The Devil Wears Prada 2 Filming Locations in Italy: A Milan & Lake Como Guide

If you loved the original, you already know the thrill: Andy and Miranda are back, and in The Devil Wears Prada 2 the story sweeps from New York to Italy — Milan and Lake Como. Between the marble of Milan Fashion Week and a glittering villa on Lake Como, the sequel is practically a love letter to northern Italy.

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I happened to be staying on Lake Como and in Milan in June 2026, so I walked several of the film’s real locations myself. This guide skips the New York scenes and focuses only on the Italian filming locations you can actually visit — with how to get there, the best time of day, and honest tips for traveling as a woman in her 40s or 50s.

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About the film

• Title: The Devil Wears Prada 2
• Released: 1 May 2026 in US theaters (20th Century Studios); premiered in New York on 20 April 2026
• Director: David Frankel (returning from the original)
• Returning cast: Meryl Streep (Miranda), Anne Hathaway (Andy), Emily Blunt (Emily) and Stanley Tucci (Nigel), with newcomers including Justin Theroux as Benji Barnes (whose Lake Como villa anchors the Italian half of the film), Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley and Lucy Liu
• Scene-stealer: Lady Gaga performs at Runway’s Milan fashion show finale

The plot follows Miranda steering Runway through the decline of print magazines. Under new ownership and facing brutal budget cuts to its flagship Milan fashion event, Andy schemes to save the magazine with the help of a wealthy patron — Emily’s boyfriend Benji, whose Lake Como villa becomes one of the film’s most beautiful backdrops.

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Location 1: Piazza del Duomo, Milan

Milan is introduced from the air, the camera sweeping down to the Duomo. During Fashion Week, editors and models stream across this square — it’s the world of Prada made real. Up close, the cathedral’s 135 spires are genuinely breathtaking.

Getting there: Metro M1/M3 to “Duomo”.
Best time: before 8am, when the light is soft and the crowds haven’t arrived.
Photo tip: frame the cathedral from the Galleria side, and consider the rooftop terraces (ticketed) for a close-up of the spires.

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Location 2: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Right beside the Duomo stands one of the world’s oldest shopping arcades. In the film, Miranda takes a solitary stroll through it. Beneath its soaring glass dome sit the flagship boutiques of Prada and Louis Vuitton — be sure to photograph the Prada sign, the very name in the film’s title.

Entry: free, open as a public passage.
Local lore: put your heel on the bull in the floor mosaic and spin three times for good luck — the reason there is a worn hollow in the tiles.
Photo tip: come early — an empty Galleria looks exactly like a film set.

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Location 3: Accademia di Brera (Brera Academy)

The film’s climactic Runway fashion show — the one with Lady Gaga’s performance — was filmed here. The show was staged in the porticoed courtyard of Palazzo Brera. One thing to get straight before you turn up: the Accademia di Brera is a working art school and is not open to general visitors. The part you can actually visit is the Pinacoteca di Brera, the ticketed picture gallery in the same palazzo, which holds the Raphael and the Caravaggio — all of it set in the chic, cobblestoned Brera district.

Address: Via Brera 28 (Metro M2 “Lanza” or M3 “Montenapoleone”).
Worth knowing: pair the gallery with a slow wander through Brera’s lanes and cafés.

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Location 4: Palazzo Parigi Hotel

In the film this is where the Runway team stays — and it is a real five-star hotel in central Milan, known for its spa and elegant afternoon tea. Worth knowing before you go looking: the lobby and the white marble staircase are genuinely the hotel, but the bedroom interiors were shot at Winfield Hall on Long Island, so not every room will look familiar. If you want to live the fantasy, you can still book a night here.

Address: Corso di Porta Nuova 1, near the Brera district.

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Location 5: Santa Maria delle Grazie

The UNESCO-listed church that holds Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper appears in the film, and the mural is the backdrop for the Runway gala dinner — but that scene was shot on a soundstage against a full-scale recreation, not inside the refectory. To protect the fragile painting, nobody films in there. You are going to see the real thing, not a film set.

Booking the Last Supper is the hardest part of a Milan trip. Entry is by timed slot only — groups of up to 40 people, 15 minutes inside, no walk-ins ever. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 8:15–19:00 (last entry 18:45), closed Mondays, 1 January and 25 December. Admission is €15 (about $17) for age 25 and over, €2 for 18–25, free under 18, and you must arrive 30 minutes early or lose the slot. Tickets are released in blocks a few months at a time on the official site, cenacolovinciano.org, and they go fast. (Checked August 2026.)

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Location 6: Villa Arconati & Il Salumaio

Villa Arconati, a magnificent aristocratic estate on the edge of Milan (sometimes called “the Versailles of Lombardy”), is where Runway stages its Italian event — Miranda’s descent of the monumental staircase was shot here.

And Il Salumaio di Montenapoleone (Via Santo Spirito 10), a historic gourmet deli-restaurant in the heart of the luxury shopping district, is where Emily lunches with Donatella Versace — a lovely, very ‘Milan’ spot for lunch yourself.

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Villa Arconati opens on Sundays only — check before you build a day around it. For the 2026 season it opens every Sunday from 6 April to 13 December, 11:00–19:00. Admission is €11 full, €8 reduced, free for under-10s; a guided visit is €16 full, €13 reduced (roughly $12 / $9 / $18 / $15). There is also a summer run of guided visits on Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:00, 22 July to 28 August. It is at Via Madonna Fametta 1, Castellazzo di Bollate, about 12 km northwest of the center — there is no metro, so a taxi or rideshare from central Milan is the simplest way out. It is the one location on this list where arriving on the wrong day means a closed gate, so confirm on the official site first. (Hours per Grandi Giardini Italiani, checked August 2026.)

Location 7: Villa Balbiano, Lake Como

The film’s Lake Como showpiece is Benji’s villa, where Andy and Emily arrive by speedboat, slicing across the water with the villa rising behind them. It was filmed at the 16th-century Villa Balbiano in Ossuccio — the same opulent estate used in House of Gucci.

⚠ Don’t confuse the two villas! The one in the film is Villa Balbiano (Ossuccio). It’s not the famous Villa del Balbianello (Lenno) of Star Wars and Casino Royale fame — that’s a different building, though both sit close together on Lake Como’s western shore and are well worth combining. Villa Balbiano is largely private (rentals/stays), so the realistic way to see it is from the water, on a boat tour.

If you’d like to visit its romantic neighbor, here’s my full guide: Villa del Balbianello — the complete visitor’s guide to Lake Como’s most romantic villa.

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Before you go: watch & read

Rewatching the films and re-reading the books before your trip makes every location land harder — that “this is the spot!” feeling is half the fun.

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The sequel is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu in the US, so you can watch it the week before you fly rather than trying to recall it from the cinema. After a $692 million worldwide theatrical run it is easy to find — and watching it fresh really is the difference between standing in the Galleria and standing in that spot in the Galleria.

Tips for visiting (from one over-40 traveler to another)

• Watch the films first. The “that’s the scene!” moments are ten times sweeter when it’s fresh.
• Go early for empty photos. Both the Duomo and the Galleria are near-deserted before 8am.
• Mind Fashion Week dates. Hotel prices spike in late Feb–March and September; other months are easier and cheaper.
• Solo travel is very doable. Central Milan is busy and comfortable by day — just stay pickpocket-aware in the crowds.

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The Italian locations at a glance

Location	City	Scene	Visit
Piazza del Duomo	Milan	Opening aerial	Free / rooftop ticketed
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II	Milan	Miranda’s walk	Free
Brera Academy	Milan	Lady Gaga show	Ticketed
Palazzo Parigi	Milan	Team’s hotel	Stay / dine
Santa Maria delle Grazie	Milan	Gala dinner	Book ahead
Villa Arconati	Milan area	Fashion event	Check opening days
Il Salumaio	Milan	Emily’s lunch	Dine
Villa Balbiano	Lake Como	Speedboat arrival	View from the water

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This article contains affiliate links. I only recommend places I’ve genuinely enjoyed and services I’d use myself.

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More Lake Como Guides

• Best Lake Como Boat Tours for Solo Travelers
• Villa del Balbianello: Tickets, Boats and Best Time to Go
• Lake Como: The Complete First-Timer Guide

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• Milan to St. Moritz by Bernina Express
• Reggia di Venaria: Turin’s Answer to Versailles

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