations (Rome, Italy)

• Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin (The Mouth of Truth)

The Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verita), which is considered to be the funniest scene in the entire movie, is where Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) puts his hand into the sculpture’s mouth at Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin. According to legend, it would nip off the hand of a liar who’d put it in its mouth. In the film, Audrey Hepburn’s reaction to Gregory Peck’s hand being cut off was not an act, as he decided to pull a gag without telling her beforehand.

Address: Piazza della Bocca della Verità, 18, Roma, Italy

2008

•  Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti  (Spanish Steps)

After Princess Ann has asked to borrow money from Joe Bradley, she spends her day doing things ordinary people do. She gets a hair cat, enjoys a gelato and receives a flower. After her hair cut, she takes a few moments to enjoy sitting on the Spanish Steps before Joe Bradley “bumps” into her again. After confessing to Joe that she “ran away from school”, he offers to show her Rome and thus begin the holiday.

Address: Piazza di Spagna, 00187 Roma, Italy

Source: William Wyler, Paramount Picture

• Castel Sant’Angelo

After spending the entire day sightseeing with Joe Bradley, they end the night with some music and dancing at the Tiber River by Mario Delani, a barge that the hairstylist told her about. Although the barge is no longer there today, you can still visit the location where the night ends with the princess being chased by secret police and the princess smashing a guitar on the head titling him “crowned head” before escaping by jumping into the river.

Address: Lungotevere Castello, 50, 00193 Roma, Italy

• Palazzo Colonna

During the last scene of Roman Holiday, Princess Ann (Audrey) meets the Press, including Joe Bradley in the Sala Grande. Here she must decide between love and responsibility. 

Address: Piazza dei Santi Apostoli, 66, 00187 Roma, Italy

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Charades (Paris, France)

• Jardin des Champs-Elysées

Throughout the film, Reggie (Audrey Hepburn) is a newly-widowed woman being sought after by a bunch of men she doesn’t know in search of her deceased husband’s secret. Along the way, she meets Peter (Cary Grant) and falls for him, but is he a friend or a foe?

During the film, Reggie and Peter meet up at the marionette theater at the Jardin des Champs-Elysées, which you can still visit today and has played since 1818.

Address: Av. des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris, France

Source: Stanley Donen, Universal Studios

Funny Face (Paris, France)

Paris was Audrey Hepburn’s favorite place to film movies so many of her films take place here!

• The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called Nike of Samothrace at the top of the Daru staircase at the Louvre, Paris
  

During Funny Face, Jo Stockton (Audrey) is slowly becomes accustomed to the role of a model after being a simple bookstore sales assistant, she surprises Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) by hiding behind the Winged Victory of Samothrace before quickly coming down the stairs causing Dick to snap some of the most stunning pictures as she walks towards him, down the steps, holding her shawl high above her.

Address: 75001 Paris, France

Source: Stanley Donen, Paramount Pictures

• Eiffel Tower

In the movie Funny Face, the Eiffel Tower serves as the climax of the song, Bonjour Paris where Audrey, Fred & Kay Thompson all meet up. In Paris When it Sizzles, Gabriel (Audrey) and Richard (William Holden) attempt to write a screen play called The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower and they attend a fancy dress party held on the tower.

Address: Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007 Paris, France

Source: Stanely Donen, Paramount Pictures

• Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

Remember that glorious moment when Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) is photographing Jo Stockton (Audrey) in front of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Funny Face and she’s wearing a simple black dress about to release a plethora of balloons? Ya, that’s my favorite moment too! 

Address: 75001 Paris, France

Source: Stanely Donen, Paramount Pictures

• Opéra National de Paris

Another location used as a background for a Quality Magazine in the movie Funny Face is a photo shoot in which Jo has been stood up at the Opera is asked to show the emotion of someone with “fire in your eyes and murder on your mind“. It turns into one of the most spectacular shots of Audrey as she struts down the steps of the National Opera.

Address: 86 Rue de Provence, 75009 Paris, France

Source: Stanely Donen, Paramount Pictures

• Château de la Reine blanche

Towards the end of Funny Face, another photo shoot takes place for Quality Magazine at Le Château de la Reine Blanche in Coye-la-Forêt, about 50km away from Paris where Jo Stockton (Audrey) models a wedding dress and Dick Avery (Fred) and Jo sing the film’s finale “He Loves and She Loves“.

Address: 60580 Coye-la-Forêt, France

Source: Stanely Donen, Paramount Pictures

• Hôtel Ritz Paris

The Hôtel Ritz Paris plays a role in two of Audrey’s films: Love in the Afternoon and How to Steal a Million. In one of my favorite films, How to Steal a Million, Nicole Bonnet (Audrey) meets Simon Dermot (Peter O’Toole) in the hotel the day after he broke into her home and she shot him in the arm to arrange a heist to steal a forged Cellini Venus made by her father.

Address: 15 Place Vendôme, 75001 Paris, France

Source: William Wyler, 20th Century Fox

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Manhattan, New York)

• Tiffany’s & Co.
  

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is considered Audrey Hepburn’s most significant role as Holly Golightly. Although not visibly seen in the film (the title of the move implies everything!), the Tiffany’s flagship store in Manhattan located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City plays an important role in the film.

Address: 727 5th Ave, New York, NY 10022, United States

Source: Blake Edwards, Paramount Pictures

Non-Film Locations

• Audrey Hepburn’s Birthplace (Brussels, Belgium)

If you’re an Audrey fan (which you must be, that’s why you’re here, right?), you SHOULD know that she was born was born Audrey Kathleen van Heemstra Ruston on 4 May 1929 in a district of Brussels in Belgium. 

In 2014, on a trip to Belgium, I sought out her birthplace while in Brussels (how could I not!?). A car drive away and around the bend, we finally found it. We pared around the corner, walked to the location, snapped a few pictures and went on about our day!

Address: 48 Rue Keyenveld, Ixelles, Belgium

• Audrey Hepburn’s Home (Tolochenaz, Switzerland)

While all my life it has been a thought, I have recently discovered that you CAN actually visit the town where Audrey Hepburn lived. However, it is NOT a tourist destination. Many know her as the beautiful Hollywood actress, but when it comes down to it, she was just an ordinary girl looking to live an ordinary life. From all my research, it’s a quite town in Tolochenaz, Switzerland near Lausanne. It’s a sleepy little town that she called  “La Paisible” (“peaceful” in French) where she lived in a charming 18th century farm house for 30 years before being buried in a cemetery across from the local church. 

Source: TripAdvisor

• Audrey Hepburn’s Star (Hollywood Walk of Fame, California, USA)

After growing up as the scrawny teenage girl who suffered from malnutrition after the ravages of WWII, Audrey emerged as one of Hollywood’s top leading ladies and an iconic figure in in classic Hollywood films and haute couture for designers such as Hubert de Givenchy. Besides her film career, she dedicated herself to UNICEF helping some of the poorest communities in Africa. On february 8, 1960 she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures.

Address: 1652 Vine Street, Hollywood, California

2008

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