Bond’s Italy: where to go and what to wear

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The James Bond locations in Italy are best taken as a route rather than a list: a stone city in the south, a capital, a canal, two lakes and a stretch of Tuscan coast. Daniel Craig’s Bond passes through all of them across five films, and each place asks for something slightly different of the person who visits. This guide sets out where the films put him, how we would order the trip, and what a considered man packs for it.

We write from the catalogue and from the films’ own scenes, not from a visit. Where a scene is set in a place, we say so; where we cannot confirm a detail, we leave it out.

The short answer

Give Italy ten days if you want all of it, or pick one thread. Matera in Basilicata is the strongest single reason to go, because it carries the whole pre-title sequence of No Time To Die. Rome belongs to Spectre, Venice to Casino Royale, and Lake Garda, Lake Como and southern Tuscany to Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Pack soft tailoring, suede and good sunglasses rather than a suit, and leave room for the one stay in the films that you can actually book.

What the films show

Italy is the most frequent holiday in the Craig films. Our No Time To Die pages place Bond in Matera for the Aston Martin DB5 chase, a hotel stay and a slow walk with Madeleine Swann. Spectre sends him through Rome for Sciarra’s funeral and a night chase. Casino Royale has a yacht on the Venice Grand Canal and ends at a villa on Lake Como. In Quantum of Solace the opening car chase runs around Lake Garda, and Bond later visits René Mathis in Talamone.

A word on method. A scene set in a place is not always shot there, and film-location claims are the easiest to get wrong. Everything below is described as the films set it, and we would check a venue’s current arrangements with the venue itself before building a day around it.

Matera and Basilicata

Start in the south. The chase that opens No Time To Die runs through Matera: Bond in an Aston Martin DB5, then on a Triumph taken from Primo, through narrow streets and over stone steps. The same town gives the film its quiet half, the walk with Madeleine Swann and the hotel the porters unload the luggage at.

The hardware is easy to admire and hard to own, with one exception. The black Triumph in the chase is the Scrambler 1200 XE, and Triumph still builds it; the bikes on screen were modified stunt machines, so the XE is the model behind them rather than a copy. If a motorcycle is your reason for the trip, the Scrambler 1200 XE is the version to look at.

Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE (No Time To Die)View the piece

For a visit on foot, the logic of the film is the right one: nothing stiff, nothing that fights stone and steps. Plan for walking, for long lunches and for the light changing quickly between day and evening. Matera is a town to give a night or two, not an hour, and its streets suit the clothes described later better than anything with a sharp crease.

Rome

Rome is the city of Spectre. Bond goes to Sciarra’s funeral, attends the SPECTRE meeting, and is chased by Hinx in the Jaguar C-X75 while he drives the Aston Martin DB10. The tone is darker than Matera: charcoal, black, a good overcoat.

The detail worth taking from Rome is the sunglasses. For the funeral Bond wears a squared frame in dark Havana acetate, the Tom Ford Snowdon, which Tom Ford announced as his pair. It is the least conspicuous way of acknowledging the film in a city that is mostly stone, sun and traffic.

Tom Ford Snowdon FT0237 Sunglasses, Havana 52N (Spectre)View the piece

Give Rome the evening. The film uses the river, the night and the car lights, and the city rewards a dinner that starts late. Dress for it in navy or charcoal and leave the linen for the south.

Venice

In Casino Royale Bond sails the Grand Canal in a yacht, the Spirit 54, and takes M’s call in the city. Moonraker sets part of its story there too: the catalogue records a Bollinger cooler in Holly Goodhead’s room at the Hotel Danieli. We are not able to confirm Danieli’s current arrangements from our sources, so we mention it as film history and not as a recommendation.

Venice is a city of water and stone, so the practical advice is simple. Wear shoes with a sole that grips on wet paving and a jacket that copes with a damp wind off the water. A suede boot is the wrong shoe here in rain, whatever the film shows elsewhere; save it for dry days.

Lake Garda

The pre-credits chase of Quantum of Solace sends two black Alfa Romeo 159 saloons after Bond’s Aston Martin DBS on roads around Lake Garda, near Limone. It is a driving trip first, and the lake road is the thing to see.

If you want a keepsake that is quieter than a car, the DBS is the car Aston Martin names as Bond’s in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, and the Limited100 print of it is a studio photograph in an edition of 100. It is a collectible inspired by the car, not a film-used item.

Limited100 Aston Martin DBS V12 Print (Quantum of Solace)View the piece

Lake Como

The last scene of Casino Royale takes place at Villa La Gaeta in San Siro, on the western shore of Lake Como, where Bond finds Mr White. The villa was built in 1921 to designs by Gino and Adolfo Coppedè, and it is a private estate. Some of its apartments can be rented, which makes it one of the few Bond locations where you can stay the night. Our page lists a one-bedroom penthouse with a lake-view terrace, but dates and rates change, so check the current listing.

We would book it out of season and use it as a base for quiet days. Villa La Gaeta is the only stay in this guide we can tell you is bookable, and we would sooner say that plainly than pad the list.

Villa La Gaeta, Lake Como (Casino Royale)View the piece

Talamone and southern Tuscany

In Quantum of Solace, Bond visits René Mathis at Villa Le Torre in Talamone, southern Tuscany, after the opera, and asks him to help in Bolivia. Mathis wears a pair of squared aviators, the Ray-Ban Caravan RB3136. The silver pair on screen is no longer sold, and Ray-Ban’s current listing shows other finishes. One of our research sources says the model is thought to be the Caravan rather than confirmed, so we describe it as likely and not certain.

Ray-Ban RB3136 Caravan Sunglasses (Quantum of Solace)View the piece

The same film puts Bond in Siena when he delivers White to M. The coast and the hill towns are the gentlest part of this route, and a sensible way to finish.

What to wear in Italy

The clothes in the Matera sequences are the most useful guide to dressing for the trip, because they were chosen for warmth, walking and ease. Two outfits stand out, and both are worth understanding as ideas before you buy any of them.

The chase outfit is a suit that behaves like a cardigan. The Massimo Alba Sloop suit is cut from fine-wale baby corduroy in a sand tone, with soft shoulders and dark horn buttons, and Bond wears it with a blue shirt, braces and chukka boots. It is the most relaxed suit of the Craig era, and the maker’s Italian cloth makes sense in an Italian town.

Massimo Alba Sloop Suit, Desert Baby Corduroy (No Time To Die)View the piece

Under it Bond wears a broad burgundy silk tie from Alexander Olch, handmade in New York from Italian silk, and dove grey braces from Albert Thurston. The tie adds warmth; the braces replace a belt and quietly signal that the jacket may come off.

Alexander Olch Avery Necktie 007 (No Time To Die)View the piece

Albert Thurston Dove Grey Braces (No Time To Die)View the piece

The second outfit is for the walk with Madeleine Swann. A short navy jacket, the Connolly Giubbino, is unlined mixed linen and cotton cut like a 1950s bomber, and it works over a plain Henley. Below it, the Massimo Alba Winch trousers in grey Alluminio corduroy are slim and flat-fronted; we think they are the most useful piece in Bond’s off-duty wardrobe.

Connolly Giubbino Jacket in Navy Mixed Linen (No Time To Die)View the piece

Massimo Alba Winch Corduroy Trousers in Alluminio (No Time To Die)View the piece

On the feet, both outfits use the same brown suede chukka. The Drake’s Crosby is unlined, with a crepe sole and moccasin stitching, made in Italy. It is a boot for dry days and mild weather, which is also what the south asks for. One caution from our film notes: the boots on the IMAX poster, with Bond on the motorcycle, are the stunt rider’s and not this pair.

Drake’s Crosby Moc-Toe Chukka Boot Dark Brown Suede (No Time To Die)View the piece

For eyewear, the Barton Perreira Norton is the round tortoise pair Bond takes off on the Italian coast in No Time To Die. The 007 edition is sold out at the maker at the time of writing, and the standard Norton in Chestnut with Bottle Green lenses is the nearest route to the same look.

Barton Perreira Norton Sunglasses 007 Edition (No Time To Die)View the piece

Season matters more than any single piece. Summer in the south and by the lakes is hot, so linen and unlined cotton earn their place and the corduroy belongs to spring and autumn. Winter in Rome and Venice calls for the overcoat and a scarf. Browse the full clothing edit if you want more than the pieces mentioned here.

What we would choose

If we were planning one trip, we would take Matera for two nights, then Lake Como for a few quiet days out of season. That gives you the best of the films’ architecture and the one stay that is genuinely bookable. For the wardrobe we would buy fewer things, not more: the Winch trousers, the Crosby chukka and a pair of round sunglasses cover most of what the trip requires, and none of them looks like fancy dress.

We would skip the full outfit. Dressing as Bond in Matera is a costume; dressing as a man who has thought about the climate is not.

Practical notes

Check any stay directly. Rates, availability and house rules change, and we do not quote them.
Suede is for dry days. If you pack chukkas, take a suede brush and avoid wet cobbles.
Corduroy is a spring and autumn fabric. In high summer, choose linen or unlined cotton.
The Sloop suit’s trousers are sold unhemmed, so budget for a tailor before you travel.
For stays and villas beyond this route, see our travel and hotels pages.

Questions

Where was No Time To Die filmed in Italy?

The film sets its pre-title chase and the quiet walk with Madeleine Swann in Matera, Basilicata. Our catalogue records the scenes as Matera scenes; we have not independently verified every shooting location.

Can you stay at a James Bond location in Italy?

Yes, in one case we can confirm. Some apartments at Villa La Gaeta on Lake Como, the setting for the end of Casino Royale, can be rented. Check the current listing before planning around it.

Which films put Bond in Italy?

Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Spectre and No Time To Die are the four Craig films with Italian scenes. Moonraker also visits Venice.

What should you wear in Matera?

Something soft and made for walking. The film’s own choice is unlined jackets, fine corduroy and suede chukkas, with a quiet palette and nothing stiff.