AROUND THE WORLD WITH 007
Check out the destinations made famous by the globe-trotting secret agent
Jamaica
There would, arguably, be no Bond without the Caribbean’s third-biggest island. It was here, of course, that Ian Fleming penned most of the 007 stories: building a home, Goldeneye, at Oracabessa on the north coast, with a writing room overlooking the sea. Two decades on, scenes for the first film, Dr No (1962), would be shot nearby: at Dunn’s River Falls and Laughing Waters beach, Ursula Andress bequeathing both locations an eternal cinematic fame. While the “Fleming Villa” is still there, Goldeneye (goldeneye.com) is now a five-star resort, where double rooms start at £320 a night.
Mexico
Mexico City hosted the opening to Spectre (2015) – Daniel Craig’s Bond roof-hopping in the city during the Day Of The Dead celebrations. This was a grittier ride into Central America than Licence To Kill (1989), where Acapulco mimicked the lair of a drug-lord villain in the “Republic of Isthmus”.
Journey Latin America offers a 12-day Colonial Cities to Pacific Coast self-drive that gives a taste of both locations, from £2,519 a head, flights extra; and a seven-day Day of the Dead trip, from £1,901 a head, flights extra, which covers the festival in the capital and Oaxaca.
Venice
While the title of From Russia With Love
1963) suggested spy chicanery in Moscow, the second Bond movie pinned its denouement to Venice, with 007 and love interest Tatiana Romanova battling Spectre agent Rosa Klebb in La Serenissima. Forty-three years on, Bond would return – now in the guise of Daniel Craig rather than Sean Connery – for the end of Casino Royale (2006) and the drowning of his latest female friend, Vesper Lynd, in a collapsed building.
Kirker Holidays (kirkerholidays.com) sells the lovely context, but not the tragedy. Three nights at the five-star Baglioni Hotel Luna, just off the Grand Canal, cost from £928 per person, with flights, breakfast and transfers.
Thailand
This Asian country needs little introduction in terms of Bond: the limestone spires and rare beauty of Phang Nga Bay and the so-called James Bond Island – Khao Phing Kan – have made The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) one of the most enduring films in the canon.
That the bay, along with Bangkok, reappeared in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), pretending to be Vietnam, only assisted the association.
Steppes Travel (steppestravel.com) delivers a 14-day Thailand Highlights break (from £2,670 a head; flights extra) which visits the capital, then snoozes on the beach in Phuket (from where it’s a day-leap to the Bond sites in Phang Nga Bay. See the VIP Speedboat trip for £77, sold by viator.com.
Istanbul
From Russia With Love proved a compelling advert for water-framed European cities: much of its early plot unravelled in Istanbul. Like Venice, Turkey’s most feted city enjoyed a Bond reprise, illuminating 1999’s stodgy The World Is Not Enough via the 19th-century Kucuksu Palace in Beykoz and the Maiden’s Tower, a fairytale structure on an isle in the Bosporus. Cox&Kings (coxandkings.co.uk) offers three-night stays at the five-star Ciragan Palace Kempinski – from £695 a head, with flights.