The exotic holiday locations featured in Daniel Craig’s Bond films so far – and where he might be heading next
From Chilean deserts to abandoned islands off Japan - we reveal the dramatic destinations used in Daniel Craig's Bond films as he confirms his return as agent 007
WITH the chance to film in the world’s most glamorous locations, is it any wonder that Daniel Craig agreed to reprise his role as Bond for a fifth movie?
The 49-year-old actor confirmed yesterday that he’ll play the world’s most famous spy for a fifth and final time.
So to help you holiday like a secret agent, we’ve put together a list of the most exotic destinations from his movies so far - and our best guess as where he's headed next.
Craig’s four Bond flicks have seen the film star jet set all over the globe, shooting explosive scenes in everywhere from Japan to Peru and Italy.
The lucky actor has travelled to dozens of countries visiting icy mountaintops, arid deserts and everything in between.
Casino Royale set the bar high in 2006 with shooting in the Bahamas, Venice and the Czech Republic - and the destinations only got more exotic from there.
In Spectre, Craig’s latest outing, Bond travelled from the snow-covered peaks of Solden in Austria to the humid heat of Mexico City.
Just how he knows what weather to pack for is anyone’s guess.
In 2015 Craig caused a storm for saying, he had had enough of the role and would “rather slash my wrists” than do another Bond film.
Perhaps the thought of a huge pay day helped change his mind but the jaw-dropping worldwide sets can't have hurt.
The next 007 film, the 25th in the series, is due out in November 2019, by which point Craig will be 51-years-old.
Below, we’ve listed eight of our favourite filming locations from Craig’s films so far plus our guess for where he'll be headed next.
Casino Royale
Villa del Balbianello, Lenno, Lake Como, Italy
The Villa del Balbianello is a former monastery and private villa on the banks of Lake Como, Italy.
Visitors can take tours of the property and its gardens for €16 (£15).
In Casino Royale, the villa was used as a hospital where Bond was recuperating, playing host to one of the greatest moments of dialogue in a 007 film.
Vesper Lynd: “James, I just want you to know that if all that was left of you was your smile and your little finger, you’d still be more of a man than anyone I’ve ever met.”
Bond: “That’s because you know what I can do with my little finger.”
The villa was also used for a wedding scene between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.
Grandhotel Pupp, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
The Grandhotel Pupp appears in the 2006 film Casino Royale as the Hotel Splendide in Montenegro.
The 228-room luxury hotel is located in Karlovy Vary, a historic spa town that hosts the annual Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
The hotel includes a posh wellness centre with a pool and saunas as well as the iconic Casino used in the movie.
Quantum of Solace
Palio di Siena horse race, Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy
The Palio di Siena horse race features in the dramatic opening to Quantum of Solace, where Bond chases Mr White down into the sewers below the streets of Siena in Italy.
Held twice a year, on July 2 and August 16 in honour of the Virgin Mary, the race has been held since at least 1644.
Standing in the centre of the piazza to watch the race is free of charge but if you want a better view you’ll need to turn up early in the morning.
ESO Hotel, Atacama Desert, Chile
In Quantum of Solace’s dramatic finale, Bond catches up with Dominic Greene and General Medrano in an exotic eco-hotel in the desert.
Interior shots, which re-imagined the rooms as more plush than in real life, were all filmed on a sound stage in London.
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The ESO Hotel is the living quarters for workers at the Paranal Observatory, an astronomical observatory operated by the European Southern Observatory in the Atacama Desert.
Tours of the facility are available to visitors if requested at least three months in advance.
Unfortunately, guests can’t stay the night in the hotel itself.
Skyfall
Hashima Island, Japan
In Skyfall, this abandoned Japanese island is used as the secret headquarters of Raoul Silva, the Bond Villain played by Javier Bardem.
Used for undersea coal mining, Hashima Island was established in 1887 and used as a labour camp for Chinese and Korean prisoners during World War Two.
In 1959, the island contained the highest population density on earth but by 1974 the mine was closed and all of the residents left.
Tourists can now visit the island, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, by boat from the mainland for about £35 per person.
Grand Bazaar, Istanbul, Turkey
The opening chase scene from Skyfall sees James Bond ride a motorcycle across the rooftop of Istanbul's 15th-century Grand Bazaar.
During the chase, Bond and the villain Patrice drive through an entrance called Büyuk Valide Han, on the edge of the sprawling complex.
One of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, the Grand Bazaar has 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops attracting over a quarter of a million daily visitors.
Spectre
Gran Hotel Ciudad de México, Mexico City, Mexico
Considered one of the top hotels in Mexico, the Gran Hotel Ciudad is famous for it’s old-world charm and Art Nouveau décor.
The incredibly complicated tracking shot for the intro to Spectre shows off the hotel’s famous gilded open lift.
Spectre wasn’t the first movie that featured the hotel or it’s ornate lift.
Sam Mendes reused the location from Licence to Kill when it was used as the Hotel El Presidente.
Ice Q Restaurant, Solden, Austria
Used in Spectre as a posh health clinic from where the evil henchman Mr. Hinx kidnaps Dr. Madeleine Swann, the Ice Q restaurant is a modern restaurant made of glass and steel on the mountain in Solden, Austria.
Solden’s nearby ultra-modern gondola and the panoramic Glacier Road with Europe‘s highest road tunnel, also feature in the following chase scene.
Tourists can visit the Ice Q restaurant, which opened in 2013, year round. The building is 3048 meters above sea level with a 900 m² glass front that overlooks the Ötzt Mountains.
Bond 25
Craig will be travelling to Croatia for his fifth movie, with filming rumoured to be happening in Dubrovnik the Island of Brac and Zagreb.
What’s less clear is whether Croatia will get the chance to feature as itself or double for another country.
Scriptwriters are rumoured to be basing part of the plot of the 1999 Bond thriller Never Dream of Dying by Raymond Benson, which doesn’t mention Croatia but does involve the French island of Corsica.
The two locations share similar rocky coastlines and medieval towns so Croatia could be a cheaper stand in for Corsica or could be replacing it in the script entirely.
Croatia has plenty of ruins that would make great locations for a shoot-out or car chase, such as the Roman 4th-century Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia.
Or perhaps Bond will take a detour through some of the nation's national parks for a visit to some natural wonders such as Skradinski Buk, a mesmerising collection of 17 waterfalls.
Never Dream of Dying features Bond battling a blind criminal genius at the head of an organisation called the Union.
Bond is also rumoured to be making a trip to Japan and the South of France.
Perhaps we'll even see a return to the American South for a reunion with Sheriff J.W. Pepper.
Or how about quick trip to space?
