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| A Tale of Two Cities Filming Locations: Where Was the MGM+ Series Filmed? |
MGM+’s A Tale of Two Cities brings Charles Dickens’ famous 1859 story to the screen with a distinctly European backdrop, but viewers looking for its version of 18th-century London may be surprised to learn that the production never had to cross the English Channel. The entire series was filmed in Hungary, with Budapest doing an impressive bit of historical shape-shifting to stand in for the world of London, Paris and the turbulent period surrounding the French Revolution. The result is a city dressed up with period props, grand architecture and enough barrels and carts to make modern Budapest briefly forget what century it is.
The MGM+ British period romantic drama, created by Daniel West, follows Lucie Manette, a young woman who receives extraordinary news from Paris: her father, believed to have died almost two decades earlier, may still be alive. The revelation sets her on a path involving Charles Darnay, the French messenger who brings the news, and Sydney Carton, a talented but troubled young lawyer. Their intertwined story unfolds against political upheaval, giving the production plenty of reason to require streets and buildings capable of convincing audiences that they have travelled back more than two centuries.
Budapest, Hungary, serves as the principal filming location for A Tale of Two Cities, with much of the production taking place in the capital and its surrounding areas. Budapest has long been a favourite for period productions because its architecture can convincingly double for several European cities without requiring filmmakers to rebuild an entire 18th-century metropolis from scratch. For this series, that flexibility was particularly useful because the story moves between different locations and social worlds while maintaining a distinctly historical atmosphere.
Filming was originally expected to begin in September 2025, but production was pushed back before principal photography eventually began in October 2025. Cameras continued rolling through the autumn before the shoot wrapped in December 2025.
That schedule meant the Hungarian capital became the working home of the cast and crew for several months, while Budapest's streets were transformed with period dressing rather than simply being asked to do all the historical heavy lifting themselves.
One of the most recognisable filming areas is Liberty Square, or Szabadság tér, in Budapest’s District 5, within the Lipótváros neighbourhood. The square provided the production with an expansive urban setting suitable for some of the series’ key sequences. During filming, Kit Harington and members of the cast and crew were seen working in the area, making Liberty Square one of the more visible parts of the production around the Hungarian capital.
The square is surrounded by grand architecture, which gives the series the sort of visual scale expected from a Dickens adaptation without making every scene feel like it was shot on a theatre set.
For A Tale of Two Cities, the production added period details to reshape the environment, allowing a recognisably Budapest location to take on the appearance of another era. It is a rather clever trick: change the traffic, remove the modern distractions and scatter enough historical props around, and suddenly the 21st century has been politely shown the door.
Another important location is the Stock Exchange Palace, positioned opposite the National Bank of Hungary in the same central Budapest area. The historic building became part of the production's period environment, with filming taking place in and around the landmark. Its imposing architecture helped create the formal European atmosphere required by the story, while its surroundings offered the production useful exterior space for scenes requiring a larger urban backdrop.
The area around the Stock Exchange Palace was also dressed extensively for filming. Barrels, sacks, carts and other period props were introduced to make the streets appear closer to the world Dickens described.
Those details matter in a production such as this because a beautiful historic building can only do so much when a modern street sign or contemporary bit of street furniture threatens to wander into shot. Fortunately, the production appears to have taken the less-is-more approach to modern Budapest and simply covered the evidence.
The Hungarian Parliament Building also forms part of the visual landscape associated with the Budapest shoot. Standing beside the Danube, the landmark is one of the city's most instantly recognisable sights and provides an unmistakably grand backdrop for establishing and exterior imagery.
Its scale makes it particularly useful for a period drama aiming for a sense of political importance and metropolitan grandeur, even though viewers may need to remind themselves that they are looking at Budapest rather than Dickens’ London.
The Hungarian State Opera House adds another layer to the production's architectural palette. Located on Andrássy Avenue, the ornate building fits naturally into a lavish period setting, with its historic façade offering precisely the sort of visual detail a costume drama wants. It also reinforces one of the biggest advantages of filming in Budapest: the city has an extraordinary collection of historic-looking spaces packed into a relatively manageable production area.
The Great Market Hall is another Budapest landmark connected with the production's visual world. The enormous covered market is one of the capital's best-known historic buildings, and its distinctive architecture provides a very different texture from the formal government and institutional buildings used elsewhere. For a story filled with contrasting social environments, that variety is useful, giving the production another way to make its version of 18th-century Europe feel busy and lived-in rather than suspiciously spotless.
The Fisherman’s Bastion brings yet another architectural style into the mix. Perched above the city near Buda Castle, the landmark is famous for its distinctive towers, terraces and panoramic views over Budapest. Its appearance is almost excessively picturesque, which is exactly the sort of thing period drama cinematographers tend to appreciate. If a location already looks like it belongs on a historical drama poster, there is arguably no reason to argue with it.
The production’s Budapest footprint also extends into the broader central-city surroundings used to connect its principal settings. These streets and architectural spaces help create continuity between the grand landmarks and the more grounded environments occupied by the characters. Rather than relying on one recognisable building to sell the entire illusion, A Tale of Two Cities uses Budapest as a wider period canvas, allowing different parts of the capital to represent different aspects of its story.
For viewers interested in exploring the same historical atmosphere, Buda Castle and the surrounding Castle District provide another particularly relevant part of Budapest's architectural landscape. The area contains centuries-old buildings, courtyards and elevated streets overlooking the Danube, making it an obvious companion setting to the locations used by the production. While the series' principal filming base remains Budapest as a whole, the Castle District fits remarkably well with the visual language established by the show.
The contrast between these locations is one of the more interesting aspects of the production. Liberty Square provides an expansive urban setting, the Stock Exchange Palace brings imposing historic architecture, while the Hungarian Parliament Building, Hungarian State Opera House, Great Market Hall and Fisherman’s Bastion contribute different pieces to the city's visual identity. Put together, they allow Budapest to convincingly occupy the role of a much larger historical world.
For fans, reactions to the filming locations naturally vary. Some viewers enjoy spotting the Budapest landmarks beneath the period dressing, particularly when a familiar building suddenly appears in an entirely different historical context. Others may find themselves slightly distracted once they recognise the Hungarian capital behind the Dickensian makeover. That is the unavoidable risk of filming a historical drama in a city that has become so recognisable on screen: once you know Budapest, it can be difficult to unsee Budapest.
Still, the choice works remarkably well for A Tale of Two Cities. The production needed grand European architecture, historic streets and enough visual flexibility to portray a world shaped by London, France and revolutionary unrest. Budapest offers all of that without requiring the production to construct an entire city from scratch, while its mixture of monumental buildings and atmospheric streets gives the series plenty of visual variety.
The filming timeline also adds an interesting detail to the production story. After the original September 2025 start was delayed, the cameras finally rolled in October 2025 and continued until December 2025. That relatively concentrated shooting period meant Budapest was transformed into the world of Dickens as autumn gave way to winter, with period costumes and carefully arranged street dressing helping hide the modern city beneath the production design.
Ultimately, A Tale of Two Cities is another example of how Budapest can quietly become almost anywhere a period drama needs it to be. The city provides the bones, while the production design supplies the century, turning familiar Hungarian streets and landmarks into a world of Dickensian intrigue. And for viewers who enjoy spotting filming locations, there is plenty to look for once the story gets moving. Which A Tale of Two Cities location did you recognise first, and did Budapest convince you that you were somewhere else entirely?