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London - Buckingham Palace (DAD), Whitehall (SF & SP), Millennium Dome (TWINE), MI6 Building (various)
Paris - Eiffel Tower (AVTAK)
Las Vegas - Fremont Street & 'Whyte House' hotel (DAF)
San Francisco - Golden Gate Bridge, Fishermans Wharf & Japan Town - Nippon Relaxation Spa (AVTAK)
Macau - no specific sites but features in TMWTGG & SF
Hong Kong - Peninsula Hotel (TMWTGG)
Berlin - Checkpoint Charie (Octopussy)
Amsterdam (DAF)
Tokyo - Otani Hotel (YOLT)
Rome - various places in SP
Siena - QOS
Venice - St Marks Square (MR), CR & FRWL
Rio De Janeiro - Cable Car, Sugarloaf, Copacabana Beach (MR)
St Petersburg -No specific sights although I don't think filmed on location (GE)
I've always wanted to go to Piz Gloria and will probably go there just because of its prominence in OHMSS.
Also quite fancy one day visiting the Octopussy sites in India such as the floating palace and Monsoon Palace.
Whenever I travel somewhere I spend some time beforehand researching nearby locations that have appeared in films, especially Bonds.
The monsoon palace is viseable, but quite far off. I didn't go there in the end.
But you can check out the locations for yourself, as you can watch Octopussy in almost all hotels every night....
The theme was 50's Fleming, so i visited all the locations that he talked about that are still open.
Had Cocktails at Sardi's and the St. Regis King Cole Club.
Sardis has portraits of all celebreties that have been there on their walls, i looked very hard for all the Bonds, but could only find Craig. He is actually in the front window, so you don't even have to enter to see him.
Then i had Lunch at the 21 Club, as well as the Grand Central Oyster Bar and i have to agree, the Oyster Stew there is really the best meal in the city. They don't serve Miller beer anymore, so i got a Heineken to give it a modern twist ;)
Also i checked a coule Live and Let Die locations like the 'oh cult voodoo' shop where Moore is following Kanangas henchman to, and the FDR drive location where he crashes the car. I have also been to Harlem, but there isn't anything recognizable from the movie anymore.
Ah, too bad, now we'll never know...
http://james-bond-literary.wikia.com/wiki/007_in_New_York
well, since i haven't been there, i can't really say they didn't...
Orangutans are skeptical.
You're a man after my own heart. I hope you find something gloriously ghastly and return to show us the photos.
If there's no crowd, seize the moment and get one for the two of you. You'll love it.
And wooden elephants with ivory insert tusks are easy to find.
So it's safe to say James Bond Island (or Scarmanga's Island as I kept referring to it) has become a tourist attraction of an obscene level. The actual experience of getting off the boat, walking over the crest of the jetty and seeing the iconic rock formation is pretty damn special. I've been to many Bond locations in my life - Golden Gate Bridge, Eiffel Tower, St Marks Square but this is the first one I've gone out of my way to see especially. The weather was perfect and much like when Bond himself flies to the final confrontation.
The place is picturesque but swarming with tourists. My suggestion would be to go on the sunrise tour (or hire a long boat to go specifically when there are no other tourists) I wanted to book the sunrise tour but it was long since full up for the days I was going. Keeping in mind that we weren't even there during peak season.
Unfortunately there were no entertainingly 'rip off' Bond souvenirs - I realise why they might not do it because word might get back to EON from a place so closely associated with Bond. But I was hoping that there would be some ropey Moore visage pasted onto a t-shirt. Or a Nick Nack Tobasco Bottle. Or a gold cigarette lighter, pen and case combo. But alas there was just standard Thailand coconut shells as painted bowls and tiny Buddha statues. But there was a crappy t-shirt that I bought that I will never wear but is added into my collection that has the famous rock on it and it says 'james bond island' written on it. That was as close as I got - as well as a fridge magnet which I found on the Phuket mainland which has the 007 'trigger' on it.
I got millions of photos (which I'll post the pick of later) and checked out the paths around the side of the island which offer more views and feature in the movie. I think it still looks a lot like the location from 43 years ago - and it is idylllic in beautiful weather but the number of tourists is overwhelming. Definitely a must for Bond fans - but try to go with the sunrise tour or hire a boat and specify to go there when there are no tourists. Also because you only get 30 to 40 minutes to check out the island if you're on the regular tour and I suspect if you're like me you'll want to stay there for at least an hour or two!
On second thought, this wasn't such a good story to tell.
April,
I went to Innsbruck and then Vienna for a little TLD 30 Year Anniversary celebration. Visited some locations from that movie for the very first time, like Castle Schoenbrunn and the Volksoper where the pre title sequence was shot at.
June,
Flew to Dubai. No Bond movie was shot there yet (and i don't think that will change anytime soon) but Dubai featured heavily in last years Dynamite Bond Comic Hammerhead, in particular the Sharktank in the Dubai Mall, which i visited as well.
July,
As mentioned earlier on here, i went to the Verzasca Dam in Switzerland for the Goldeneye Bungee jump. Later that day drove to Lake Como to visit some CR locations like the Villa Gaete.
September,
New York, already posted about this earlier. Mostly focused on LALD locations and Restaurants/Bars from Flemings novels.
October,
Now this Trip was a particular favorite of mine.
I went to Karlovy Vary in Czech Republic and stayed at the Grand Pupp Hotel, which CR was shot in! Having visited many locations from the Movies throughout the last 3 years i still must admit it is an entire different feeling if you literally check in at the same desk that Bond did.
This was not just some prop, you are using the same elevator every day that Craig and Eva Green used in the movie ("not enough room for your ego"). I had dinner at the same Table as in the Movie.
Also visited the actual "Casino Royale" from the Movie, which was right across the street.
December,
Went to Hong Kong to visit some TMWTGG places like the Penninsula Hotel etc,
really wanted to go to Macao but ended up in the emergency and lost all my money so theres that lol. Was truly a trip to remember though.
Wish i could post some pictures from all that but i'm not familiar with any websites where i could easily do that
Got lots of Bond related plans for next year and can't wait to get going.
"Oh the things i do for England."
Thank you fellow @Agent_99
i will see to it how to share pictures from my trips in the future as i am sitting on a treasure trove of stuff from all the Bond eras.
As i said, that Trip to Karlovy Vary was a Highlight. I can highly recommend a visit. Its approximately a 2 hour trainride from Prague. The Hotel is old school, you get treated there like royalty. Its not even that expensive in off season.
Casino Royale was shot there and they really didn't tamper much with the place. Peter Lamont was the production Designer on CR i believe, and he really had his work cut out for him, they used the hotel reception, Restaurant (Gorgeous) and parking lot just the way they were, maybe added one or two plants to the reception. I wasn't in the same Room, but i had the exact same sink in my bathroom so i am pretty sure the Room of the Movie is one of their own. Le chiffres Room, and the hallway in Front of it where Bond also Fights Obano were probably Pinewood. Not sure but i could not find anything remotely looking like that.
The Casino itself is an old abandoned spa Building accross the street. It hasn't been used in decades but has a beautiful interior Design and looks just like in the Movie (minus all the Casino Tables etc) its open to tourists but only for a limited time. I belive someone has bought it and is planning renovations.
Regarding Hong Kong that was quite a messy Trip. On my 4th day i ended up in the emergency due to a horrible jetlag (couldn't sleep at all) and dehydration, possible food poisoning. I was in terrible pain and did not know what was going on. Its quite a sacry thing if you end up in a hospital at the other end of the world and half the staff does not even speak your language. They pumped me full of painkillers and water (that was the key) and I was back on my feet a couple hours later. Unfortunatel i lost my wallet in the hospital with all my Credit cards and cash. I was Lucky as hell to have a buddy of mine from North Carolina send me cash per Western Union all the way to a Post Office in Hong Kong. But after that no more fancy Restaurants for me lol.
I still managed to see some nice stuff. The Peninsula hotel was cool, i was at the ferry Terminal where Bond meets Goodnight for the first time, and I can recommend visiting Lantau Island. You can only get there by a 30min cable car ride which is just as epic as the one in Moonraker.
I hope i get another chance at HK, and i really want to go to Macao still.
I've almost had the same with jetlag. I never new it could be so bad until I ended up hallucinating because of the lack of sleep last year. First time ever something like that happened to me. Anyway, after my next holiday we won't be flying for some time, so HK will have to wait a few years.
You should definitly visit then, @CommanderRoss, you will not regret it. Karlovy Vary is quite a special place, and the Grand Pupp is the most Bond worthy Hotel i have been in so far, and i've been to many.
Also i highly recommend visiting Loket as well. It's just 30 min from Karlovy Vary. It's where they shot the first meeting between Mathis and Bond, you can also see an arial shot of it in the movie. It's a gorgeous little medieval village, and definitly nice for a walk, though you won't be spending more than 2 hours there.
The next one is closer to the original movie camera position, but my autofocus rebelled a little:
The house at the far right corner, to the right from Jeff Koons' "Puppy" sculpture, must be the one in which the Swiss bank had its Bilbao office - at least Bond ends up in the street right in front of the Puppy after abseiling from the office (at around 4:04)