ICONIC BOND LOCATIONS YOU CAN ACTUALLY VISIT
Some are easily accessible; for others you may need to tap into your access bond, writes Elizabeth Sleith
The words “Bond. James Bond” easily bring to mind several things. Martinis, obvs. Arched eyebrows. Bow ties. Dry-humoured quips. Near-impossible gadgetry. Beautiful, complex “girls”. And, of course, planes, trains and automobiles — and skis and parachutes and helicopters and speedboats. In fact, after 57 years of the film franchise, and roughly 50 countries visited between them, Bond James Bond may well just be the world’s best-travelled man. The list of places he’s raised hell is mind-boggling, but here Travel highlights our top seven essential spots where you can follow in 007’s footsteps. 1 LAUGHING WATERS BEACH, JAMAICA
Dr No (1962) was the first Bond film and undeniably features one of the most iconic — if not the quintessential — Bond scene: Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder emerging siren-like, in the world’s most famous bikini, from the ocean onto a perfect white beach. The beach itself, near the village of Ocho Rios, boasts a small waterfall that tumbles right into the sea and is often hailed as one of Jamaica’s most beautiful spots — not least by the Urban Development Corporation, a government body that owns it and lets it out to groups for a minimum $1,000 for 75 people. Unsurprisingly, it’s a popular choice for weddings. According to moonjamaica.com, naughty day-trippers can access it by stepping over a barbed-wire fence to head down to it, and the security guards rarely trouble trespassers. moonjamaica.com ●
2 THE SIS BUILDING, LONDON
Commonly known as the MI6 building, the real-life headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service, Bond’s employer, are shown in several of the films. Architect Sir Terry Farrell’s inspiration for the design was a combination of 1930s industrial modernist architecture and Mayan and Aztec religious temples. Completed in 1994, the building first appears in GoldenEye (1995), then in The World Is
Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), SkyFall (2012) and Spectre
(2015).
It comes spectacularly under missile attack in Skyfall, and is depicted as a ruin in Spectre. The real building, however, at 85 Albert Embankment in Vauxhall, London, remains the real SIS HQ and travellers can get the best views of it from Vauxhall Bridge over the Thames. Be aware, though, that filming in the vicinity of the building is not allowed. 3
THEPYRAMIDS, EGYPT
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Pyramids of Giza are a no-brainer for any self-respecting traveller. In search of a contact in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Bond arrives at the pyramids at night, inconveniently in the middle of a crowded laser show. Amazingly, the show — or a version thereof — in which music, lights and projected images against the pyramids and Sphinx are used to trace the history of ancient Egypt — is still running. You will find several operators offering tickets and tours on viator.com. Priced from R400.
4 THE HOLY TRINITY MONASTERY, GREECE
This is one of the famed 24 Metéora Monasteries built from the 14th century in central Greece — all of them teetering atop immense natural pillars and rounded boulders, high in the sky. Holy Trinity, situated at the top of a precipice over 400m high, is one of the six that remain open. It served as the dramatic hideout for villain Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only (1981), whom Bond apprehends in the film’s climax after scaling the rock. Lying between the small towns of Kalambaka and Kastraki, all the monasteries can be reached by public bus — visitors then climb some stairs and tunnels carved into the rock to the top. Each monastery charges an entrance of à3 (R47) per person.
See visitmeteora.travel. ● 5
THE EIFFEL TOWER, PARIS
Naturally, France’s most famous monument is a bucket-list item for everyone, but Bond fans give it extra kudos for being the site of one of the franchise’s most jawdropping stunts by one of its most bad-ass villains.
Grace Jones, as May Day, leaps from the tower mid-battle with Bond in 1985’s A View to a Kill — and escapes by deploying a parachute.
The footage was achieved by the building of a platform extending from the tower — to give the stuntman proper clearance for the jump. You can’t do that, but you can visit the tower. Just be prepared for your own (mental) fight scene — it attracts an estimated 7-million visitors a year.
toureiffel.paris ●
6 VILLA LA GAETA, LAKE COMO
The palatial, waterside villas and dramatic Alpine views of Italy’s Lake Como feature strongly in 2006’s
Casino Royale. The one you can visit is on a peninsula near San Siro in the lake’s northwest. In the film, it is the home of villain Mr White, and it is in front of it that Bond shoots his nemesis in the final scene.
In real life, it is a multi-resident building with two (adjoining) one-bed apartments available for rent on the second floor. They come with a private entrance, access to the villa’s 4,000m² of park-like grounds, and a private beach and boat dock. A test booking in August on
booking.com, obeying the seven-night minimum, came in at R23,500 for two.
7 THE GRAND BAZAAR, ISTANBUL
Even the world’s most deadpan negotiator might lose their cool at the largest covered market in the world — where it seems like the proprietor of every one of its 4,000 stalls possesses an iron will when it comes to haggling over prices.
In Skyfall (2012), Bond arrives more determinedly than the most zealous of shoppers, jumping a motorbike through a store window in pursuit of a bad guy. Much mayhem ensues as the chase plays out through the bazaar’s narrow, crowded alleys, and many an evil eye is cast in Bond’s direction as he leaves torn-up carpets and smashed ceramics in his wake. It’s almost as exhausting — and thrilling — as a day’s bargain-hunting here can be. grandbazaarshopping.com ●