As the great “next James Bond” debate rattles on, fans of the franchise are looking back at the exotic locales that have come before.
Outside the glossy chrome of Vauxhall’s MI6 headquarters, the British agent’s chaotic travel itineraries have featured luxury hotels, ancient cities and private islands – seriously racking up the air miles.
With enemy lairs, sprawling estates and fight sequences criss-crossing continents since Dr. No’s Jamaica setting in 1962, Bond has left bullet holes and empty martini glasses everywhere from Shanghai to the Scottish Highlands.
Shot with an ever-glamorous edge, the films have made their backdrops famous, with tourists hunting the spy high life.
Thailand’s Phang Nga Bay is now colloquially known as “James Bond Island”, and Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die drive down Norway’s Atlantic Ocean Road sent movie enthusiasts on scenic road trips.
If you’ve made it your mission to travel like 007, here are the best Bond filming locations, so you can follow in the footsteps of the famous international super spy.
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What James Bond filming locations can you visit?
Mexico City, Mexico
Films: Spectre (2015) and License to Kill (1989)
The first sequence of Spectre opens in the thick of a chaotic Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City, with thousands of costumed extras, giant skeleton marionettes and allegorical floats as Craig’s Bond chases a villain amid the street parties. Mexico’s capital, a dynamic and vibrant city break, is a colour-and-taste sensation rich with bars, art and parks. With more than 150 museums, lucha libre wrestling matches and the ancient pyramids of Teotihuacán, it’s no surprise Bond producers sent cameras rolling here. In November 2016, Mexico City’s inaugural Day of the Dead parade danced through the streets following the release of the James Bond movie.
Read more: I’ve been visiting Mexico City for 25 years – this is why I love it
Istanbul, Turkey
Films: From Russia with Love (1963), The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Skyfall (2012)
Bond has ducked and dived through the spice stalls of Istanbul’s bazaars three times – including in the 2012 blockbuster Skyfall. The Turkish city’s sprawling Grand Bazaar, underground cathedral, the Basilica Cistern, and Hagia Sophia mosque have each been backdrops in various scenes in 007, with a motorbike chase across rooftops tumbling through Istanbul’s skyline. With Byzantine treasures and soaring minarets, the city’s ancient charms, lively events calendar and famed hammam baths are well worth set-jetting to.
Read more: This is what it was like visiting Istanbul’s gay bars after police raids
Matera, Italy
Film: No Time To Die (2021)
For Craig’s final film as the British secret agent, the cast and crew headed to Matera in Italy. The world’s third-longest continuously inhabited human settlement, and 2019’s European Capital of Culture, the ethereal southern Italian city is lauded for its winding sassi, caves and grottoes carved out of limestone that set the scene for another high-speed chase in Bond’s classic Aston Martin.
Read more: Escape Rome’s heat by exploring the city’s underground sites
Tangier, Morocco
Films: Spectre (2015) and The Living Daylights (1987)
A ricochet from MI6 headquarters to Morocco has twice seen 007 sent to Tangier. In Spectre, Bond and Madeleine Swann make their way to the coastal city of shuttered houses and tall palm trees after escaping Austria. The Living Daylights similarly shot in the city in 1987 as Timothy Dalton’s Bond investigated a KGB policy to kill enemy spies. Tangier’s storied history claims it was once a haven for spies and a bolthole for pirates in real life, now with a thriving cafe culture, Art Deco cinema, and blissful beaches ideal for a holiday.
Read more: The Morocco trip that helped me take my first step into solo travel
Cairo, Egypt
Film: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
In 1977, Roger Moore shot in Cairo, home of ancient treasures and jaw-dropping architecture, for an Egyptian mission in The Spy Who Loved Me. The Gayer Anderson Museum, Al Muizz Street and the historic Ibn Tulun Mosque were all seen on screen. Tours now combine Moore’s tumultuous itinerary for Bond fans bound for Egypt’s capital.
Read more: I found a desert oasis by Egypt’s Red Sea with comfort and adventure
Scottish Highlands, UK
Films: Skyfall (2012), From Russia With Love (1963), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), and No Time To Die (2021)
Bond’s Aston Martin weaves through the cinematic scenery of Glencoe and Glen Etive in the Scottish Highlands on the way to his family home at the fictional Skyfall Lodge. The agent takes the A82 road past the peaks of Buachaille Etive Mor and Buachaille Etive Beag with M in Skyfall. Elsewhere in the franchise, Eilean Donan Castle – the 13th-century island stronghold where three lochs meet – made a cameo as Scotland’s MI6 headquarters in The World Is Not Enough.
Read more: How to discover Scotland’s Highlands and islands for just £2
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Films: Dr. No (1962), Live and Let Die (1973) and No Time to Die (2021)
Not only was the super spy character created in Jamaica, but Sean Connery's first film Dr. No (plus Live and Let Die and No Time to Die), each explored the powder-fine beaches of Jamaica's Ocho Rios on screen. Bond’s temporary beach hut retirement home was constructed on a bay in Port Antonio for Craig’s final film. In 2011, a luxury resort opened at Goldeneye, the former abode of author Ian Fleming, for those looking to fully immerse themselves in the behind-the-scenes of Bond on the Caribbean island nation.
Read more: I travelled to Kingston to discover my Jamaican roots – this is what I found
Swiss Alps, Switzerland
Films: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and Goldfinger (1964)
The summit station of Schilthorn, a peak in Switzerland’s Bernese Alps, was used as a convincing lair of Bond’s nemesis, Blofeld, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969. Nearly 3,000 metres above sea level, the revolving Piz Gloria restaurant is a Bond-centric spot to enjoy fondue, with a permanent walk of fame for cast and crew members awaiting those who take the cable car up.
Read more: Is Switzerland Europe’s most beautiful country? Seven spots to visit
This piece has been revised and updated
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