Upcoming trip to London: Help and Suggestions

Jayski

Hi all! I will be planning a 3day trip to London for the end of May, and would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, tips, or any other info that might help in making this the best Bond themed trip to London possible! Of course i've already scouted as many Bond locations as I could find within the area, as well as listened to the being James bond London podcasts. For those that have been before and London residents, I'd appreciate tips on where in the city is best to stay, how to get around, how much money I might need for a day out on the town and such. I also will visit the National Motor museum for the Bond exhibit that is on this year, has anybody been to see this yet? How hard would it be to get there from London via bus? Thanks in advance, since its the 50th anniversary I cant think of a better time to be a Bond fan visiting London for the first time!

Cheers!

Jayski

I hope somebody can reply, I have searched the forum for previous posts featuring the same info, but it would be nice to hear from anybody who was there recently. Cheers!

thesecretagent

Hi - cant help you with London - I live a long way from there. I would check out the mi6 building on the Thames. At least you'll get a Brosnan/Craig feel from that - then the bridge Lazenby swung from the post on for the OHMSS PR shots - don't know where that is, but The Mantis has a great shot of himself there - find him in the collectors forum and PM him. He's friendly and should be pleased to help you out. Other than that try Madam Tousauds and see if they're doing any Bond displays, or the motor museum Beaulieu in Hampshire has great Bond exhibits and plenty of Bond stuff in the gift shop.
Have a good trip!

Napoleon Plural

Someone has asked this question already it is in the Skyfall forum (which secret agent doesn't visit to avoid spoilers!)

Click this link here, no spoilers on it:

http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/38197/i-live-in-texas-and-i-want-to-go-to-london-for-skyfall-premier-ideas/

thesecretagent

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Someone has asked this question already it is in the Skyfall forum (which secret agent doesn't visit to avoid spoilers!)

Click this link here, no spoilers on it:
B
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/38197/i-live-in-texas-and-i-want-to-go-to-london-for-skyfall-premier-ideas/

Nope. Not going in there, even if it contained hardcore porn and pictures of guns...

Napoleon Plural

There aren't any spoilers on that particular thread.

Jayski

Thanks guys. Ill definitely be doing all of those mentioned, MI6 building, Westminster bridge Lampost and Forgotten station door. I found one cool tour on the Thames on a speed boat, has anybody herd of or tried this one? Could be the closest thing to the World is not enough chase for a decent price. I also found this tour which does some great locations outside of London, but is extremely pricy, http://britmovietours.com/bookings/spy-movie-outer-london-tour/

Ive got a friend living out near Goodwood that will bring me out the the National Auto Museum to see the Bond car collection there. Ive been looking forward to seeing all of these cars for a long long time. My camera will be on hand to catch everything and anything Bond related. Might even put a small photobook together afterwards about my trip. Unfortunately I have no suits to wear, but when on a mission one needs to be comfortable like Craig.

Napoleon Plural

If you're not short of cash, you could try Mitthril Racing at Goodwood in Chichester, they let you do a classic car thing where you can race an Aston Martin DB4, E-Type Jag and crappy old Cortina each around the circuit three times. Maybe £200 to do, not sure. Not really that entertaining in that you'd rather be driving out on country roads in these cars, but it's something and especially if you're nearby.

Chichester canal is where Turner did his famous painting of the Cathedral etc. The Theatre usually does some well reviewed shows there.

Jayski

That sounds like a very cool experience! I dont have the time or the money for that one this time, but next time around Ill have to give that a try. Here's what I have planned to see so far in terms of Bond Locations:

Millenium Dome/O2 Arena
Harrods (at M's request)
MI6 Headquarters
Lazenby Lamp post
Forgotten Station Door
Lift from DAF
Smithfield Market - Skyfall Location
Canary Wharf - Skyfall Location
Four Seasons - Skyfall Location
College of Arms
Buckingham Palace
Les Ambassadeurs Club - Dr. No
Queensborough House - Dr. No MI6 Exterior shots
National Motor Museum

Other things I've also got on the list are the Planet Hollywood which has some great Bond Memorabilia, A boat ride on the river Thames, and also this Goldeneye plaque from the premier at Odeon Leicester Square. http://www.007museum.com/goldneyehands_pierce_brosnan.jpg

If anybody see's that i've missed something please let me know. Unfortunately I wont be making it outside of London to see Stokes or Chalfont house, but for 3 days it looks like I already have my hands full!

Jayski

I also just noticed on IMDB that The Palm Court (Piccadilly, 112, London) was used in Goldeneye, but Im not sure what part of the movie it was used in. Anybody got a clue?

The Domino Effect

You should make time to swing by Dukes Hotel in St James to have a Bond martini in the very bar in which Ian Fleming had his first 'shaken not stirred' bevvy that he later incorporated into the books. They have the classic Vesper as well as others named for Moneypenny, Strangways etc etc. There's a great article on the place in the current issue of the Canadian travel magazine 'Outpost' that you should read first. I was there last year and it's well worth a visit.

Jayski

The Domino Effect wrote:

You should make time to swing by Dukes Hotel in St James to have a Bond martini in the very bar in which Ian Fleming had his first 'shaken not stirred' bevvy that he later incorporated into the books. They have the classic Vesper as well as others named for Moneypenny, Strangways etc etc. There's a great article on the place in the current issue of the Canadian travel magazine 'Outpost' that you should read first. I was there last year and it's well worth a visit.

Very cool thanks! I've never had a proper Bond martini or Vesper in my life, only right that I have my first there!

Jayski

Also during some hunting in IMDB, i noticed London stood in for Russia quite a bit in Goldeneye. The St. Petersburg and our lady of smolensk scenes are all real London locations. Looks like i'll get to see more then I ever imagined.

UltimateTruth

Regent's Park

---

A big part of the books

asio

I'll be ditching the wife and kids and re-vistiting London for a week in May 2013, and I'll be taking my Canon Powershot S3 camera to a few of these locations. I might even try to find the "real" location of Bond's flat in High Street Chelsea.
But I also plan on doing a few "Doctor Who" relating things, and I'm trying to get hold of an away ticket to see the Reds play Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Should be a fun trip.

always shaken

HI Jayski .,if you go to the o2 dome
you can get to Canary wharf 1 stop
4 seasons hotel swim pool from SF
Greenwich naval college also SF not far
if your realy brave get black cab to Rolt steet
in Deptford its about 5 mins in cab from naval college
you will see alley where Bond has Aston stashed
(it used to be my dads factory)
see previous London location threads
also if you cross river on cable car at o2
get DLR west bound you will see at Blackwall
the building they used for the Carver media group
newspaper ( Bond smashes up satelite)
you break it you own it
you could probably do all that in a morning
Get the thames clipper from either o2 or Canary wharf
up thames ( about £4-00) get of at Westminster
see that door on the south side of Thames
walk to H O parliment then Buck house via Whitehall
stand on Graves parachute landing spot
i could go on help me out guys
this Torontoian is after our help
lets not let him down
by the way bring plenty of Tim hortons coffee
and Tim bits you cant it here

Napoleon Plural

asio wrote:

I'll be ditching the wife and kids and re-vistiting London for a week in May 2013, and I'll be taking my Canon Powershot S3 camera to a few of these locations. I might even try to find the "real" location of Bond's flat in High Street Chelsea.
But I also plan on doing a few "Doctor Who" relating things, and I'm trying to get hold of an away ticket to see the Reds play Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Should be a fun trip.

There's a Dr Who police box outside Earls Court station.

asio

Napoleon Plural wrote:

There's a Dr Who police box outside Earls Court station.

Thanks, NP. I plan on having an itinerary of photographic 'must-haves' for the trip. I'm going to Flight Centre after work this evening to book the trip, it's been a few years in the planning and over 5 years since my last overseas holiday (Honolulu for my honeymoon) so I'm really looking forward to it.

asio

Hi guys,

I returned from my trip to London earlier today, and with some help of The Domino Effect, I manged to track down James Bond's flat in Chelsea:



I was very pleased to find it, however as it's a proper working residence and located in a square with minimal to nil walkthrough traffic, I had to take the photo quickly so as not to be spotted spying (I know, quite ironic).

Other 007-related photos I obtained include the door used by Bond in Die Another Day to access the dis-used section of Mi6, and of course the Mi6 building itself.

Thunderpussy

Sounds like you had a fun trip, asio. -{
I also remember getting my photo by the door from DAD, My wife looked
at me like I was crazy, with the usual " You've got Big Ben, the London eye
and Parliment. Why do you want a photo of that door ?" )

The Domino Effect

Great photo, and delighted to hear that you had a good trip.