The Diplomat’s Tuscany, Located

When The Diplomat returns on Thursday 15 Oct, Kate Wyler’s crisis management goes on tour. For its fourth season, Netflix‘s political drama took over the historic centre of Lucca in Tuscany and dressed it as the host city of an informal G7 summit, convincingly enough that, according to the Toscana Film Commission, some passersby briefly believed a real diplomatic meeting was under way.

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Here is where the new season filmed, what the show has used in earlier seasons, and how to put a few of those places on your own itinerary.

The season four shoot

According to the Toscana Film Commission, principal photography on season four began in early November 2025 and wrapped on 5 June 2026, roughly seven months split between London, New York City and Tuscany, with English country houses also in the mix. The Italian leg came late in the schedule: the Lucca shoot ran on 13 and 14 May 2026.

The commission says the production worked with the Municipality of Lucca, which approved an agreement covering permits, road closures and controlled-access zones in the old town. The Toscana Film Commission supported the shoot, and the crew used the Starhotels Teatro Luxury Apartments in Florence as its base.

Lucca: a summit inside the walls

Lucca is the season’s showpiece. The film commission lists six spots inside the city’s walls where The Diplomat filmed:

• Palazzo Ducale, on Piazza Napoleone.
• Porta San Pietro, a gate in the city walls.
• Piazza San Frediano.
• Piazza Anfiteatro.
• Piazza Guidiccioni.
• Via Sant’Andrea.

All six are streets, squares and landmarks inside the old town, so a self-guided walk costs nothing beyond getting there. To match frames, watch the summit scenes first and note the angles.

Villa Reale di Marlia

The commission says the production also filmed at the Villa Reale di Marlia, a historic villa with formal gardens just outside Lucca. Of all the season’s Tuscan locations, it is the one built for a visit.

The estate says it is about 8 km from Lucca and reachable by public transport or car, with free parking. It suggests allowing at least two hours, and recommends buying tickets online for weekends, public holidays and events, with tickets on arrival sold subject to availability. The local tourism site for Capannori, the municipality where the villa sits, describes more than 16 hectares of grounds, including a Camellia Avenue, Lemon and Spanish gardens, a Water Theatre and a Green Theatre of clipped hedges. The villa’s own site lists current opening times and prices; check them before you go, as they are not stated on the pages consulted for this guide.

Florence also appears in the season, but the film commission says the specific locations there were not disclosed.

The British side: places you can visit

The bulk of The Diplomat has always been made in Britain. Netflix’s Tudum published a guide to the series’ locations in September covering the first three seasons, and several of the stand-out sites are open to the public in some form:

• St Paul’s Cathedral, London. The show closed the cathedral for four days to film a funeral in season two. “Nobody has ever closed St. Paul’s for four full days, which we did,” season two supervising location manager E.J. Richards told Tudum.
• Trafalgar Square, London. Filmed on location, with the square shut for a day.
• Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Used for part of the same funeral sequence.
• Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. Exteriors and the mingling scenes for Trowbridge’s formal dinner in season two.
• Wilton House, near Salisbury. The dinner itself.
• Inveraray Castle, Argyll. Two weeks of filming for Kate and Trowbridge’s tense meeting, swim in the loch included, with the town of Inveraray used for Hal’s burner-phone scene.

Tudum also notes that Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire stands in for the US ambassador’s residence, Winfield House, and that Downing Street interiors were shot at Harefield House in Hillingdon. In season three, Washington interiors moved to New York, with the DeSeverky Mansion in Old Westbury on Long Island standing in for Blair House and Coe Hall Historic House playing Trowbridge’s home in the finale.

Opening days and hours at the castles and stately homes vary by season, so check each official site before you build a trip around them.

How to plan it

If you are heading to Tuscany, base yourself in Lucca, walk the six filming spots in the old town, and give the Villa Reale di Marlia a separate half day. In Britain, London’s St Paul’s, Trafalgar Square and Greenwich fit in a single day; Blenheim and Wilton House work as day trips; Inveraray is a commitment, but the Tudum guide gives fans a reason to make it.

Where to watch

• The Diplomat season 4: Netflix · CA US UK · Thu 15 Oct
• The Diplomat seasons 1 to 3: Netflix · CA US UK · Streaming now

Sources

• Toscana Film Commission: Season 4 of The Diplomat filmed in Tuscany premieres on October, 8 Sept 2026
• Netflix Tudum: The Diplomat: Inside All the Political Drama’s Major Locations, by Keisha Hatchett, 24 Sept 2026
• Netflix Tudum: The Diplomat Season 4, 15 Sept 2026
• Villa Reale di Marlia: Useful info and accessibility, accessed 10 Oct 2026
• Capannori Terra di Toscana: Villa Reale di Marlia, accessed 10 Oct 2026