The 007 London Walking Tour
If you’re visiting the English capital and want to take in a spot of 007 sightseeing, why not take a tour of James Bond’s London, featuring some of the iconic locations used in filming over the last 60 years.
Use our Google map tours linked below or the pinned locations map here to explore 007’s London.
Part 1 – Google map tour here (4 hours)
Vauxhall
Start south of the river at Vauxhall, home to the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) site, Vauxhall Cross. This imposing building overlooking Vauxhall Bridge has played Bond’s MI6 HQ in a number of films since debuting in 1995’s GoldenEye. On screen it has come under attack in The World Is Not Enough, Skyfall, and Spectre. Vauxhall Cross also appears as an establishing shot in Die Another Day, and the film’s writers go on to acknowledge the building’s real-life name with scenes set below MI6 in the fictional Vauxhall Cross tube station.
Victoria
Head north across Vauxhall Bridge to take a look at the home of 007’s creator Ian Fleming at 16 Victoria Square. Nestled between Buckingham Palace and Victoria Station, the property was his London base from 1953 and is designed by early Victorian architect Sir Matthew Wyatt.
Belgravia
While GoldenEye in Jamaica is Ian Fleming’s most famous home, his flat at 22B Ebury Street just streets away in Belgravia played a prominent role in his younger years. The building was formerly the Pimlico Literary Institution and now features an English Heritage blue plaque commemorating Fleming’s time there from 1936 to 1941.
Notting Hill
Walk north west across Hyde Park to St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Moscow Road. The interior is filled with ornate Byzantine mosaics and doubled for the St. Petersburg church where Natalya meets Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye.
King’s Cross
Turn east and through Marylebone to St. Pancras Station on Euston Road. GoldenEye features St. Pancras Station, re-casting it as St. Petersburg Station for the scene where Natalya arrives by train and tries to elude the authorities.
Mayfair
Go south into central London to DUKES bar on St. James’s Place in Mayfair, one of Ian Fleming’s favourite spots and which is sometimes linked with 007’s famous martini.
The Mall
A short walk away is tourist favourite Buckingham Palace. Its surroundings can be seen in Die Another Day as Gustav Graves parachutes in to receive his knighthood from the Queen. Madeleine Swann is seen crossing the Mall and in St James’s Park on her way to her office in No Time To Die (2021).
St James’s
Not far from the royal residence is Boodle’s Club in St James’s Street, said to have been part of Fleming’s inspiration for Blades Club, which appears prominently in his 1955 novel Moonraker.
One of the many nods to Bond history in Die Another Day (2002) is the appropriation of the name Blades for the fencing club where Bond duels with Gustav Graves. Sited at The Reform Club, a private members club in nearby Pall Mall, it’s here that Madonna makes her cameo appearance. The Reform Club was also used in Quantum Of Solace (2008), doubling as the Foreign Office for the scene where M meets the Foreign Secretary.
Just round the corner you’ll find the white stucco-faced buildings of Carlton House Terrace which are used as the exterior for Madeleine Swann’s office in No Time To Die.
Part 2 – Google map tour here (1.5 hours)
The West End
Head just north of Oxford Circus where you’ll find The Langham on Portland Place which doubled for Bond’s luxury Russian hotel in St. Petersburg in 1995’s GoldenEye.
Covent Garden
Head along Oxford Street towards The Freemasons’ Hall on Great Queen Street which was used for the Spectre Foreign Office scene where C is anointed as the Head of Nine Eyes.
Walk through Covent Garden to Rules, said to be one of the oldest restaurants in London where M, Q and Moneypenny meet in Spectre. If you make a dinner reservation, you can request ‘M’s table’ for your meal.
Trafalgar Square
Not far away is The National Gallery which memorably features in 2012’s Skyfall, hosting the first meeting between Bond and his new Q. They meet in Room 34 where a melancholy Bond is gazing at The Fighting Temeraire by J.M.W. Turner. Turner’s famous oil painting depicts one of the final great warships from 1805’s Battle of Trafalgar being towed away for scrap, mirroring Bond’s potential future following the closure of the double-O programme.
Nearby Malaysia House, just off Trafalgar Square on Cockspur Street, appeared in 1987’s The Living Daylights as Universal Exports, the front for MI6.
And just round the corner is 35 Spring Gardens, which acted as the exterior of the safe house where M, Q and Moneypenny meet in Spectre (2015).
The Strand
Stroll down The Strand for the next two destinations. The real-life London Underground enjoyed a starring role in Skyfall when villain Silva escapes MI6. While much of the action was shot at Pinewood Studios, filmmakers captured vital scenes on a disused Jubilee Line platform at Charing Cross Station, although on screen the chase sequence unfolds between Temple and Embankment stations. Further along the road from the train station, Somerset House doubled as St. Petersburg in GoldenEye with the production importing 40 Russian cars to drive around the courtyard for the scene where Bond and CIA operative Jack Wade break down in their rusty blue car. Somerset House also enjoyed a role in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies as Bond pulls up for a meeting with M in his iconic Aston Martin DB5.
Part 3 – Google map tour here (2 hours)
Whitehall
From Somerset House, head to The Department of Energy and Climate Change in Whitehall which features in 2012’s Skyfall. The production shot on the rooftop, capturing the scene in which Moneypenny gives Bond the ceramic bulldog that M bequeathed to him in her will.
The Ministry of Defence Main Building also in Whitehall took on the role of the MI6 offices for 2021’s No Time To Die. The building had previously played itself in 1981’s For Your Eyes Only.
And nearby is the Old War Office Building, which doubles as MI6 in 1983’s Octopussy.
Spectre’s final scene, which sees Bond and Madeleine drive off to a new life together in his DB5, was also shot in Whitehall, close to the Department for Business and Trade.
Westminster
The moment in Die Another Day when Bond enters Vauxhall Cross underground station ahead of meeting M, was filmed on the south side of Westminster Bridge. Walk to Big Ben and across Westminster Bridge which was also the backdrop to Spectre’s climax as Blofeld’s helicopter crashes and Bond has the opportunity to kill his nemesis but decides to let him live.
Southwark
Leaving Westminster Bridge, enjoy a long walk east as you head towards Southwark. Formerly the home of the Greater London Assembly and the Mayor of London, City Hall in Southwark appears in 2015’s Spectre as the home of the Centre for National Security.
The City
Enjoy the views from London Bridge as you go back over the river to The City. The Drapers’ Hall on Throgmorton Avenue was used to double as the Russian Council Chamber, St. Petersburg in 1995’s GoldenEye. Next stop is Blackfriars Pier on White Lion Hill next to the River Thames for the last part of your tour by water.
The River Thames & Docklands
Take a boat trip along the Thames and take in some familiar sights both west and east. The river plays a prominent role in 1999’s The World Is Not Enough, which sees Bond pursuing the Cigar Girl assassin in the Q Jet Boat. The chase goes past the Houses of Parliament, through Tower Bridge to Docklands and the O2 Arena (or the Millennium Dome as it was known at the time) where Bond skids down the domed roof. Bond’s mid-air barrel roll in the Q Jet Boat was filmed at nearby Millwall Docks.
Part 4 – Google map tour here (2 minutes)
Greenwich
Your final destination is in east London. Disembark at Greenwich Pier and walk through the Cutty Sark Gardens to explore the Old Royal Naval College where Skyfall (2012) was filmed. It was also used for the scene where M attends the funerals of the MI6 agents killed in the terrorist attack.