Inferno

I love the Davinci Code movies! I also really love visiting the places where movies were made. Luckily I've been able to visit many of the filming locations in the Inferno movie, including going on an "Inferno Tour," which is no longer available in the Palazzo Vecchio, although you can still see many sites from the movie when visiting Palazzo Vecchio and taking their Secret Passages Tour. Florence and Venice are both major filming locations for this movie. Inferno was released in 2016 and stars Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. At only 7 minutes into the movie, a night-time view of Florence was shown.

A quick list of the filming locations that you can visit are:

Florence Locations:

* The Badia Fiorentina Abbey

* Palazzo Vecchio

* Boboli Gardens

* Ponte Vecchio & the Vasari Corridor

* Baptistery of Saint John

Venice Locations:

* St. Mark's Square & Basilica

* The Grand Canal

The Badia Fiorentina Bell Tower, Florence Italy

At the very beginning of the movie when Bouchard is chasing Zobrist through Florence, Zobrist climbs a bell tower and jumps to his death. The Badia Fiorentina Monastery houses that bell tower. It is significant to the movie because supposedly Dante used to visit Beatrice here -- it is the oldest monastery in the world. We found the tower on our visit to Florence. You can't climb the bell tower, but you can visit the monastery for free. You can find it here: Google Maps location of Badia Fiorentina Their official website is here: Badia Fiorentina

The scene of him jumping out of the bell tower is here: Zobrist's death

The Badia Fiorentina Monastery

The bell tower that Zobrist jumps from in the movie. We didn't have time to go inside the monastery or find a better vantage point for photos - that's on the list of things to do next time!

The location of Badia Fiorentina is very close to Palazzo Vecchio -- in the movie Zobrist runs past the front of the Palazzo Vecchio as they are chasing him.

Here's some shots from the movie with Badia Fiorentina in it. You can watch the scene here: Inferno at Badia Fiorentina

Zobrist runs into the Badia Fiorentina with Bouchard chasing him

The bell tower as Zobrist runs toward it

view from the air of Badia Fiorentina

Zobrist standing in the bell tower, about to jump, the Duomo visible on the far left

Zobrist in the tower with the Duomo and Giotto's bell tower behind him as the camera circles the Badia Fiorentina bell tower

Zobrist about to jump out of the tower

Bouchard looking down at Zobrist after he jumped

Boboli Gardens in Florence, Italy

At 38 minutes into the movie, Robert Langdon and Sienna enter the Boboli Gardens. Created by the Medici family in the 1500's, these beautiful gardens are full of statues, fountains, and maze-like trails adorned with bushes. Their official website is here: Boboli Gardens

We didn't purchase tickets ahead of time and were glad that we could get in when we visited Florence in March of 2025. Tickets are 10 euro and the Boboli Gardens are open every day from 8:15 a.m. to about 4:30 p.m. or 7 p.m., depending on the time of year you visit. You can also purchase a combination pass to the Pitti Palace. Unfortunately, the Pitti Palace was closed when we visited. The gardens are a short walk from the Palazzo Vecchio. To walk between the two, cross the river on the Ponte Vecchio.

This clip shows the scene of Langdon and Sienna in the Boboli Gardens: Inferno in the Boboli Gardens

The view from Ponte Vecchio

Walking through the Boboli Gardens in March 2025

The Fountain of Neptune in the Boboli Gardens

View from the Fountain of Neptune

View down on the Fountain of Neptune and the rest of the Boboli Gardens

Cracked Tyndarius

This shaded walkway looks similar to one that Langdon and Sienna ran through while trying to evade authorities in the movie

The Pitti Palace wasn't open when we visited

The Artichoke Fountain

Fountain of the Artichoke

View from the Boboli Gardens

The beautiful view of Florence from the Boboli Gardens

Boboli Gardens

Boboli Obelisk is an Egyptian obelisk that was moved from Rome to Florence in the 18th century

Sculpture from 5th century BC Athens

walking the trails in Boboli Gardens

Here are some shots from the movie in the Boboli Gardens:

view of the Artichoke Fountain with Boboli Gardens behind it

Langdon and Sienna run around the Neptune Fountain as a drone follows their movements

Langdon and Sienna run through a heavily wooded path

Robert and Sienna running towards the Vasari Corridor to escape from the gardens

Ponte Vecchio and the Vasari Corridor

In the movie, Langdon and Sienna escape from the Boboli Gardens through the Vasari Corridor, which travels from the Grotto del Buontalenti to the Uffizi Gallery. The Vasari Corridor travels over the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge that crosses the Arno River. I haven't been inside the Vasari Corridor yet, although it is possible to pay extra for your Uffizi tickets so that you can exit through the Vasari Corridor and end up in the Boboli Gardens. This costs a bit extra, but would be well worth the money. The Vasari Corridor is open until about 4:30 p.m., and on Friday evenings, so if you want to walk through the corridor at night, be sure your trip to Florence includes a Friday. A Uffizi ticket is 25 euro, whereas a Uffizi with Corridor ticket is 43 euro.

If you don't want to purchase tickets to visit the Vasari Corridor, you can just visit the Ponte Vecchio for free, any time of day. You can walk across the bridge and admire the Arno River. The Ponte Vecchio is one of the famous landmarks of Florence.

View from Ponte Vecchio in March 2025

As we enjoyed the view on Ponte Vecchio the wildlife was not shy about joining us. That is Ponte alle Grazie in the background

View of Ponte Vecchio - the Vasari Corridor is the top floor of the Ponte Vecchio

My daughter sitting on Ponte Santa Trinita, a nearby bridge that also crosses the Arno River, with Ponte Vecchio in the background

My daughter and I got gelato and crepes at a nearby shop and enjoyed our view of Ponte Vecchio

View from Ponte Vecchio of Ponte Santa Trinita in the distance

Ponte Santa Trinita behind us

Standing on Ponte Vecchio

This is Ponte Santa Trinita

This duck was very friendly while he perched on Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio as viewed from Ponte Santa Trinita

Standing on Ponte Vecchio, that is Ponte alle Grazie in the background

Standing on Ponte Santa Trinita with Ponte Vecchio in the distance

St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy

At an hour and 13 minutes into the movie Dr. Langdon and Sienna arrive in Venice. They walk through St. Mark's Square headed towards the Basilica. The Four Horses of Venice, which are on the terrace at St. Mark's Basilica are a pivotal part of this scene. The original horses are inside the basilica and on the terrace, or loggia, are replicas of the original four horses.

You can visit St. Mark's Square at any time, but to visit the Basilica and especially to go out on the terrace you will need to purchase a complete experience ticket from the St. Mark's website, which is here: St. Mark's Basilica Complete tickets cost 30 euro. Entrances start at 9:30 a.m. and last entrance is at 3 p.m. To visit the Campanile you have to purchase a separate ticket.

St. Mark's Square's google maps location is here: St. Mark's Square Take the San Marco Vallaresso vaporetto stop for the fastest route to St. Mark's Squre.

view of St. Mark's Square from the Campanile

The clock tower with the Moors on top striking the bell

The Moors

The Winged Lion of Venice

The horses on the Loggia, which are featured in the Inferno movie

The original horses, which are housed inside

View of St. Mark's Square from the terrace of the Basilica

Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy

The Palazzo Vecchio is one of my favorite places to visit in Florence. It appears in the movie at 37 minutes 53 seconds. The Palazzo Vecchio played a pivotal role in the film. I have taken the Secret Passages tour of the Palazzo Vecchio twice and it was completely different both times. This makes me wonder how many secret passageways there really are in this mysterious palace! The first time we visited the Palazzo Vecchio was in 2018 and the Secret Passages Tour was called the Inferno tour back then and highlighted specific scenes from the film. When I visited again in 2025 there was no longer an Inferno tour offered, but the Secret Passages tour still took us on an amazing route through secret hallways and behind portraits, and we still saw many of the areas highlighted in the Inferno movie. I very highly recommend taking this tour! You submit a request to go on the tour and they book you when there is availability. They actually changed my booking time before we arrived in Italy, and luckily the new time still worked with the other things we had planned. The tour costs 22 euro and you also pay for your entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio. Walking through the Palazzo Vecchio, and especially the Hall of 500 is very impressive. Even if you don't want to go on the tour, take a few minutes to tour the Palazzo Vecchio on your own.

This is the official website for this tour: Secret Passages

The Palazzo Vecchio was completed between 1314 and 1322. It is the historic town hall of Florence, Italy. Palazzo Vecchio means "old palace." The famous Hall of 500 within the Palazzo Vecchio is named for the 500 politicians that used to meet in this hall during the Renaissance. If you look closely at the fresco by Vasari entitled "The Battle of Marciano" you can find the words "Cerca Trova," which means "seek and ye shall find" written on a green flag near the top of the painting. "Cerca Trova" and this painting were featured in the Inferno movie and used to be part of the "Inferno" tour back when it was offered at the Palazzo Vecchio. Now you have to find it on your own.

Dante's death mask is also featured in the Palazzo Vecchio. There is some controversy about whether it is truly a "death mask," because some believe that the mask was created before Dante died. The preservation and display of the mask at the Palazzo Vecchio are representative of Dante's importance in Florence and elsewhere in Italy. Dante's death mask was also featured in the Inferno movie.

During the tour you are able to see secret rooms used by the Medici family, as well as passageways that the family used during the time they lived in the Palace. The tour also takes you to see the area above the Hall of 500, which is quite different than what is presented in the Inferno movie. For instance, in the movie one of the antagonists ends up falling through a painting in the ceiling of the Hall of 500. The ceiling is far stronger than that, and she simply would have landed on wood if she had really fallen in this attic area. It is also not nearly as deep as the movie portrays it. Still, it is quite fascinating to see this and many other areas of the Palazzo that a general visitor would not be able to see.

Our tour guide did bring us into the map room, but did not take us through Armenia, as they do in the movie, and as they did when we took the Inferno tour in 2018. We were able to see the map, though. Looking at the countless portraits inside the Palazzo Vecchio, you can't help but wonder how many of them open up to a secret hallway or staircase behind them. It makes me wish I could do a major overhaul of my house and build in several secret passageways!

The google maps location of Palazzo Vecchio is here: Palazzo Vecchio

This was our meeting place for the tour

This tiny door is where our tour began. When we took the Inferno tour in 2018, the tour ended through this door, the same door they exited Palazzo Vecchio in the movie.

Our tour guide pointed out the differences in the structure of the building, showing where additions were made to the palace over the years.

my daughter entering the tiny door to begin the tour

A model of the Palazzo Vecchio during the various stages of construction

Most of the stairways on the secret passages tour were narrow like this

This room is Francesco's Studiolo. He kept hidden treasures behind these paintings

Some of these paintings are cupboards to store treasures, and some are doors that open to passageways

The paintings represented trades or religious or mythological people

portrait of Cosimo I de' Medici

portrait of Eleonora of Toledo (Cosimo's wife)

One of the paintings opening up to a secret staircase

another of the secret rooms

Our tour guide kept opening more paints to reveal hidden passages

The Hall of 500 - the floor matches the paintings on the ceiling - this large painting on the right is the one with Cerva Trova in it - Vasari's Battle of Marciano

You can see Cerca Trova in the far left of this zoomed-in shot of Vasari's painting

In this shot Cerva Trova is near the right/top

chairs were set up in the Hall of 500

view of the Duomo out the window of the Hall of 500

looking down on the Hall of 500

The area above the Hall of 500 - in the movie this area was built in a studio and was made to look much deeper than it actually is

Dante's death mask

The Map Room

Armenia is the map that they went through in the Inferno movie, and that we went through on our Inferno Tour in 2018, but on our Secret Passages tour in 2025, we did not go through Armenia and our tour guide never mentioned that Armenia opens to a secret passageway.

My daughter and I went back in the Hall of 500 to get more photos and a video of the Cerca Trova on the painting

Some believe that Vasari painted Cerca Trova in this fresco as a clue to a hidden painting by Leonardo daVinci. It is still a mystery today.

Palazzo Gucci is right next to the Palazzo Vecchio. The 2 towers you can see peeking above the buildings belong to the Badia Fiorentina, an abbey that was also featured in the Inferno movie

The Equestrian Monument of Cosimo I on Piazza della Signoria where Palazzo Vecchio stands

The Fountain of Neptune outside of Palazzo Vecchio

The fountain was commissioned by Cosimo in 1559

I had to take these photos in .5 because of how tall the Palazzo Vecchio is

I have never been in the bell tower, but you can purchase tickets to climb the 233 steps and view Florence from the bell tower.

Baptistery of Saint John

In the Inferno movie, Langdon locates Dante's death mask hidden inside the baptismal font at the Baptistery of Saint John in Florence. He and Sienna use water from the font to view the message written on the back of the death mask. The scene from the movie can be seen here: Inferno in the Baptistery

On the Piazza del Duomo, beside Giotto's Bell Tower and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is the Baptistery of Saint John, or Battistero di San Giovanni -- Florence's Baptistery. It is dedicated to John the Baptist. It is believed to have been built in the 11th or 12th centuries. You can visit the Baptistery as part of a combination pass to the Piazza del Duomo. I chose to purchase the Brunelleschi pass so that I could climb the Duomo, climb the Giotto bell tower, visit the baptistery, the museum, the Santa Reparata, and the cathedral. A Brunelleschi pass costs 30 euro. I think it is definitely worth it! And you are able to visit each destination, including the climbs, within a few hours so that you still have time to see other things in Florence.

The official website to purchase tickets for Piazza del Duomo is here: Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore

Hours for the Piazza del Duomo:

Dome: 8:15 a.m. -- 6:45 p.m.

Giotto's bell tower: 8:15 a.m. -- 6:45 p.m.

Baptistery: 8:30 a.m. -- 7:30 p.m.

Duomo Museum: 8:30 a.m. -- 6:00 p.m.

Basilica of Santa Reparata: 10:45 a.m. -- 4 p.m.

Cathedral: 10:15 a.m. -- 3:45 p.m.

Every first Tuesday of the month the museum is closed. When we visited most recently in 2025, we scheduled our Duomo climb first thing in the morning in the earliest possible time slot, and then we visited everything else after that. The timing worked out very well for us.

The google maps location of the Baptistery is here: Baptistery of Saint John

The baptistery was under construction when we were there in 2025 because they were restoring the mosaics, so scaffolding was set up inside the center of the dome from floor to ceiling, and a lot of our view was blocked. We were still able to see the baptismal font.

This extensive scaffolding was set up when we visited in 2025 as they were making repairs on the baptistery

Our view was blocked during their construction period but we were able to look at photos and read about the baptistery

This board talks about the history and restoration of the Baptistery

The baptismal font

Dante was baptized in this baptistery in 1266, although not in this specific baptismal font=, which was built in 1370.

This is the view of the baptistry from the top of the Giotto Bell Tower

There are some who believe that throwing a coin into this grate will result in a return trip to Florence, similar to throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

These are some photos of the dome that I took on our visit in 2018

During our 2018 visit the exterior of the dome was under construction

the ornate doors of the baptistery

east doors of the baptistery

part of the North doors

The south doors are the entrance doors

part of the south door

The Tomb of Antipope John XXIII

The Grand Canal

For a very brief moment in the Inferno movie, the Grand Canal in Venice is shown: Inferno in Venice

When we have visited Venice, riding on the Grand Canal was a highlight of the trip. We usually used vaporetto to get around, because it is the most affordable way to travel. We did take a water taxi once as well, although that is a great deal more expensive. Here is what I recommend about visiting Venice and the Grand Canal:

#1 most important: get a Venezia Unica City Pass. The website is here: Venice City Pass

On the home page there is a description of the services offered, and then at the top of the page select "Buy." You can choose which pass you'd like to purchase. For our most recent trip we just purchased the transportation pass, the ACTV time limited tickets. We bought the 2 day transport for 35 euros. This is definitely worth the price! It allows you to ride around on all the vaporetto around Venice, and also includes the nearby islands. I printed my voucher off rather than only having it on my phone, in case my phone battery had died before I arrived. If arriving by train, when you get off the train, head straight for the exit to the Santa Lucia train station. Once exiting, you will see directly in front of you the ACTV small building. In front of the building are machines that look like vending machines - these are ticket machines. You will enter the PNR code from your voucher of your online purchase and the machine will print off your pass. To use the pass, there are scan machines at the entrance to each vaporetto stop. Line 2 takes you in a circular route through the Grand Canal to most places you would want to visit as a tourist, including St. Mark's Square. When getting on vaporetto 2, be sure that the boat is facing in the direction you want to go. The boats come only minutes apart, so don't be worried if you miss the boat. Some of the stops have digital signs that tell you which boat is coming at what time. If you want to visit Murano, which I highly recommend, there are a few options for boats. We took 4.2 from the Santa Marta stop because it was the closest stop to our hotel. It took about a half hour to reach Murano. We got off at the Colonna stop, which is the first Murano stop, because we wanted to walk all the way through Murano and see all of the different glass shops and factories. Then we walked back to Colonna (although you can get on at any stop in Murano) and rode the 4.1 back to Venice, because 4.1 goes in the opposite direction of 4.2. You can also ride the boat 3 or 12 to reach Murano, although these weren't scheduled as often as 4.1 and 4.2. Each time it took only about 30 minutes to get between the two. Be sure to scan your pass each time you get on a boat, because if they check tickets and you have not scanned your pass, you will receive a large fine. Some stops to take note of are:

* P. Roma stop is the bus station

* Ferrovia stop is the train station

* S. Zaccharia (or S. Marco S. Zaccharia) is Saint Mark's Square

* Rialto is the Rialto Bridge

* Fdte Nove is the most direct stop to Murano, it is the last stop boats take before heading in the direction of Murano, stopping at Cimitero on the way (cemetery - San Michelle island, where the dead of Venice are buried)

Most tourist attractions are around, or within walking distance of St. Mark's square. If you get on vaporetto line 2 and ride it until the S. Zaccharia stop, you can get pretty much anywhere you'd want to see. There are plenty of souvenir shops and places to eat near there. It is very helpful to download the AVM Venezia app on your phone. The app allows you to enter your destination and it gives you a variety of options for which boats to take to get there. It also allows you to look at the timetables of the different lines.

On our trips to Venice, we enjoyed just riding up and down the Grand Canal on the vaporetto and looking at all the different sites that we could see from the water. With a pass, it's so easy to get off and back on, so you're not at all limited in exploring Venice.

You can watch a video of our most recent visit to the Grand Canal here: Grand Canal

My daughter and I in March of 2025 on the Grand Canal

View of the Campanile, the Doge's Palace, and St. Mark's Basilica from the Grand Canal

One of the Vaporetto stops. You can wait inside these until the next vaporetto arrives. Be sure to take the boat that's going in the direction you want to go.

This happened to be the vaporetto stop closest to the hotel we stayed at in March 2025

Beautiful Venice at night

The Scalzi Bridge - you can walk across this bridge if arriving by train and that can save you some time in reaching your destination

Ponte della Guglie is near the train station as well

Ponte dei Tre Archi - this three-arched bridge was close to the Airbnb that we stayed at in 2018

the island of Cimitero (cemetery)

This vaporetto stop is the closest stop to departures for Murano - you can walk to this stop, or ride the vaporetto to this stop if you want to reach Murano.

The Cimitero vaporetto stop - you can get off and visit the cemetery island

My daughter riding the vaporetto in 2025

The Rialto Bridge, one of the most famous bridges in the world

View from the Rialto Bridge

View from the other side of the Rialto Bridge

Inside a water taxi

When we arrived at night in March of 2025, we took a water taxi to our hotel so that we wouldn't have to figure out the most direct way to get there. The rest of the time we rode vaporetto to get around.