Europe’s Top 20 Cities Worth Filming In (2026): A Production-First Ranking for Filmmakers
Cities Worth Filming In
Choosing where to film in Europe has never been about a lack of beautiful cities. The real challenge for producers, line producers, and production executives is comparing cities based on real production conditions—costs, infrastructure, incentives, crews, and operational risk.
That is exactly why ScoutAround created Cities Worth Filming In: Europe Top 20 – Ranking 2026, a production-focused ranking designed to help filmmakers evaluate European cities as working production systems, not tourist destinations .
This article provides a complete overview of the report, its methodology, key findings, and how filmmakers can use it in real-world decision making.
👉 View the full ranking here: https://www.scoutaround.io/top-20-european-cities-for-filming
Why This Ranking Was Created
Based on several years of analyzing hundreds of real client requests and working closely with producers, location managers, and hosts during the development of ScoutAround, a consistent pattern emerged:
filmmakers struggle to confidently select the right city for a production—not because of limited options, but because critical information is fragmented, inconsistent, and difficult to compare .
This fragmentation slows down decision-making, introduces bias, and often leads to choices based on assumptions rather than data. The ranking was created to solve this exact problem by consolidating verified production data into a single, comparable framework.
As stated in the report by ScoutAround CEO Gabriel Georgiev, Europe does not lack strong filming destinations—it lacks clarity and comparability.
What Makes This Ranking Different
Unlike prestige-driven or tourism-based lists, this ranking evaluates how well a city performs operationally as a film production environment.
The report focuses on:
Real production conditions (not marketing narratives)
Budget, risk, and execution realities
Practical suitability by production type (film, TV, commercials, short-drama, music videos)
Each city is treated as a production system, not a postcard location .
Methodology: How Cities Were Evaluated
ScoutAround developed a Weighted Filming Friendliness Score, inspired by risk-assessment models used in the film bond industry .
Key Methodology Principles
Each city is scored on a 0–100 scale
Scores are weighted based on real-world production importance
Data is sourced from official film commissions, government databases, and industry publications
All data is validated with local professionals, including producers and location managers
This ensures the ranking is decision-oriented and grounded in operational reality.
The 12 Evaluation Factors
Each city was evaluated across 12 professional production factors, including:
Production activity & market maturity
Cost environment
Location diversity
Filming infrastructure
Incentives & rebates
Technical crew depth
Production capacity
Climate & weather
Political & economic stability
Safety & security
Regulatory ease
Accessibility & logistics
Each factor includes multiple sub-metrics (e.g. soundstage quality, permit speed, crew density, hotel pressure), all contributing to the final weighted score .
Tier System Explained
Cities are grouped into three tiers based on production capability:
Tier 1 – Global / Pan-European Hubs
Cities capable of supporting large-scale, complex, multi-unit productions.Tier 2 – Strong Regional & Value Hubs
Cities offering strong value, incentives, and reliability, with some scale limits.Tier 3 – Boutique / Niche Markets
Cities best suited for focused, smaller-scale, or specialized productions .
Europe’s Top 20 Cities Worth Filming In – Ranking 2026
The cities included in this year’s Top 20 come from across Europe and represent a mix of:
Established global production hubs
Incentive-driven filming destinations
Cost-efficient regional centers
Emerging and boutique production markets
Among the cities analysed in the ranking are:
London, Berlin, Budapest, Prague, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Warsaw, Lisbon, Sofia, Vienna, Bucharest, Athens, Kraków, Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Tallinn, and Vilnius. See ranking!
The ranking reflects a production-focused perspective and is subject to interpretation, not an absolute industry standard .
City-by-City Profiles: Practical Insights
Each ranked city includes a detailed profile covering:
Best-fit production types
Operational strengths (crews, studios, incentives, climate)
Real limitations (capacity constraints, costs, permitting complexity)
Examples:
London leads in scale, crew depth, studios, and global accessibility but faces high costs and capacity pressure.
Budapest excels in incentives and studio infrastructure but can experience crew strain during peak overlap.
Prague offers historic authenticity and mature services with some peak-season permitting complexity.
All profiles are designed for practical production planning, not promotional storytelling .
Best Cities by Production Type (Use-Case Shortlists)
The report also includes shortlists by production format, such as:
Feature films
TV series
Commercials
Short-drama
Music videos
Each shortlist highlights which cities perform best based on format-specific requirements like scale, speed, cost efficiency, or visual uniqueness .
Why This Report Matters for Filmmakers
This ranking provides filmmakers with:
Faster location decision-making
Reduced budget and operational risk
Clear comparison across cities and regions
A neutral, data-driven reference point
It establishes a baseline methodology that will evolve in future editions as production conditions, incentives, and infrastructure change across Europe .
Explore the Full Ranking
The complete ranking, methodology, and city profiles are available online.
Explore Europe’s Top 20 Cities Worth Filming In (2026):
https://www.scoutaround.io/top-20-european-cities-for-filming