James Bond tourism
James Bond, also known as Agent 007, is one of the world's most successful literary and motion picture franchises, and has codified the spy fiction genre. The novels and films have been set at locations around the world, most of them available to visit.
Spoiler alert! This article reveals plot details.
Understand
| β | My name is Bond... James Bond. | β |
James Bond's original author Ian Fleming wanted to write the "spy story to end all spy stories", and produced twelve books from 1953 to 1966. Bond is mainly a product of Cold War Europe, in which the Soviet Union was the main antagonist. As of the 2010s, Bond has been the main character of 26 feature films, portrayed by seven different actors. The franchise has also expanded to other media, such as video games and animated series.
While interior scenes of the films have usually been recorded in Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, most exterior scenes have been shot at the actual locations. Most exceptions have been scenes in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War, which were recorded elsewhere.
Destinations
The complete list of James Bond film locations is very long (see Wikipedia). The list below contains real-life locations accessible to tourists, which have been prominently featured in at least one film, as well as studios, hospitality venues and other locations connected to the franchise.
Due to tradition, the sets have been concentrated to European cities, as well as the Caribbean.
Europe
- π SIS building, London (United Kingdom). London contains the SIS building, which opened in 1994, and has been visible in most films of the Brosnan and Craig periods.
- Montenegro, which was still considered Yugoslavia (also known as Serbia and Montenegro) while filming Casino Royale. While the original novel placed the casino in a fictional town in northern France, the casino seems to be inspired by Monaco, and the casino exterior is that of the Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.
- π Venice (Italy). Three Bond films have been set and recorded here: From Russia With Love (1963), Moonraker (1979), and Casino Royale (2006).
- π Istanbul (Turkey). Like Venice, three films were set and recorded here: From Russia With Love, The World Is Not Enough and Skyfall. The latter also features the π Varda Viaduct, a 1912-built railway viaduct over a deep ravine in the Taurus Mountains in the south of the country.
- π Paris (France). Featured in Thunderball and A View To A Kill.
- π Vienna (Austria). Setting for The Living Daylights, Timothy Dalton's first film.
- π Glencoe (Scotland). In Skyfall, the namesake manor is located here.
- π Pinewood Studios (Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom). Most interiors of the films have been shot here, such as M's office and 007 Stage (The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to A Kill, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, all Daniel Craig's Bond movies and many other non-Bond movies).
- π Leavesden Studios (Leavesden, Hertfordshire). Some scenes of GoldenEye (1995) were shot here.
- π James Bond Museum (Nybro, Sweden). Though no James Bond film has been set or recorded in Sweden, the small town of Nybro has the world's only known James Bond museum.
- π Admiral Hotel, Via Domodossola, 16, 20145 (Milan, Italy). Hotel (****)/museum based on James Bond merchandise and set objects.
- π Rome. Part of Spectre (2015) locations.
- π Hamburg (Germany). Featured in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).
- π Amsterdam (Netherlands). Featured in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
- π Prague (Czech Republic). Featured in Casino Royale (2006).
- π Bilbao (Spain). Featured in The World Is Not Enough (1999).
- π Berlin (Germany). Featured in Octopussy (1983).
- π Siena (Italy). Featured in Quantum of Solace (2008).
- π CΓ‘diz (Spain). Featured in Die Another Day as a stand-in filming location for Havana, Cuba.
- π Monte Carlo (Monaco). Featured in GoldenEye (1995).
- π Lake Como (Italy). Featured in Casino Royale (2006).
- π St. Petersburg (Russia). Featured in GoldenEye (1995).
- π Bregenz (Austria). Featured in Quantum of Solace (2008).
- π MΓΌrren (Switzerland). Piz Gloria revolving restaurant on top of Schilthorn. Featured in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
- π Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy). Featured in For Your Eyes Only (1981).
- π Corfu Town (Greece). Featured in For Your Eyes Only (1981).
- π Meteora (Greece). The Monastery of the Holy Trinity, an active Eastern Orthodox monastery perched atop a rocky precipice over 400 m high, is featured in For Your Eyes Only (1981).
Asia
- π Hong Kong. As a British colony, Hong Kong featured in You Only Live Twice and The Man With the Golden Gun. Following the handover back to China, a short sequence of Die Another Day was set here.
- π Macau. During Macau's Portuguese colonial era, a short sequence in The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) was set in the Macau Peninsula. Also appears in Skyfall (2012) after being handed back to China.
- π North Korea and the Bridge of No Return. The "Bridge of No Return" crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) between North and South Korea. Host to various Cold War prisoner swaps from 1953-1968, the opening sequence of Die Another Day was set here.
- π Tokyo and Himeji Castle (Japan). You Only Live Twice (1967) features Japan almost exclusively. Japan was featured again in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
- π Bangkok (Thailand). Featured in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).
- π Ko Tapu (Thailand). Featured in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and since then known as "James Bond Island".
- π Baku (Azerbaijan). Featured in The World Is Not Enough (1999).
- π Shanghai (China). Featured in Skyfall (2012).
- π Udaipur (India). Featured in Octopussy (1984).
North America
- π Miami (United States). Featured in Goldfinger (1964), at a glance in Thunderball (1965), and in Casino Royale (2006).
- π Ocho Rios with Dunn's River Falls (Jamaica). Featured in Dr. No (1962).
- π Nassau (Bahamas). Featured in Thunderball (1965), its unofficial remake Never Say Never Again (1983) and Casino Royale (2006).
- π Goldeneye Hotel and Resort (Oracabessa, Jamaica), β +1 876-6229-007. Built on Ian Fleming's estate in Jamaica, "house" of his novels.
- π San Francisco (United States). Featured in A View to a Kill (1985).
- π New Orleans (United States). Featured in Live and Let Die (1973).
- π Las Vegas (United States). Featured in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
- π Mexico City (Mexico). Featured in Spectre (2015).
- π New York City (United States). Featured in Live and Let Die (1973).
- π Fort Knox (United States). Featured in Goldfinger (1964).
- Some scenes in Die Another Day (2002) were set in Cuba, though they were not actually filmed in Cuba but were instead filmed in La Caleta, Spain.
South America
See also
- Orient Express, a historic sleeper train which once ran between Paris and Istanbul, occupies a central role in From Russia with Love (1963).
- Spies and secrets
- Mission: Impossible tourism, another spy film series that spans the globe
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