Where was The Notebook filmed?

At the beginning of the film, Noah, set to convince Allie she should go out with him, goes to a movie theater with his friend, whose girlfriend Sara (Eve Kagan) is friends with Allie. So they set up a ‘coincidence,’ and all went to the cinema together.

The American Theater, where Noah and Allie go on a double date, is located at King Street in Charleston. It opened in 1942 as the premier movie house in the city, characterized by regal Art Deco architecture. Due to its timeless Holywood glamour, it has been featured in many films throughout the years.

Although the building no longer operates as a public movie house, it now serves as a sophisticated event venue, featuring an 8,000-square-feet space for weddings, receptions, meetings, and corporate parties. It features a luxurious ballroom, an expansive lobby, a concessions area, and an intimate lounge with a bar. It also has a fully-equipped cinema for private film screenings and state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment.

Since it’s located in Downtown Charleston, it’s easily accessible by public transportation. Several bus lines have routes that pass near the theater, including buses number 10, 11, 33, 40, 41, and XP2. It is also close to several bus stations, such as the King St, Transit Mall, Visitors Center, and Calhoun St bus stations.

If you want to visit The Notebook locations, one of the filming sites to tour around is the Cypress Gardens. It is featured in several boating scenes in the movie, including the part when Allie and Noah paddle through the swamp with tons of swans. Indeed, “It’s spectacular. It’s like a dream,” just as Allie said.

Located about half an hour from downtown Charleston, the Cypress Gardens is a 175-acre swamp garden in Moncks Corner, South Carolina. It offers an array of nature adventures and provides a perfect setting for fun and relaxation. You can stroll miles of picturesque trails, relax in a greenhouse, go on a swamp boat ride, and soak in the spectacular view of the vast garden landscape. The Cypress Gardens has everything for adventure seekers, nature lovers, or anyone looking for an exciting family getaway. Besides its natural attractions, it also hosts parties and special celebrations with gorgeous venues suitable for your big day.

If you want to explore the gardens, the site is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The fastest way to get there is by car, bus, or taxi. The bus companies that run services between Charleston and Cypress Gardens are the CARTA company and the Atlanta Tours Inc.

Noah’s plantation house plays a crucial role in the story. He first introduces it to Allie one night as The Windsor Plantation, which was built in 1772. It was a gigantic rundown house that Noah planned to “buy one day and fix it up.” When planning what they want for the mansion, Allie states, “I want a white house with blue shutters,” which you’ll see later in the film years after they separated.

The house in this scene is actually a private property at the Martins Point Plantation. It is located on Wadmalaw Island, a small, quiet island in Charleston County, about half an hour from downtown Charleston. The Martins Point Plantation features a private boat ramp for kayak, canoe, and boat access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Wadmalaw River.

Instead of using an abandoned house, the filmmakers masked the house's exterior and distressed it heavily to make it look old, abandoned, and rundown. Although Noah says it was built in 1772, the actual building was established in 1875.

After the completion of Noah’s renovation project, the house looks much like what it does today. The filmmakers only added the blue shatters and a side porch to match the characters’ vision for the house in the movie.

The first time Noah sees Allie years after their break-up is probably one of the heartbreaking scenarios for him. He’s ecstatic to finally meet the love of his life, only to see her kissing another guy inside a restaurant. This scene where he looks through the restaurant window was filmed at a local restaurant in Charleston called High Cotton.

High Cotton is a working restaurant on East Bay Street, one of Charleston’s more popular and scenic thoroughfares. It is home to several historic buildings and numerous shops, boutiques, and restaurants that significantly contribute to the city’s unique charm.

You can enjoy a happy hour or a luxury fine-dining experience at the restaurant and then explore the lines of shops around the street. Besides delicious food, High Cotton offers live music in this inviting and welcoming space.

Remember the scene when Allie’s parents call the police because it’s already 2 a.m. and she’s still not home? Lost track of time, Noah and Allie rush back to her house, where the police and her parents are anxiously waiting. Unhappy about her daughter, Anne Hamilton (Joan Allen) tells Allie not to see Noah anymore. She calls him a “trash, trash, trash,” not meant for her daughter because he’s a laborer and a woodworker.

This and other scenes inside Hamilton’s summer home, including the part when Allie is running down the staircase the following morning, were filmed in Williams Mansion, colloquially referred to as the Calhoun Mansion in the past. It was named after the mansion’s original owner, George Walton Williams. He rose from anonymity as the son of a farmer in Northern Georgia to one of the late 19th-century Charleston’s greatest entrepreneurs.

The mansion was completed in 1878 and was described as a Magnificent Mansion. It was the most complete private home in the South and the city’s largest residence, spanning 24,000 square feet. Today, it is open for tours, allowing movie fans to relive the scenes in The Notebook and see the mansion's spectacular furniture and interior architecture.

Due to the pandemic, this Victorian house is temporarily closed today. However, you can still check out the exterior of the building. You can take bus 211 to get to the mansion, which stops at the Broad St/ Meeting St station.

After Allie’s argument with her mother, she chases Noah outside their home and apologizes for the things her parents said about him. But the conversation later turns into another heated fight after Noah says, “I don’t see how it’s gonna work,” referring to their relationship. Eventually, the young couple decides to break up.

In this scene, we see them go out and argue in front of a big white house. While the filmmakers used the Williams Mansion for interior scenes, they featured the Boone Hall Plantation for the exterior shots of the Hamilton summer home. The plantation was founded in 1681 and was included in the National Register of Historic Places list in 1983.

The mansion, a Colonial Revival House you see today, was established in 1936. You can visit the house through a guided tour of the first floor, featuring antique furnishings, or take a driving tour of the extensive grounds spanning 738 acres.

To head to the plantation, take Highway 17 North to Mt. Pleasant. Then go about seven miles and turn left onto the Long Point Road. Follow the road, and you’ll see signs of the plantation. The entrance to this site will be on the right.