In point of fact whether Romeo and Juliet is real and from Verona, Italy has become irrelevant since Verona is known as the location on which Shakespeare based his play. Half a million tourists descend upon the northern Italian city (90 minutes west of Venice) specifically to visit the courtyard where notes of love lost and won are affixed to the stone wall; to stand on balcony of Juliet and pose next to the bronze statue of Juliet (with her right breast polished to a sheen from the tradition of touching it for good luck).
The production also traveled to scenic Lake Garda (one of the famous three northern Italian lakes) before moving the production south to Siena. From there shooting was done all over Tuscany, and for 10 days the Argiano vineyards (one hour south of Siena) where the world-famous Brunello wine is produced. Two days were spent in the historic ancient city of Siena amidst the steep narrow streets that all feed down to the his historic Piazza del Campo where the production stole a shot of Sophie and Charlie crossing the vast public square while thousands of tourists were too taken with the historic surroundings to notice the movie camera.
The Borgo Scopeto Hotel, formerly a family estate for centuries, was the location for the interior and exterior hotel scenes where Sophie, Claire and Charlie based out of for the Tuscany excursion. Nestled amidst vineyards and olive groves about 20 minutes from Siena, the hotel was where the Italian portion of the movie wrapped on August 13, 2009. The day after the actors and key crew flew to New York City for four days of filming. Bryant Park and Times Square were the two key exterior locations and Victors restaurant was located in an empty building in SoHo.
