James Bond Tour Sights in London – Locations Guide

What better place to start a tour of London’s James Bond sights than in suave Mayfair? Start by hunting out the blue plaque marking the former Ebury Street home of Bond creator Ian Fleming. Selfies surreptitiously snapped, make for the legendary Dukes Bar on the other side of St James’s Park. It’s said to be here in this classy old-school hotel that Fleming first coined the phrase “shaken, not stirred” when ordering one of their signature martini cocktails.

The Thames has starred in a number of Bond movies, but perhaps most memorably in 1999’s The World Is Not Enough when Pierce Brosnan’s 007 pursues a fleeing assassin along the river by boat, whizzing past London landmarks including the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral and the O2 Arena along the way, and throwing in a spectacular barrel roll or two for good measure. Make like Bond and take the Thames RIB Experience for high-octane thrills accompanied by a booming Bond movie soundtrack!

Pro-tip: many of the iconic London attractions that line the banks of the Thames are included with The London Pass, which can save you up to 50% on regular entry prices.

Located just north of Oxford Circus, Marylebone’s Langham is one of London’s most luxurious hotels. Its imposing exterior doubled as St Petersburg’s Grand Hotel Europe in 1995’s GoldenEye. But the interiors are quintessentially British, all roaring fires, quirky art and buttoned banquettes. The ideal location, in other words, to gorge on a lavish afternoon tea of Victorian-inspired sandwiches, cakes and pastries. Book here.

Real-life home of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, the striking MI6 building has had a starring role in several classic Bond movies, including GoldenEye, Die Another Day, Skyfall and Spectre, to name but a few. For what we hope are fairly obvious reasons, you can’t get inside the building (unless you happen to be a British spy, of course), but you can view the intelligence HQ’s impressive facade from across the river on Millbank, or on a boat ride downriver from Westminster.

This grand Renaissance-style complex on the Strand has appeared in a couple of Bond movies. You can spot it in Tomorrow Never Dies, when Bond cruises in at the wheel of his Aston Martin DB5. And again in GoldenEye, when dozens of Russian cars were imported to help the massive courtyard masquerade convincingly as St Petersburg. You can wander straight into the courtyard for your Bond fix, and there are also plenty of outdoor events going on here year-round, from summer concerts to ice-skating and mulled wine in winter.

Who’s your favorite Bond? Is it suave original Sean Connery? Or the nudge-wink humor of his successor Roger Moore? Perhaps you favor the more muscular performance of Daniel Craig. Or maybe you’re an outlier who insists George Lazenby’s single turn as 007 in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the pinnacle of the entire Bond franchise. Pledge your allegiance at the original Madame Tussauds in Marylebone, where all six Bonds (we hadn’t forgotten Dalton and Brosnan!) are captured in wax, complete with classic 007 dinner suits and a variety of iconic Bond poses, from casual to gun-toting.

Pro-tip: entry to Madame Tussauds is included with The London Pass, and you can read our complete guide to the legendary wax museum here. 

The National Gallery is one of those London attractions for which the term ‘must-see’ was invented. For within this grand neoclassical edifice on the north side of Trafalgar Square lie some of the greatest works of art the world has ever seen. We’re talking Constable’s The Hay Wain, van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne. It’s also where you can ogle Turner masterpiece The Fighting Temeraire, as featured in 2012’s Skyfall. Daniel Craig’s Bond is seen gazing wistfully at the famous oil painting in Room 34 just before meeting the new Q (Ben Whishaw) for the first time.

Running south from Trafalgar Square, Westminster’s most famous thoroughfare is home to several Bond-related locations, including the Old War Office Building, as seen in Licence to Kill and Octopussy, and Whitehall 55 (Bond is seen standing on the rooftop of this government building in the final scene of Skyfall). It’s also, of course, where you can find Horse Guards Parade and 10 Downing Street, official residence of the British Prime Minister.

When, in Dr. No, Sean Connery’s bond is asked where he gets his suits cut, he responds: ‘My tailor, Savile Row’. This Mayfair street is synonymous with stylish formalwear and you too can make like a Bond (or Miss Moneypenny) and have yourself measured for a suit here, though you may require a Bond-sized bank balance to fund such a frivolous purchase.

The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich features prominently in Skyfall, when Judi Dench’s M is seen attending the funerals of agents killed in the terrorist attack on MI6 HQ. You can visit the Naval College’s famous Painted Hall, said to be Britain’s Sistine Chapel, with The London Pass, which has the bonus of also including entry to the Royal Observatory and a souvenir guide to the Royal Museums. Heck, with all the money you’re saving on these, you might be able to afford that bespoke dinner jacket after all!

Set in the heart of bustling Covent Garden, Rules is a British institution. The prestigious venue has been operating here since 1798 and lays claim to being London’s oldest restaurant, serving up a very British experience of dark wood paneling, mounted antlers, leather banquettes, traditional game dishes, and sticky toffee pudding. It’s also where M, Q and Moneypenny meet for a clandestine pow-wow in memorable scenes from 2015’s Spectre. Diners calling to reserve can even request “M’s table”! Book here.

Who can forget the opening ceremony of London’s 2012 Olympic Games, when Bond helicoptered Queen Elizabeth II over the Olympic Park and Her Majesty parachuted out into the stadium? Quite the moment. It’s probably easier for us mere mortals to arrive there by train or tube to Stratford. And, once there, there’s plenty to explore. It’s where you’ll find the soaring ArcelorMittal Orbit, the Great British Garden, and the London Aquatics Centre for a swim in the pool where Tom Daley won his first ever Olympic medal. Dive in!

You can plan your own walking itinerary featuring the above locations, or take one of the many guided options that run in London. There’s a good one included with The London Pass as part of the Brit Movie Tours experience. The London Pass also saves you money on entry to nearly 100 more London tours, activities and attractions, including the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye, Madame Tussauds, and more. Click the buttons below to find out more and buy your pass.