Skyfall Movie Locations
...and other Affairs

SKYFALL Movie Locations – from Istanbul to Scotland

James Bond travels the world, since more than 50 years. These are the Skyfall movie locations, from Istanbul to London. And from Japan up to Scotland.

In Skyfall, James Bond (Daniel Craig) must retrieve a stolen hard drive with the names of MI6 and NATO undercover agents. Behind the heist is Silva (Javier Bardem), a former MI6 spy. The hunt leads Bond from Turkey to China and Japan – and brings him home to Scotland.

Here are all Skyfall movie locations in Turkey, Japan, London and the UK:

TURKEY

The opening sequence starts in the Eminönü neighborhood in the heart of Istanbul. Bond enters the old Deutsche Orientbank building and then starts a motorbike chase with henchman Patrice (Ola Rapace). The scenes had been filmed at Yeni Mosque in front of the Eminönü market square and later on in the halls of the Istanbul Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest covered markets in the world, as well as on the roof of the market.

Skyfall movie locations

Bond in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul

Then the chase makes a jump some 600 kilometers southeast to the city of Adana. Here, at the nearby Varda Viaduct, the train fight had been filmed. Then, after Bond is presumably dead, he rests at a hut on Koca Calis Beach near Fethiye, a coastal town in the southwest of Turkey. Don’t expect the scorpion drink bar to be there, sadly it was just a set on the beach.

LONDON (including SHANGHAI)

Meanwhile M (Judi Dench) gets driven through Londons government hub Whitehall – then enters a house at Trinity Square for the hearing with Mallory (Ralph Fiennes). This will be the same building, where the later ambush by Silva plays out. It is today a Four Seasons hotel.
The MI6 headquarter later on is the real deal – home of the secret service at Vauxhall. But the explosion is of course only CGI. Her home is 82 Cadogan Square, at Clabon Mews, between Knightsbridge and Sloane Square. There she meets up with Bond, who reports back for duty.
The training sequence was filmed in the House of VANS beneath Waterloo Station, but the entry to the underground facility was filmed at Smithfield Market in West Smithfield. Bond then meets Q in front of Turner’s painting “The Fighting Temeraire” in Room 34 of the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square.
Besides some aerial shots, all Shanghai locations had been filmed in the UK as well. The Royal Ascot racecourse in Berkshire doubles for the Shanghai airport, the spa at the Canary Riverside Plaza for the rooftop pool. The later action scene at the highrise had been filmed at Broadgate Tower near Liverpool Station.

Skyfall movie locations National Gallery

Bond and Q at the National Gallery

After Bond brought back Silva in custody, the latter escapes and both go on a hunt in underground London. Most scenes had been filmed at a closed tube station underneath Charing Cross. You can visit the station during a guided tour by the London Transport Museum (check their homepage for dates). Additional scenes had been filmed at the exit of Westminster Station, at Temple Station and at Embankment Station. Bond then emerges and sprints along Whitehall.
Bond rescues M, then they board the old Aston Martin DB5 at a garage on Arklow Road, south of Childers Street. The duo then drives up north to Scotland.
The last scene after the showdown shows Bond atop the Department of Energy and Climate Change on 55 Whitehall. Form there he looks towards the domed towers of the Old War Office Building. But you won’t be able to go there – the roof is not open to the public.

JAPAN

Skyfall movie locations Hashima Island

Hashima Island – Silva’s secret base

Silva’s hidden island is set to be off Macau. In fact, it is a studio set – but the long-shots are real. They were filmed at the deserted Hashima Island, an abandoned coal mine off the coast of Japan. Hashima Island is just 15 kilometers south from Nagasaki. Several thousand workers were cramped there for decades, until the mine was closed in 1974. Now, tourists can visit the decaying buildings. The Japanese also call Hashima the “battleship island” due to its distinctive look.

SCOTLAND

The finale was filmed in both Scotland and Surrey. Bond and M take the Aston Martin DB5 north into the Highlands on the A82. The iconic stop is in Glencoe in front of the peaks of Buachaille Etive Mor and Buachaille Etive Beag.
Bond’s childhood home wasn’t filmed in the Highlands, though. It is a set, along with the chapel and the entrance gate. The whole thing was built at Hankley Common, an area of the Ministry of Defence near Elstead in Surrey. The Azerbaijan fields in The World Is Not Enough and the North Korea scenes from Die Another Day had been staged here as well.

For the Skyfall movie locations and all other locations of James Bond films, also check our location map right here!

© 2012 Danjaq, MGM (1,2,3,4)

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