12 Friends filming locations in New York, London and beyond

Ahead of tonight's Friends reunion show (which isn't really a reunion at all), we've tracked down a dozen filming locations (sort of) from the series - in New York and beyond. 

1. The apartments

The Friends apartments were, of course, built in an LA studio – but it’s possible to see the block where exterior scenes were shot. It’s at the corner of Grove Street and Bedford Street in the West Village.

2. Central Perk

Beneath the Bedford Street apartments is a restaurant, but it’s called The Little Owl – not Central Perk. Inside, it doesn’t look anything like the famous fictional café and serves up Mediterranean cuisine – not cappuccinos in ludicrously oversized mugs. 

A pop-up replica of Central Perk did open in New York in 2014 on Lafayette Street, to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the first Friends episode, but has since closed its doors. One can, however, visit Central Perk on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour.

• Central Perk - and 11 other TV venues you can visit

3. The fountain

You can’t entirely replicate the fountain frolicking original opening credits because that too was shot in a studio. But there are plenty of other fountains around New York to leap in to, should you so wish, including the Pulitzer Fountain in Grand Army Plaza and the Cherry Hill fountain in Central Park, which some tour guides claim is the real thing. The deceit has clearly duped a few on Instagram.

4. Ross’s museum

The New York Museum of Prehistoric History, where Ross and Rachel first sleep together and where he has a nervous breakdown after a colleague pinches his Moist Maker, must be easy to find, right? Wrong. It’s a fictional institution. Console yourself at the real life American Museum of Natural History.

5. Chandler’s office

Chandler works as an IT procurement manager (no, not a transponster) at the Solow Building on West 57^th Street. It’s also featured in Sex and the City, Zoolander and Superman.

6. Bloomingdale's

Rachel snagged a job at this prestigious department store in season three. There are now three branches of "Bloomies", but the original on Third Avenue is a "glorious nine story Art Deco building on Third Avenue that attracts everyone from Upper East Side heiresses in fur coats to Jersey suburbanites in Yankees caps," says Douglas Rogers, our New York expert. He adds: "They come for surprisingly affordable perfumes, cosmetics, jewellery, homeware, wedding gowns and all manner of designer clothing and accessories, including Louis Vuitton bags, Cartier watches and Jimmy Choo shoes. Clerks on the black and white tiled ground floor are extremely helpful. Don’t miss avant garde celeb chef David Burke’s eponymous restaurant on the 59th Street side - a hit with the ladies who lunch."

7. The Moondance Diner

Monica worked as a waitress in this real life SoHo diner, reimagined as a Fifties-themed restaurant. Unfortunately for Friends fans, it closed in 2012 and was torn down to make room for The James hotel.

8. The Lucille Lortel Theatre

This West Village theatre was used during filming of three episodes in season three. Joey falls for his co-star and Rachel briefly dates a foul-tempered Ben Stiller ("What's in the cup Ross? Hot coffee! You idiot!") The theatre is still going strong. 

9. The Plaza Hotel

The opening episode of season seven sees the gang celebrate Monica and Chandler's engagement at the Plaza Hotel. 

"This glorious 1907 French Château-style building was originally a residence for wealthy New Yorkers," says Douglas Rogers. "Decked out in the gold, marble and crystal opulence of a palace, it soon transitioned into New York’s premier hotel, and featured in the Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald was a regular) and dozens of movies." They include Brewster's Millions, Crocodile Dundee II, Home Alone 2: Lost in  New York and Sleepless in Seattle.

10. Leo Carrillo State Park, California

The beach at the Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu reputedly features in The One With the Jellyfish. Go there and dig yourself a hole.

11. Vasquez Rocks, California

Joey’s big break comes in season five with the lead role in a movie - Shutter Speed - and he heads to the desert outside Las Vegas for filming. Of course, it's not his big break (despite the quality of the plot: "Betsy's been dead for 10 years!"), as Joey soon discovers when he arrives at Vasquez Rocks State Park just as production is shutting down. The park has featured in heaps of films, including Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

12. London, baby!

Now you're talking. The trip to London uses plenty of real life locations. Joey goes into the map outside the London Marriott Hotel on Grosvenor Square (just over the road from the US Embassy), Richard Branson flogs him a Union Jack hat on Trinity Square, opposite the Tower of London, and he argues with Chandler outside Westminster Abbey ("Hands down, best abbey I’ve ever seen"). We also get glimpses of the Thames, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. 

What, no Barbados?

The Barbados episode? That was filmed at the Warner Brothers Studio. Las Vegas? Nope – studio.