Crema Italy: A Journey to the Ethereal Town of Call Me By Your Name

Two summers ago, I came across a film that truly resonated with me. This particular movie had seen a lot of awards buzz, but I had sorely overlooked it at the time. And I fell in love. Call Me By Your Name painted an ethereal picture of a place untouched by time or tourism.

Elio and Oliver’s love story was nothing short of enthralling, and the setting of the film was understated yet like something straight out of a fairytale. Country lanes lined with cypress trees, sidewalk cafes in front of soaring churches, a timeless place where bicycles are the primary form of transportation. It was everything I wasn’t expecting Italy to look like. Crema took me off guard in the absolute best way.

I knew that after getting a lingering taste of Northern Italy through the film that I had to see the real place for myself. So, I journeyed across the world to the enchanting town of Call Me By Your Name: Crema.

Just a few short train rides from Milan, Crema is located in Italy’s scenic Lombardy region in the shadow of the Alps. The first thing you see when you step off the train is the all-too-familiar train station where Emilio and Oliver bade their farewells. A short walk through a city park and a few charming cobblestone streets lead me to a place that left me with a subtle yet magnetic sense of deja vu. I was standing where it all began—in the square where Emilio and Oliver sat chatting over coffee at a nondescript but charming cafe. It is so strange to be in a place that you feel like you’ve been to before but are truly seeing with fresh eyes for the first time.

To say that Crema is even more charming in person is a gross understatement. Crema is everything you would imagine an authentic Italian town to be. Filled with kind locals, beautiful historic buildings with pink flower boxes in the windows and something more intangible that’s a little harder to put my finger on. It takes a lot for a place to captivate me, but that little square in Crema did just that. There is a true peace and a warmth about those golden facades and cobblestone streets.

Crema is a slice of Italy that needs to be seen to be believed. Since this little town is such a hidden gem, I thought I’d approach this guide a little differently than I typically do by sharing more imagery mixed in with a few recommendations and filming locations. Here are my top places to see in Crema as featured in Call Me By Your Name (and a few that I discovered on my own):

Highlights of Crema

• Piazza del Duomo (pictured above: where Elio and Oliver meet over drinks) (square)
• Duomo (where Marta meets Elio) (church)
• Laghetto dei Riflessi (where Marta and Elio go for a swim) (lake)
• Basilica Santa Maria della Croce (church)
• Chiesa della Santissima Trinita’ (church)
• Palazzo Bodenti Terni de Gregory (church)
• Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie (church)
• Botero (Michelin-star restaurant)
• Crema Train Station

Northern Italy is also home to other captivating scenes from Call Me By Your Name. You can easily visit Crema’s neighboring towns of Moscazanno and Pandini as well as Lake Garda, where smaller scenes were filmed, on any Northern Italy trip.

Call Me By Your Name Filming Locations

• Sirmione on Lake Garda (Archaelogical Trip Scenes)
• Villa Albergoni in Moscazanno (Perlmann Family Home)
• Piazza Gambazocchi in Moscazanno (Card Game Scene)
• Bar Belvedere in Moscazanno (Elio + Marta Reconciliation Scene)
• Piazza Vittorio Emanuele III in Pandini (“Speak or Die” Scene)
• Fontanile Quarantina in Capralba (Oliver’s “Special Place” Scene)
• Cascina San Giorgio (Il Duce Scene)
• Church of Montodine (Where Elio and Oliver leave for Bergamo)
• Le Cascate del Serio (Waterfall Scene)
• Hotel Agnello d’Oro (Pension in Bergamo)

“Call me by your name and I’ll call you by mine.”

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