The little mermaid 2023 filming locations in Italy – For the Disney Movie of The Little Mermaid, the 2023 remake of the 1889 Disney cartoon was chosen a beautiful island in Italy: Sardinia. Sardinia is a big island in the middle west part of Italy, especially known for its beautiful beaches and clear seawater. Many parts of Sardinia are little paradises.

Many Italians and people from many parts of the world choose Sardinia for their summer holidays when they want a place to relax on the beach and enjoy swimming and snorkeling. Personally, I love spending in Sardinia at least a week every year.

Although Sardinia is especially well known for its sea and beaches is not only that. Sardinia also has a few characteristic and historic towns and cities.

For all that we’ve just said, it doesn’t marvel us that Sardinia it’s the place chosen as the filming location for the Disney movie The Little Mermaid 2023.

Sardinia, when to go?

Sardinia is a beautiful island especially known for its beautiful beaches and clear seawater. That’s why the perfect time to go to Sardinia is in summer: between June and the beginning of September when you can swim. August, and especially the 2 central weeks, is when most Italians go on holiday, and all the beaches are crowded and the price high. For me, then, the perfect time for your Sardinia holidays is between the middle of June and the middle of July.

Sardinia also has a few beautiful cities and towns to visit, so if you don’t want to swim, you can visit Sardinia also in Spring. In this case, you can visit Alghero, Castelsardo, and Cagliari.

The Little Mermaid 2023 filming locations in Sardinia

Of course, in a movie, many locations are used for filming it. In this post, we don’t see them all but 3 beautiful locations that are good examples of beaches and historic places used as The Little Mermaid 2023 filming locations in Sardinia, Italy.

Castelsardo
Cala Moresca in the Golfo Aranci area
Rena Majore
The rugged coast of Rena di Matteu (Aglientu).

Castelsardo

Castelsardo was used as part of the setting for Eric’s castle. In May 2023, Castelsardo also received thanks from Disney through a post on social for having hosted the shooting of the film and was also illuminated for the occasion with some scenes from the film.

Castelsardo has always been a nice town to visit, but thanks to the Disney movie now, of course, it is well known internationally.

Castelsardo is a historic town in the northwest part of Sardinia in Italy, and it’s on the north coast. It’s placed on a hill, and the castle is at the top. This conformation makes Castelsardo one of the most picturesque towns in Sardinia with its historic center overlooking the sea.

When you visit Castlesardo, you can park the car close to the coast and reach the top on foot. In this way, you can also visit the Castle.

Castelsardo has not always been the name of this town. The fortified city was born with the name of Castelgenovese (Genovese castle) as a possession of the Dorias Ligurian family. After has been for a period one of the bulwarks in the fight against the invading Catalan-Aragonese forces in the 14th century, it was conquered by them. It became Castellaragonese (Aragonese castle) to assume its current name of Castelsardo then.

Are Castelsardo and its castle exactly as they appear in the Disney film The Little Mermaid?

Are Castelsardo and its castle exactly as they appear in the Disney film The Little Mermaid? I would say not exactly. In fact, the castle of Castelsardo is not as large and magnificent as Eric’s castle is represented in the film, but this should not surprise us as it is now increasingly difficult to distinguish real landscapes from reconstructed landscapes in films.

However, this is not a bad thing, as the two elements combined together allow you to create beautiful settings and contribute to the magic of the story.

Returning now to reality, or rather returning to talking only about the real places of magnificent Sardinia, I can say that the visitor who visits Castelsardo after having watched The Little Mermaid should not expect to see exactly the setting of the film. Despite this, it is worth visiting Castelsardo as it is a beautiful and interesting village and offers breathtaking panoramas, some very similar to those seen in the film.

Castelsardo was already a well-known and visited village before the film was shot there and I myself had already visited it many times. On some of these occasions, I have also brought friends with us to see it since they did not know it, they had never visited it, and in any case I was pleased that they saw it because it was already worth it.

With a visit to Castelsardo, your holiday is not just about the sea but is also enriched with historical and landscape elements.

In the following subtitle, you can find a video that shows you some glimpses of Castelsardo, its castle, and the panoramas that you can see from this magnificent village.

Video Castelsardo Sardinia

In the following video, you can see some scenes of Castelsardo. Watch the video!

YouTube player — The Little Mermaid 2023 filming locations in Italy: Castelsardo Sardinia Italy

Cala Moresca Beach in the Golfo Aranci area

Cala Moresca is a beautiful small beach in the northeast part of Sardinia is the location chosen for filming the scenes of the fishing village and around the castle pier.

When Ariel becomes human and is taken on the cart to the castle for the first time, you can see and fleetingly distinguish some glimpses of Cala Domestica.

Cala Domestica Video

Watch the following video that shows you the Cala Moresca Beach beauty.

Cala Moresca Golfo Aranci

Cala Moresca is an extremely charming place. It is a cove nestled between the sea and the mountains. A crystal clear sea where you can swim.

It is definitely for those who love adventure. In fact, the last we went to Cala Moresca, it was a real adventure. Because of the location, you have to take a dirt road that runs along the sea. The road is wide, but the potholes are too. If you go by car, you should proceed cautiously or you can continue on foot.

On the other hand, the view is beautiful and a walk is always good. The road along the coast is located right in front of Figarolo Island. The view repays the effort.

One time we arrived at our destination, we were in front of a beautiful cove nestled between wild nature and an amazing sea.

But that’s not all: we also found a nice surprise waiting for us. Behind the beach, there is a fence where a nice family of wild boars lives.

If you like walking and exploring and the initial walk was not enough, after an enjoyable swim, you can also follow the path that starts right from Cala Moresca.

Rena Majore

Rena Majore is the beach used as the location for the Little Mermaid scene when the little mermaid rescues Eric and emerges from the water. This is an iconic scene also because it is the scene where The Little Mermaid stays on the rock.

Rena Majore location: https://goo.gl/maps/Nw4eEt9dkWVMxBFr9

The Little Mermaid 2023 rock

The iconic scene where The Little Mermaid stays on the rock was filmed in Rena Majore, in the north of Sardinia in Italy. Anyway, if you go to Rena Majore, don’t look for the rock because it has only been placed for filming the movie and it’s not normally present at this beach.

The rugged coast of Rena di Matteu (Aglientu)

The carriage scenes with Ariel and Eric were filmed on the rugged coast of Rena di Matteu, close to Aglientu and the same area as Rena Majore beach.

The Little Mermaid 2023 filming locations in Italy