The Italian island of Sardinia plays a prominent role in the 1977 film, The Spy Who Loved Me, featuring Roger Moore as James Bond. / Photofest

Forget his fancy cars and gadgets. Most of us would be happy with James Bond's frequent-flier miles. The secret agent, whose film Skyfall opens Nov. 9, has spent his career battling villains around the globe. This year marks 50 years of Bond films, all recently screened at New York's Museum of Modern Art. The museum also features an exhibit on Goldfinger's title sequence, the first acquired by the museum. Anne Morra, associate curator in the film department, shares favorite Bond story locations and filming sites with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY.


Agent 007 ventured to the Dutch city in Diamonds Are Forever. "Amsterdam being the center of the diamond trade, it made perfect sense for the film to be set there," Morra says. The movie shows the city's iconic canals, and in one scene, a body is dragged from the Amstel River. 212-370-7360;


Tropical Miami might look like paradise, but in Goldfinger, evil lurks just below the surface. In a memorable scene, Bond plays his rival in a game of gin rummy at the city's Fontainebleau hotel. "It was chic, upscale - a hot spot, and James Bond belonged," Morra says. "I was there a few years ago, and it's still cool." 800-933-8448;


Eastern Europe is a natural spot for Bond because during the Cold War, it represented evil for Westerners. This country, the setting for Casino Royale, appears beautiful and luxurious, although filming was done in the city of Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. "He's in this casino, and it's very grand and opulent, and so much of middle Europe has that feeling of the old empire," Morra says.


James Bond creator Ian Fleming lived in Jamaica, so it's no surprise that several films have been set there, including Dr. No. The country's a natural for Bond because it was part of the British Empire, but it also is a great place to shoot a movie, Morra says. "It has all the things you need. There are beautiful beaches. You can have Bond and the ladies in bikinis. Jamaica can stand in for any tropical country." 800-526-2422;

Sardinia, Italy

This Mediterranean island has a split personality: luxurious in the north and more barren in the south. In The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond visits both, showing two sides of his personality, Morra says. "He's drawn to the life of extravagance and luxury, yet he's hard-boiled." 212-245-5618;

New York

As a life-long New Yorker, Morra says her hometown is the perfect city for Bond. It was featured in Live and Let Die, but she thinks it has much more potential for the secret agent. "There are so many cool, slick-looking people that he'd be one of many." She also thinks he'd stop by the Museum of Modern Art, which serves a Bond-inspired cocktail, the Vesper Royale, in The Modern restaurant. 212-484-1200;

La Paz, Bolivia

In the eco-thriller Quantum of Solace, Bond heads to South America to battle a villain who threatens Bolivia's water supply. The agent appears at a chic, glamorous fundraiser in the country's capital but later is left to fend for himself in the desert. (Actual filming locations included Spain, Mexico, Chile and Panama.) "This city is cosmopolitan, and you get a sense of the scope of the country," Morra says.


Most Americans can't travel legally to Cuba, but that doesn't keep James Bond from the Havana high life in Die Another Day, part of which was filmed in Andalucía, Spain. "There is a great romance about Cuba, and it's romantic and very sexy. It's a place of culture, music, dance and literature," Morra says.

Hong Kong

Perhaps it's no surprise that this former British colony makes appearances in several Bond films, including The Man With the Golden Gun. "It's the most Western Eastern city, and it also has a great mystery to it, and that's always something essential in a Bond film," Morra says. "Then there are the very beautiful women in Hong Kong, and he never seems to lack for company." 212-421-3382;


The Finnish capital appears in a Bond novel, The Icebreaker, written by John Gardner. While the story has yet to make it to the silver screen, Morra says Helsinki would make a great filming location. "It's a perfect spy city. It's dark and cold and frozen in the wintertime."

Copyright 2015

Read the original story: 10 great places to retrace the footsteps of James Bond

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