Around ten James Bond films go through the snow, and that is often where the series pulls off its wildest moments: a leap off a cliff under a Union Jack parachute, a chase by bobsleigh, paragliders swooping after 007 above Chamonix. These places are real. Here are the resorts where Bond was actually filmed, with an official clip from each film, and a way to keep the story going: a chalet in Chamonix, fit for 007, for your next holiday.
At a glance
- Chamonix, France: The World Is Not Enough, 1999.
- Mürren and the Schilthorn, Switzerland: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969.
- St Moritz, Switzerland: The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977.
- Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy: For Your Eyes Only, 1981.
- Engadine, Switzerland: A View to a Kill, 1985.
- Peyragudes, France: Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997.
- Sölden and Obertilliach, Austria: Spectre, 2015.
Chamonix: The World Is Not Enough, 1999
The film says the Caucasus. The call sheet said Chamonix, on the slopes of the Mont Blanc massif. Bond is skiing with Elektra, played by Sophie Marceau, when paragliders attack them from the sky. The scene takes its cue from the chase in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, made thirty years earlier, which is also where the title comes from.
The crew took the cold seriously before they even left: the special cameras spent a night in the British Airways cold store at Heathrow so that motors and batteries could be tested. On location, the mountain still had the last word. Heavy snow, overcast skies, diesel freezing in the trucks and stoppages for avalanche risk put the shoot five and a half days behind.
AEC tip: Bond only passes through Chamonix, but you can stay the week. Rent a chalet in Chamonix for your next holiday. Our guide to where to stay in Chamonix compares the villages of the valley, and what to do in Chamonix in winter fills your days, from the Aiguille du Midi to the Mer de Glace.
Mürren and the Schilthorn: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969
Blofeld’s lair is real, and it has kept its film name. The revolving restaurant on the Schilthorn, above Mürren, plays Piz Gloria on screen. The Swiss shoot ran for seven months, from 21 October 1968 to 17 May 1969, and the timing was good: the building was half finished and the project short of money. The production paid for the interior of the summit station and a helipad, both of which then stayed with the cable car company.
The one thing missing was snow. According to the cable car company, 1000 bags of glacier snow were flown up to the summit by helicopter. The cabins, painted orange for the film, stayed that way for more than 25 years. The ski chase was filmed around the Schilthorn and Wengen, with Willy Bogner skiing backwards, camera trained on the action. The bobsleigh chase belongs to Mürren, on an old run that had lain idle for more than 45 years and was brought back into service for the occasion. The moment when Bond slides out of the bob and along the wall was an accident, and it stayed in the final cut. The official channel does not offer the ski chase, so here is the bobsleigh instead.
The restaurant still turns, in about 45 minutes, facing the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau. The 007 Walk of Fame and the attractions devoted to the film round off the visit: check what is open before you go up.
St Moritz: The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977
On screen, Austria. On location, the country around St Moritz, where second unit director John Glen shot the chase that opens the film. Willy Bogner was behind the ski photography again, able, Glen said, to ski backwards or forwards with a camera slung under his legs. At one point the crew got stranded up on the glacier, built a snow shelter and spent the night flapping their arms to keep warm.
The final jump has nothing Swiss about it. It was shot in the summer of 1976 on Mount Asgard, in Auyuittuq National Park, on Baffin Island in Canada. Stuntman Rick Sylvester launched himself off the cliff, the Union Jack parachute opened, and one of his skis clipped the top of it, which you can see on screen. John Glen had about three weeks, two helicopters and around 14 people for that single shot. “It was brave, and it was beautiful. It was the pure essence of James Bond,” producer Cubby Broccoli would say.
Cortina d’Ampezzo: For Your Eyes Only, 1981
Cortina d’Ampezzo becomes one big playground. Bond tracks a criminal here, passes along the Corso Italia, is attacked by ice hockey players on the rink at the Olympic ice stadium, jumps off the Olympic ski jump and hurtles down the bobsleigh run on skis. He also rides the cable car up the Tofana di Mezzo, at more than 3000m, to meet his contact. The motorbikes on his tail wear studded tyres and tear across the snow at close to 80km/h.
The setting has changed since then. The film’s bobsleigh run, closed since 2008, has been taken down and replaced on the same site for the 2026 Games. The ski jump, unused for years, can still be seen at the entrance to Cortina, on the Strada Alemagna. The ice stadium hosted the 1956 Games and then those of 2026.
The Engadine: A View to a Kill, 1985
On screen, Siberia. On location, Iceland and Switzerland: the credits thank the people of Höfn and the municipality of Pontresina, in the Engadine. The snowboarding took six weeks to film, from the middle of the summer of 1984, mostly on the Pers Glacier, at the foot of Piz Palü. Tom Sims, a pioneer of the sport, did most of what you see on screen.
At the time, snowboarding had yet to appear in a major film, according to the specialist site MI6-HQ. The boards were repainted and weighted with copper pipe, the logo removed, so that they could pass for a snowmobile ski. Steve Link, who worked on the shoot, says he spent 5 to 6 days in front of the camera over those six weeks. The soundtrack: a cover of California Girls by Gidea Park.
Peyragudes: Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997
Bond does not ski here: he steals a plane. The opening scene, a clandestine arms bazaar high in the mountains, was shot at Peyragudes, in the Pyrenees, on the Peyresourde-Balestas altiport. Vic Armstrong’s second unit moved in from 18 January 1997, with an L-39 Albatros. Twenty years later the site became “Altiport 007”, and a 2.8km blue run, from 1967m down to 1600m, was named 007.
The legend that places this scene in Courchevel is wrong: our page on Courchevel altiport sets the record straight.
Sölden and Obertilliach: Spectre, 2015
No skis in Spectre either, but a chase between a plane and a line of cars. The ice Q restaurant, at 3048m on the Gaislachkogl above Sölden, plays the Hoffler Klinik. The Rettenbach Glacier road, at 2829m, was specially opened in winter for the shoot. The Tyrol tourist board counts 45 Range Rovers and two Britten-Norman Islander planes on it. The plane that slides along on its belly was in fact running on snowmobiles built into the fuselage and driven from inside.
The chase ends in Obertilliach, in East Tyrol, in the listed historic centre and on the Golzentipp ski area, where a barn brought from Styria had been rebuilt at the top of a run. Locals called it the “Bond House”, and it has since been taken down. One story remains: two calves born on the first day of filming and named Daniel and Léa.
In Sölden, the film left more behind. 007 Elements, opened on 12 July 2018 near the ice Q, fills 1300m² on two levels inside the mountain, with the film’s crashed plane on show. Check the opening dates before you go up.
Your James Bond chalet
Bond never stays long. You can take the whole week, and rent the chalet to match. The brief is short: altitude, the mountains filling the picture windows, a spa or a pool for the end of the day, and an arrival worthy of the opening titles.
Start with our chalets and apartments in Chamonix, the setting of The World Is Not Enough. For other great names in the Alps, see Courchevel, Megève or Val d’Isère. For the arrival, our private jet and helicopter guide explains how to reach the resorts by air.
AEC tip: for your next holiday, just write “a James Bond chalet” to our agents, with your dates and the size of your group. They will send you a selection.
A film lasts two hours. A week in the mountains gives you time to do better: a chalet, the massif beyond the glass, and the first tracks of the morning, with nobody on your tail.
The clips play from the official James Bond 007 YouTube channel and remain the property of their rights holders. James Bond and 007 are trademarks of their owners. AEC Collection has no connection with the production of the films. The location photos, under free licences, come from Wikimedia Commons: they have been resized, and the ice Q photo has been cropped. Banner: the Grandes Jorasses and the Dent du Géant from the Aiguille du Midi, photo DimiTalen, CC0.
Sources: Schilthornbahn, The Irish Times, Henley Standard (John Glen), Cortina tourist office, Italia.it, MI6-HQ (Steve Link), AFI Catalog, Pyrénées 2 Vallées, Tyrol.com, 007 Elements, and the descriptions on the James Bond 007 channel.
Frequently asked questions
Which ski resorts were used in James Bond films?
Chamonix, Mürren and the Schilthorn, St Moritz, Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Engadine, Peyragudes, Sölden and Obertilliach, among others. Around ten films in the series go through the snow.
Which James Bond film was shot in Chamonix?
The World Is Not Enough, released in 1999. The ski chase, which the film places in the Caucasus, was shot on the slopes of the Mont Blanc massif.
Where is James Bond’s Piz Gloria?
On the summit of the Schilthorn, above Mürren, in Switzerland. This revolving restaurant plays Blofeld’s lair in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and has kept its film name.
Where was the ski jump in The Spy Who Loved Me filmed?
On Mount Asgard, on Baffin Island in Canada, in the summer of 1976. The chase leading up to it was shot in the country around St Moritz.
Which James Bond film is set in Cortina?
For Your Eyes Only, released in 1981. It features the Olympic ice stadium, the ski jump, the bobsleigh run and the Tofana cable car.
Can you visit the Spectre location in Sölden?
Yes. The ice Q restaurant, which plays the film’s clinic, stands at 3048m on the Gaislachkogl, and the 007 Elements exhibition is close by. Check the opening dates before you go up.
Where can I rent a James Bond style chalet?
In Chamonix, the setting of The World Is Not Enough: our chalets and apartments there are gathered on one page, and our agents will send you a selection to suit your dates.
