Where Was No Time to Die Filmed? From Matera to the Faroes

No Time to Die was filmed in five countries. The opening chase is Matera, in southern Italy. The frozen lake house is in Norway, Bond’s retirement home is in Jamaica, and Safin’s island is the Faroe Islands. Scotland, England and Pinewood Studios near London filled in the rest.

Cary Joji Fukunaga shot Daniel Craig’s last Bond film from April to October 2019. Some of what you see isn’t where the story says it is. “Cuba” is Jamaica and a studio stage. Part of “Norway” is Scotland and a forest in Berkshire.

This guide counts down the 10 main No Time to Die filming locations, shows what each one played, and explains how to visit them.

#	Location	Scene	Plays	Can you visit?
10	London	MI6, Q’s flat, the Ministry	London	Yes. Public streets
9	Swinley Forest, Berkshire	Bond on foot in the woods	Norway	Yes. Public forest
8	Ardverikie Estate, Scotland	The Land Rover chase	Norway	Walkers welcome
7	Atlantic Ocean Road, Norway	Bond’s drive and the start of the escape	Norway	Yes. Free road
6	Port Antonio, Jamaica	Bond’s retirement, the Cuba jetty	Jamaica and Cuba	Yes. The house was a set
5	Sapri and Maratea, Italy	The coast drive and the train	Italy	Yes. Beach, road and station
4	Langvann lake, Norway	The opening at the lake house	Norway	The lake, yes. The house was a set
3	Gravina in Puglia, Italy	Bond’s leap off the bridge	Matera	Yes. Free footbridge
2	Kalsoy, Faroe Islands	Safin’s island and Bond’s last stand	Safin’s island	Yes. Hiking fee
1	Matera, Italy	The pre-title chase	Matera	Yes. Free to walk

The 10 No Time to Die Filming Locations

The countdown runs from London’s back streets to the Italian town that opens the film.

10) London

Bond’s home city gets the quietest scenes, but you can walk to most of them.

London gets less screen time than in most Bond films, but the city is all real. Bond’s walk to meet M ends at a rowing club on the Thames in Hammersmith. Q’s flat, where he cooks dinner for his date before Bond barges in, is a terraced house on Roupell Street near Waterloo.

The rest sit in central London. Senate House in Bloomsbury plays the Ministry. Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps, is Madeleine’s practice. Roupell Street is lived in, so take your photo and move along.

9) Swinley Forest, Berkshire

The pine forest where Bond takes on the Land Rovers on foot isn’t in Norway. It’s in Berkshire, west of London.

The Norway chase was shot in three countries. The road scenes are Norway. The moors are Scotland. The misty woodland, where Bond waits behind the trees and takes the Land Rovers apart, is Swinley Forest in Berkshire.

It’s a popular spot for walkers and mountain bikers. It’s about an hour from central London. The same Crown Estate land runs into Windsor Great Park, so you can make a day of it.

8) Ardverikie Estate, Scotland

The Land Rover chase over the open moor was filmed in the Scottish Highlands.

Screen Scotland lists Ardverikie and the Cairngorms among the film’s locations. The crew filmed the 4x4s racing across the moors and through the rivers here in July 2019. Fans may know Ardverikie House, on the shore of Loch Laggan, as Glenbogle from the TV show Monarch of the Glen.

The estate is private, with holiday cottages to rent. Scotland’s access rules let you walk most of the land. Aviemore, about an hour away, is the best base for the Cairngorms.

7) The Atlantic Ocean Road, Norway

Norway’s most famous road gets a starring role in the chase.

The Atlantic Ocean Road hops across small islands on a string of bridges. The curved Storseisundet bridge is the one you’ve seen in car ads. Bond drives it in his V8 Vantage on the way to Madeleine’s house, and it shows up again briefly as the family flees Ash’s men.

You can drive it any day for free. Molde and Kristiansund are the nearest towns. If you want to stay on the water, Time Out recommends the old fishing village of Håholmen.

6) Port Antonio, Jamaica

Bond’s retirement is in Jamaica, and so is most of “Cuba.”

Principal photography began here on 28 April 2019. Bond’s house was built for the film on the coast near Port Antonio and taken down after. The market square is where Bond chases Felix’s car round the war memorial, Nomi rides her scooter along the seafront, and Boundbrook Wharf plays the jetty in Santiago de Cuba.

Nothing was shot in Cuba. The James Bond Dossier says the Cuba scenes were Jamaica and sets at Pinewood. Jamaica was also where Craig hurt his ankle in May 2019, which put him out of action for about two weeks while filming carried on. Jamaica is Bond’s spiritual home: Ian Fleming wrote the novels at his house, GoldenEye, near Oracabessa.

5) Sapri and the Maratea Coast, Italy

Before Matera, Bond and Madeleine drive the Italian coast. Then, after it, he puts her on a train.

The DB5 drive along the cliffs was shot on the SS18 between Sapri and Acquafredda, near Maratea. Watch for the old Torre dei Crivi watchtower on the coast. In the film, the road leads to Matera. In real life, it’s about two and a half hours away.

The goodbye at the station was filmed at Sapri, on the coast. It’s a working station, so you can stand on the same platform. Maratea is known for its giant statue of Christ above the town, and it’s a quieter base than the Amalfi Coast to the north.

4) Langvann Lake, Norway

The film’s eerie opening, with a masked man on a frozen lake, was shot north of Oslo.

The film opens on a lonely house by a frozen lake. Safin, in a Noh mask, walks across the snow to take his revenge on Mr. White’s family. Bond later finds Madeleine at the same house. Both the house and its view are Langvann, but the house was only a set.

Hakadal is a short train or bus ride from Oslo. In winter, the lake looks just like the film. In summer, the forest trails around it are popular with hikers.

3) The Gravina Bridge, Italy

Bond’s leap off the bridge, with a cable tied to the railing, wasn’t filmed in Matera at all.

Gravina in Puglia is a small town in the next region over, Apulia. Its old aqueduct bridge crosses a deep ravine, and the film digitally moves it next to Matera. The crew built a second set of Vesper’s cemetery at Botromagno, across the gorge, for shots that show the bridge.

The bridge has been under scaffolding at times, so check before you go. Gravina is an easy half-day trip from Matera.

2) Kalsoy, Faroe Islands

Safin’s island, and the hill where Bond makes his last stand, is a real island in the North Atlantic.

In the story, Safin’s island sits in disputed waters between Japan and Russia. In real life, it’s Kalsoy, a long, thin island in the Faroes. His base was added with CGI in the bay south of Trøllanes. At Kallur, the lighthouse was swapped for a watchtower in the film.

The view from Kallur is the last thing Bond sees. Today there’s a small tombstone for James Bond near the lighthouse, at the spot where he dies. The hike is short but steep, and the ridge closes in fog or high wind. Take Ferry 56 from Klaksvík to Syðradalur, then drive to Trøllanes.

1) Matera, Italy

The pre-title chase, and the best Bond opening in years, was shot in the ancient cave town of Matera.

Matera’s Sassi are cave homes carved into a ravine, lived in for thousands of years. Bond visits Vesper’s tomb, then runs for his life. The bike races up the Via Spartivento steps and jumps from a ramp built in Piazza Duomo. Then the DB5 spins doughnuts in Piazza San Giovanni Battista, its miniguns firing from behind the headlights.

Much of it is real. Variety reported that the bike sequence took three days to shoot, and effects chief Chris Corbould told Popular Science that Craig did the doughnut himself. Vesper’s tomb was a set on the Murgia plateau across the ravine, now just grass. The hotel, the “Palazzo Lucareschi,” was built for the film too. Matera is about an hour’s drive from Bari airport.

Where Does No Time to Die Take Place?

No Time to Die takes place in Norway, Italy, Jamaica, Cuba, London and on Safin’s island, which the story puts in disputed waters between Japan and Russia. Three of those were filmed somewhere else.

• Italy is real Italy: Matera, Gravina in Puglia, Sapri and the Maratea coast.
• Norway is mostly Norway, but the chase moves into Scotland and Berkshire.
• Jamaica is Jamaica.
• Cuba is Port Antonio and Pinewood Studios.
• London is London.
• Safin’s island is Kalsoy in the Faroe Islands, plus sets at Pinewood.

The film opens at the frozen lake in Norway, and the pre-title chase is in Matera.

Filming No Time to Die

The shoot ran from April to October 2019, and it didn’t go smoothly.

• The start: The second unit shot the frozen lake in Norway in March 2019. Principal photography began in Jamaica on 28 April.
• The ankle: Craig hurt his ankle running on set in Jamaica in May. He had minor surgery and about two weeks of rehab.
• The blast: On 4 June 2019, a controlled explosion damaged the outside of the 007 Stage at Pinewood. One crew member had a minor injury.
• The studio: Pinewood’s 007 Stage held the Cuba party, Safin’s lair and the inside of Madeleine’s house. Filming wrapped there on 25 October 2019.
• The cost: Reported at $250 million to $301 million, which puts it among the most expensive films ever made.
• The wait: Danny Boyle left early on, and then COVID pushed the release back again and again. It finally premiered at the Royal Albert Hall on 28 September 2021.

The stunt coordinator was Lee Morrison, who had been Craig’s stunt double. The Matera bike jump was the real thing, done by stunt rider Paul Edmondson. Even the Aston Martin’s doughnuts were done in camera.

How to Visit the No Time to Die Locations

You can’t see every location in one trip, but three make great Bond holidays.

Matera and Gravina (2 days). Fly into Bari. Spend a day walking the Sassi, from Piazza Duomo down the Via Spartivento steps to Piazza San Giovanni Battista. Walking tours focused on 007 run about 2.5 hours. On day two, drive 30 km to Gravina in Puglia for the bridge, then out to the Maratea coast and Sapri.

The Faroe Islands (1 day on Kalsoy).

1. Take Ferry 56 from Klaksvík to Syðradalur, with your car.
2. Drive to Trøllanes, at the north end of the island.
3. Pay the hiking fee: 200 DKK for adults, 100 DKK for ages 13 to 17, free under 13. Fees can change, so check before you go.
4. Walk out to the Kallur lighthouse and Bond’s tombstone. Turn back if the fog rolls in.

Norway (a road trip). Start in Oslo with a train to Hakadal for Langvann lake. Then fly or drive to Molde and spend a day on the Atlantic Ocean Road.

Jamaica. Base yourself in Port Antonio. Boundbrook Wharf and the market square are in town. Ian Fleming’s GoldenEye is about an hour and a half west, and Dunn’s River Falls is near Ocho Rios.

FAQs About Where No Time to Die Was Filmed

The Final Cut on Where No Time to Die Was Filmed

So where was No Time to Die filmed? In Matera, Italy, for the opening chase, with the bridge leap in Gravina in Puglia. Norway gave it the frozen lake and the Atlantic Ocean Road, Jamaica gave it Bond’s retirement, and the Faroe Islands gave it Safin’s island and Bond’s last view. Scotland, Berkshire and Pinewood filled in the rest.

Daniel Craig’s Bond ends on a Faroese hilltop, but it starts in a cave town in southern Italy.

Which No Time to Die location would you visit first?

For more, see where Knives Out was filmed for Daniel Craig’s other big role, read how the Aston Martin works as product placement in films, check out where Top Gun: Maverick was filmed for more big action locations, or browse all our film locations.