Travel Like James Bond
Take a sip of your shaken, not stirred martini, while you embark on an adventure to the most exclusive James Bond movie locations from Dr. No to Spectre.
By:
Kwin Mosby
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Oracabessa
Sean Connery was the first actor cast as James Bond, aka Secret Agent 007. Dr. No, the first Bond film to draw fans to movie theaters (in 1962), was filmed in London and Kingston, Jamaica. Most of the filming was completed here in Oracabessa (pictured), a small town in Jamaica.
Hagia Sophia
From Russian With Love (1963) was filmed primarily in Istanbul, Turkey, including the Hagia Sophia (pictured), where Tatiana Romanova has a pre-arranged rendezvous with Agent 007 to give him the floor plan of the Soviet consulate.
Fort Knox
In the movie Goldfinger (1964), the dashing British spy halts Goldfinger’s plan to detonate a nuclear bomb inside Fort Knox. The US Army post is located south of Louisville, KY.
Paradise Island
Be inspired and retrace Bond’s steps on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, where most of the 1965 movie Thunderball was filmed.
Himeji Castle
You Only Live Twice (1967) was shot primarily at the Himeji Castle in Hyogo, Japan. On film, this was the location for an undercover ninja training camp headed by Japanese secret service leader Tiger Tanaka.
Hotel Estoril Palacio
Before the opening credits rolled in the 1969 Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the Palacio Estoril was where the luxurious hotel scenes were filmed. The historic hotel was the second home of the Spanish, French, Bulgarian and Romanian royal families, and it still remains a favorite with their descendants. This was actor George Lazenby’s first and only time cast in the role of Agent 007.
Elrod Residence, Palm Springs
In the 1971 movie Diamonds Are Forever, the Elrod House, designed by architect John Lautner, was transformed into the Whyte House, home of reclusive billionaire and casino owner Willard Whyte.
Jamaica
Jamaica doubles as San Monique in Live and Let Die (1973). Secret Agent 007 flies to the fictitious island where he goes beyond his duty to “persuade” Rosie Carver, a CIA double agent, to help him bring down a corrupt Caribbean dictator named Dr. Kananga.
Ko Tapu Islet
Visit Francisco Scaramanga’s hideout on Ko Khao Phing Kan in the Phuket’s Phang Nga Province. After the 1974 release of The Man with the Golden Gun, locals and travel guidebooks began to refer to the nearby Ko Tapu islet as James Bond Island. Just beware of Scaramanga’s solar ray secret weapon.
Costa Smeralda, Sardinia
Actor Roger Moore plays the British agent in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). James Bond travels to Sardinia where he learns about Karl Stromberg -- a shipping tycoon, scientist and anarchist -- and his new supertanker, the Liparus.
Pao de Acucar
In Rio de Janeiro, James Bond fights with steel-toothed Jaws during a cable-car ride to Pao de Acucar, aka Sugarloaf Mountain in Moonraker (1979).
Monastery of the Holy Trinity
The Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Meteora -- above Kalambaka, Greece -- served as a location shoot in the 1981 Bond flick For Your Eyes Only. A Greek bishop was paid to allow filming in the monasteries. Rumor has it that actor Roger Moore had a great fear of heights, and to do the climbing, he resorted to moderate drinking to calm his nerves. We’re just wondering if it was shaken, not stirred.
Taj Lake Palace
About half of the movie Octopussy was set in Udaipur, India -- primarily in this floating palace.
Golden Gate Bridge
After a mad dash through the streets of San Francisco in a fire truck, a battle between 007 and Max Zorin comes to a head on the Golden Gate Bridge in A View to a Kill (1985).
Rock of Gibraltar
Actor Timothy Dalton’s first movie as 007 was The Living Daylights in 1987. In the opening scenes before the credits, 007’s car flies off a cliff on the Rock of Gibraltar. In true Bond fashion, he’s prepared with a parachute and he manages to land safely in a boat full of beautiful women below.
Key West, Florida
In Licence to Kill (1989), the British secret agent travels to Key West, FL, to see his best friend, Felix Lieter, get married. A happy occasion turns ugly when drug lord Franz Sanchez orders his henchmen to kill the newlyweds. Soon after, M meets Bond at the Hemingway House to send him to Istanbul for his next assignment.
Arecibo Observatory
In 1989, actor Pierce Brosnan made his debut as the new James Bond in GoldenEye. The climactic fight scenes on the satellite were filmed here, at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
Stoke Park
In Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), the steamy love scene between James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) and Paris Carver (Teri Hatcher) was filmed here in Stoke Park, a historic estate -- now a hotel, spa and country club -- in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, England.
Guggenheim Museum
The pre-title sequence in The World Is Not Enough (1999) begins in Bilbao, Spain, at the legendary Guggenheim Museum.
Jökulsárlón, Iceland
Various exterior scenes where Bond visits the Ice Palace in Die Another Day were shot here, in and around this iceberg-filled lake in Jökulsárlón, Iceland.
Lake Como, Italy
In 2006, actor Daniel Craig became the new Bond in Casino Royale. Director Martin Campbell and the production crew traveled to Prague, the Bahamas, Uganda and Italy to shoot scenes for the movie. Near the end of the movie, the secret agent wakes up in a hospital in Lake Como, Italy (pictured), after he was tortured by terrorist financier Le Chiffre.
Atacama Desert
In Quantum Solace (2008), Chile’s Atacama Desert (pictured) was filmed to create the scene in the Bolivian desert where villain Dominic Greene reveals his plan to control Bolivia’s water supply.
Sultanahmet Square
Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square (pictured), Spice Bazaar, Yeni Camii and Grand Bazaar were closed to film the James Bond flick, Skyfall (2012).
Blenheim Palace
In Spectre (2015), Blenheim Palace becomes the backdrop for the beginning of a car chase and the site where the mysterious Spectre meeting takes place. Although the scene is based in Rome, fans will find it hard to find there because the palace is really located in Woodstock, England.
