Stars Hollow, Connecticut is a lovely place with a cozy diner and quirky residents, and Gilmore Girls was filmed in a few different locations to depict the fictional town. Despite not being an actual place, the show's small town is steeped in charm and feels real thanks to the details present in every episode. Many series are set in tiny towns where everyone knows each other's daily business and dark secrets, but Stars Hollow feels unique, with memorable spots like Al's Pancake World, which features different dishes from around the world but not the sweet breakfast food of its name.

The inspiration behind Stars Hollow on Gilmore Girls comes from real Connecticut towns like Washington Depot. When it comes to Gilmore Girls, it's possible to learn the real-life locations behind the romantic moments between Luke Danes (Scott Patterson) and Lorelai (Lauren Graham), along with Rory (Alexis Bledel) and Lorelai's mother/daughter activities. While Rory dreams of going to an Ivy League college and leaving her town, it makes sense that she comes back in the Netflix revival Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and always sees this place as her home.

Where Was The Gilmore Girls Pilot Filmed?

Unionville, Markham, Ontario Was The Show's First Filming Location

The pilot episode of Gilmore Girls was filmed in Unionville, Ontario, particularly on Main Street. Unionville is part of Markham and provides the perfect backdrop for the beginning of Lorelai and Rory's story. Lorelai's age at the start of Gilmore Girls is crucial to this episode, as she's 32 years old, and her daughter is 16. Lorelai walks to get coffee at Luke's Diner and walks past Tucci Armadio in Unionville, which sells clothes. A customer then hits on Rory before realizing that she's still in high school and that Lorelai is her young mother.

Several other Unionville spots show up in the pilot episode. The scenes at Luke's Diner were shot at 156 Main Street, which is now the Gratie Medical Spa. The big windows still look similar. There is also the Stars Hollow church, which is located at 150 Main Street. The gazebo and the location of Taylor's Old-Fashioned Shoppe are also real spots in Unionville (via Visit Markham). The latter is at 170 Main Street, which is now a place to grab pastry and coffee called Old Firehall Confectionery.

As Lorelai walks through her beloved town, the main street of Unionville suggests a warm-hearted place to live.

Lorelai's relationship with Chris leads her to Luke, and it all starts in this episode as she asks the latter to pour her a cup of coffee, and they playfully banter. The pilot is a key part of Luke and Lorelai's romance. As Lorelai walks through her beloved town, the main street of Unionville suggests a warm-hearted place to live.

Where Was The Rest Of Gilmore Girls Filmed?

Most Of The Show Was Filmed At A Warner Bros. Lot In Burbank, California

While the Gilmore Girls pilot was filmed in Ontario, the rest of the series was shot on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, though it's clear that the heart, soul, and charm of Unionville were recreated on the set. Many characters' houses are part of the set, including those of Lorelai and Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy). Sookie and Lorelai's homes are actually connected (via Insider). Other sets include Luke's Diner, Doose's Market, Stars Hollow High School, the church, Mrs. Kim's antique store, and the gazebo.

Luke's apartment was one of the main sets in the second and third seasons of the show, as that was when he took in his nephew, Jess (Milo Ventimiglia). Before this, Luke was mostly only seen in his restaurant. They also didn't use it when he and Lorelai moved in together since they moved into her house. Mrs. Kim's antique store was an important setting early on because that is where Rory would visit her friend. Doose's Market is where Dean (Jared Padalecki) kisses Rory for the first time.

Rory's Yale scenes were filmed at the University of Southern California.

Rory's decision to go to Yale over Harvard makes her happy, although she experiences several lows during this time. Rory's Yale scenes were filmed at the University of Southern California (via It's Filmed There). In the memorable Gilmore Girls season 7 episode "Unto The Breach," Rory graduates and turns down Logan Huntzberger's (Matt Czuchry) proposal as she seeks a more independent future. The characters walk and stand near the Norris Theater, the Bovard istration Building, and Taper Hall. The beautiful campus of USC is a great backdrop for Rory's coming-of-age storylines and the big decisions she has to make.

Gilmore Girls was also filmed at two locations in Los Angeles, and these were the background for some key moments involving Rory and her Gilmore Girls love interests. The show's Chilton scenes were shot at the Greystone Mansion located at 905 Loma Vista Dr. in Beverly Hills. The show was also filmed at The Ebell Club for several important plot lines, from the vow renewal of Emily and Richard Gilmore (Kelly Bishop and Edward Herrmann) to Rory's meaningful and chaotic school dance. Scenes of Rory eating at Chilton's cafeteria were also shot at this club (via Travel Pulse).

Where Was The Netflix Revival A Year In The Life Filmed?

The Gilmore Girls Revival Was Filmed On The Same Burbank Lot As The Original Show

Gilmore Girls filmed the 2016 Netflix revival, A Year in the Life on the same lot in Burbank, California as the original series. Stars Hollow looks as magical and nostalgia-inducing as ever in the Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life revival. Rory visits home, and she and Lorelai buy coffee from Luke's and wander around the snowy streets, ing the mom-and-pop stores and that famous gazebo. It's the perfect introduction to these new episodes and a reminder of the banter that the mother-and-daughter duo is praised for.

Gilmore Girls showrunner and creator Amy Sherman-Palladino explained during the summer 2016 Television Critics Association press tour, "They changed our Stars Hollow... So we had to go back in and zhoosh up Stars Hollow. We had to rebuild all the sets.” It's also worth noting that in the years since Gilmore Girls ended in 2007 and the revival began filming, the show's set was used for Pretty Little Liars.

Rory is 32 years old at the end of the Gilmore Girls revival and finding her way in the world, with Stars Hollow as a safe place to land. Although Stars Hollow isn't an actual town, the question of where Gilmore Girls was filmed would have to be the same for A Year in the Life as in the original series, thanks to nostalgia for Luke's Diner, the gazebo, and the characters' homes.

Whether Rory visits Lane Kim (Keiko Agena) at the International Food Festival or tap dances in the middle of the night, the Gilmore Girls Warner Bros. set looks as cozy as ever.

Why These Gilmore Girls Locations Were Chosen

Amy Sherman-Palladino Was Inspired While Vacationing

Amy Sherman-Palladino was inspired to create Gilmore Girls when she took a Connecticut vacation with her husband, Daniel Palladino. After she visited the area, she made an improvised pitch for the show, which the network accepted. According to the show's creator, her trips to towns like Washington, Hartford, New Milford, and Kent influenced what Stars Hollow would look like in the series (via The AV Club).

"I was going to put them in a city area, but then I went on vacation to Connecticut, because I wanted to see Mark Twain's house. I stayed at an inn, and it was very charming, in a tiny town, and everybody seemed to know each other, and there was a pumpkin patch across the street.

I went to a diner, and people kept getting up to get their own coffee. No one was there to be waited on. It seemed like a fun environment to put [the characters] in. It happened over a two-day period, as far as place and where they would live."

Sherman-Palladino went on to say that she didn't know anything about small-town America since she came from the Valley. She said that made it a romantic ideal for her to have a show where everyone knows each other. "I also lived in Venice for a while, which is a funky, weird, closer community in the middle of a city," she said. "Stars Hollow actually had a lot in common with that experience, as far as I'm concerned."

How The Gilmore On-Screen Locations Were Different From The Real Areas

Amy Sherman-Palladino Was Inspired But Still Made Aesthetic Changes

While the original pilot was shot on-site in an actual small town, the rest of the series and its revival were all shot on a backlot. However, it was important for Amy Sherman-Palladino to base the Gilmore Girls settings on real locations, and she went to painstaking lengths to ensure that the fictional places in the show looked as much like those that influenced it. Washington, Connecticut, was a huge influence on Stars Hollow, and the Mayflower Inn & Spa was the basis for the Independence Inn and Lorelai's Dragonfly Inn.

"So we drove through Connecticut, and we stayed at ... the Mayflower Inn in Washington, Connecticut ... And the inn was so beautiful. And everything looked like it was covered in sugar. It was just like one of those eggs that you stare in at Easter. If I can make people feel this much of what I felt walking around this fairy town, I thought that would be wonderful." (via Deseret News).

There are other influences in Washington, Connecticut. Marty's Cafe doesn't look like Luke's Diner, but this establishment has the most in common with the popular restaurant from the show. This was a situation where Gilmore Girls took the feel of the location and then changed the physical appearance to fit the show. There is also a bakery called The Pantry, which is very similar to Weston's Bakery in the TV show.

Washington's Green is an event space and social hub in the town and is the inspiration behind Stars Hollow's location, The Depot. Both have several shops and restaurants around the area, which host festivals, fairs, and concerts throughout the year. They also share the church found nearby, and it is clear that this was a huge inspiration for many set pieces and moments from Gilmore Girls.