In this love story, Jonathan Trager (John Cusack) and Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) meet while shopping for gloves at Bloomingdales in New York. Even though they were there to buy last minute gifts for their respective lovers, the night of Christmas shopping turned into romance. Jonathan and Sara spend the evening traveling Manhattan. Mentioning her favorite place in the city for a delicious treat the two new acquaintances share ice cream together at NYC’s iconic Serendipity 3. Believing they would never meet again the two part ways. Ironically Jon and Sara are brought back together when they both realize they had left items at the restaurant. Jon wants to explore things further but Sara isn’t sure their love is meant to be and decides to test fate by going their separate ways at the end of the night and seeing if destiny brings them back together. Many years later, having lost each other that night, both are engaged to be married to other people. Still, neither can shake the need to give fate one last chance to reunite them.
Jon plans to track down the girl he can’t forget starting at the store where they met, Bloomingdale’s, with the help of his best man, played by Jeremy Piven. Sara asks her new age musician fiance for a break before the wedding and drags her best friend (Molly Shannon) from California to New York hoping destiny will bring her back Jon. A few near-misss confusion bring the two close to meeting a number of times… but only fate can decide whether they will be together in the end.
Take On Location Tours’ Central Park TV & Movie Sites Tour as well as the New York TV & Movie Sites Tour to see where scenes from Serendipity were filmed, as well as sites from many other famous New York City films and shows!
Both fun tours will show you recognizable locations from your favorite Serendipity scenes, such as the Pulitzer Fountain where Jonathan is handed his obituary instead of a wedding speech by his best friend. The well known fountain is modeled after the Place de la Concorde in Paris, and has a bronze figure of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and fertility at its center. This is also a location from Sex and the City, and is also featured on the Sex and the City Hotspots Tour. Fans of the TV series Friends will recognize the fountain from the opening credits of the show – the fountain was recreated on a studio set in California to represent the Pulitzer.
In Central Park, see the skating rink where Sara and Jon meet up again, as fate would have it. Wollman Rink was opened in 1951 and named after philanthropist Kate Wollman. It was the first skating rink in the park – Lasker Rink (on 106th Street) is the other one. This rink was purchased by Donald Trump in the ‘80’s. Wollman Rink is a favorite spot for winter fun in New York. It was also featured in films such as Stepmom, Home Alone 2, and Love Story.
Your Serendipity Tour of New York would not be complete without enjoying a famous frozen hot chocolate from popular restaurant Serendipity 3. The restaurant has constantly been ranked as a favorite among Manhattanites, tourists, and celebrities.
John Cusack is a Chicago-born actor who has built a successful career playing underdogs and odd men out while avoiding the media spotlight. Cusack is known for films such as Sixteen Candles, Better Off Dead, Say Anything, Bullets Over Broadway, Grosse Pointe Blank, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Max, Identity, and The Contract. John Cusack has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award, Screen Actor’s Guild Award, and has won many others. British actress Kate Beckinsale has been seen in movies like Haunted, Pearl Harbor, The Aviator, Click, Vacancy, and Underworld.
* In an effort to stay current, we are constantly updating our tours with new locations and cannot guarantee the presence of locations mentioned on our site. If you have a particular interest in locations from a specific TV show or movie, please let your tour guide know and we will do our best to accommodate your request.