Conversations with Friends filming locations: where Sally Rooney drama is set, including Croatia and Ireland

Conversations with Friends is a romantic drama series which follows two friends and former lovers, Bobbi and Frances, as they form deep connections with a married couple.

The BBC Three series is an adaptation of the 2017 debut novel of the same name by best-selling author Sally Rooney.

Rooney’s second novel, Normal People, was also adapted by BBC Three and became a huge hit when it was released during the lockdown in April 2020.

Conversations with Friends returns to some of the same locations at which Normal People was filmed, but also spreads further afield, with shooting taking place across Europe.

Where was Conversations with Friends filmed?

Dublin, Ireland

Much like Normal People, Conversations with Friends features Trinity College in Dublin as a backdrop to events and a meeting point for several of the main characters.

The University’s gorgeous architecture features extensively in the series, as the cast pass through Parliament Square, and Frances studies up for her exams in Berkeley Library.

The university, which was founded by Elizabeth I more than 400 years ago, saw a surge in application numbers after the release of Normal People, so admissions officers are probably dreading a new influx after Conversations with Friends airs.

Other Dublin landmarks to crop up in the series include Chex Max bistro on Palace Street, near Temple Bar, and the well to do suburb or Monkstown.

Melissa, Bobbi and Frances also go swimming in Dublin Bay, a scene that was not too comfortable to film owing to the chilly temperatures.

County Antrim, Northern Ireland

While the series is set predominantly in Dublin, many of the street scenes were actually filmed in Belfast and other areas in County Antrim.

Belfast’s Queen’s University, independent bookshop No Alibis and the Lyric theatre also feature in Conversations With Friends as stand ins for Dublin locations.

OX, a Michelin-star restaurant in the Northern Irish capital, also appears in the series as the setting of a dinner date between Nick and Frances.

Another intense scene between Nick and Frances was shot at a pub in Ballycastle on the coast of Northern Ireland.

Hvar, Croatia

The paradisiacal Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea is the setting of Melissa’s agent’s holiday home which appears in two episodes of the series.

In Rooney’s book, the villa is located in Brittany, France, but producers decided to set the holiday scenes in Hvar instead.

It is on this island that the four main characters Bobbi, Frances, Nick, and Melissa, travel for a getaway that is blissful, but complicated by their intermingling romances.

The idyllic island was also a major shooting location for the high fantasy series Game of Thrones.

When is Conversations with Friends on TV?

Conversations with Friends will be released on BBC Three and iPlayer from Sunday May 15.

All episodes will be available to watch from that date as a box set but will also be released episodically on BBC Three.

The first episode of Conversations with Friends will air on 15 May on BBC Three at 10pm.