For Your Ears Only: James Bond’s London

(40 reviews)

London audio tour: For Your Ears Only: James Bond’s London

This is a 2.3mi walking tour

It takes an average of 90 mins to complete.

London

The United Kingdom

$14.99

Access all 47 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

Buy for a Group

Reviews

About the Tour

For almost sixty years, James Bond films have been at the top of box office charts, making this one of the most successful movie franchises ever. Fans worldwide have been thrilled by the storylines, the action, the glamour and the cars – as well as the iconic locations, many of which are right here in London. Join me in hunting them down on this walking tour through the glamorous centre of the city.

We’ll start in Piccadilly, and navigate the elegant streets of St James's where we'll find some of London's most exclusive private members clubs. We'll move on to the famous Trafalgar Square next, at the very centre of London – literally – because all distances to the city are measured from it. Then comes Whitehall, which is dominated by government buildings, including the Ministry of Defence and the home of the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister. After that, we’ll then walk alongside the River Thames and end up in the vibrant Covent Garden area.

Among the things you’ll see are:

The exclusive Dukes London hotel and bar which inspired the phrase “shaken not stirred”
The Reform Club which featured in Die Another Day and Quantum of Solace
The National Gallery where Daniel Craig’s Bond meets the new “Q”
The Hildebrand Safe House featured in Spectre
The various buildings that have doubled as Mi6 HQ
Somerset House which became St Petersburg in Goldeneye
London’s oldest restaurant which opened in 1798 and featured in Spectre

I’ll tell you fun facts and trivia about the making of the films too, while we walk, and also indulge in gossip about the various actors who've made this iconic role their own.

You’ll hear stories about:

The James Bond actor who wore a toupee in all his films
The Bond actor who had a fear of guns
Which Bond actor was the most bloodthirsty
And which of the actors was the most amorous

There’s all this and much more as we enjoy a leisurely stroll through some of the most famous parts of London, which makes this a great tour for James Bond enthusiasts, but equally enjoyable for those who simply want to soak up the unique atmosphere that this great city has to offer.

Tour Producer

Talk the Walk

11 tours

I’m Ian Grover and for many years it’s been my pleasure to guide visitors around London and throughout the British Isles. As well as the iconic sights, I delight in showing the hidden gems that many people miss.

My background was centred around the automotive industry when in 1980 I started work as a trainee car salesman with Renault UK Ltd. Over the coming years I progressed to sales management with Mercedes-Benz and finally ended up with the splendidly sounding title of Personal Liaison Manager, responsible for UK sales of their two flagship models. These were the ultra-luxurious Maybach, and a 300 km/h supercar called the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. When these two programmes came to an end I decided to take a different path in life and do something that I had always had a passion for and I became a tour guide.

I went to the University of Westminster in London where, after comprehensive training, I qualified with distinction as a City of Westminster Tour Guide, Since then, over the past years I have delivered both walking tours of London and driving tours throughout the British Isles and this is something that I still enjoy immensely.

In addition to my physical tours, through my Talk the Walk profile on VoiceMap, I'm now focussed on producing engaging audio tours so that travellers can explore with me in their own time and at their own pace.

Preview Location

Location 41

Somerset House

Stop here for a moment and have a look round at the fabulous architecture that surrounds this square. This courtyard has been seen in loads of movies including, as I mentioned earlier, Goldeneye and then in Tomorrow Never Dies.

In Goldeneye this becomes St Petersburg when J... Stop here for a moment and have a look round at the fabulous architecture that surrounds this square. This courtyard has been seen in loads of movies including, as I mentioned earlier, Goldeneye and then in Tomorrow Never Dies.

In Goldeneye this becomes St Petersburg when James Bond, played for the first time by Pierce Brosnan flies to Russia. He's met at the airport by his CIA contact Jack Wade who's played by Joe Don Baker. The airport by the way is not in Russia at all but it's actually the Queen's Stand at Epsom Racecourse in Surrey.

Wade then drives Bond into St Petersburg in his battered old blue car where it promptly breaks down. We then see Wade fiddling around with the engine and asking Bond to pass him some tools and finally asking for a sledgehammer. With a swift blow from the sledgehammer the engine then springs back into life.

In the scene you several cars driving around the square and in fact there were forty of them imported from Russia specially for this scene.

Just two years later Somerset House appears again. This time it became the Ministry of Defence in Tomorrow Never Dies. Bond is summoned to a meeting with M, who since Goldeneye was now being played by Judi Dench, and Admiral Roebuck played by Geoffrey Palmer.

In the scene we see Bond's Aston Martin DB5 driving through the arch in the North Wing of the building. Thats the wing at the opposite end of the courtyard to where we came in. It then drives down the ramp to where a number of cars are parked along with several motorcyclists from the Police Special Escort Group.

We're going to leave through that arch now so start walking again and carry on across the courtyard to where you see a centre arch flanked by two smaller arches. This will take us out to a street called Strand.

Incidentally the film was never meant to be called Tomorrow Never Dies but instead, Tomorrow Never Lies. When United Artists announced the film, their publicist mistakenly typed Dies instead of Lies in the press release and they decided this was a better title so they stuck with it.

Pierce Brosnan has actually been the most trigger happy James Bond so far. In total he killed 135 villains during the course of his four films, and 47 of them in Goldeneye alone. Despite his fear of guns that I mentioned earlier, Roger Moore was the second deadliest Bond, responsible for doing away with 90 of his enemies, although in The Man With The Golden Gun he only managed to dispatch one single villain. Read More

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

Listen as many times as you like

You can listen to your tours as often as you like using both the VoiceMap app and website.

Take virtual tours anywhere, like a podcast

Select Virtual mode in the VoiceMap app to listen to tours like a podcast - at home or in transit.

Buy for less on voicemap.me and sync

Once you've purchased a tour, it's added to your VoiceMap library. To access it in the app, just sign in using the same account.

Do tours without paying for data

Tours work offline, so you don't have to pay roaming fees. Just download them over WiFi before you get started.

Major Landmarks

The Ritz London
Boodle's
DUKES London
John Lobb
Pall Mall
The Reform Club
Trafalgar Square
The National Gallery
55 Whitehall
Old War Office Building
Horse Guards Avenue
2 Whitehall Ct
Embankment Place
Victoria Embankment Gardens
Somerset House Terrace
Somerset House
Rules

View all

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
16 Berkeley St, London W1J 8DZ, UK
Total distance

4km
Final location
35 Maiden Ln, London WC2E 7LB, UK
Distance back to start location

1km

Directions to Starting Point

The tour starts on the south side of Piccadilly, outside Green Park Tube Station. If you're coming by tube, Green Park is served by the Piccadilly, Jubilee and Victoria lines. Start the tour by standing outside the entrance to Green Park Tube Station and facing the road. The legendary Ritz Hotel should be on your right hand side..

Show Directions

Gift vouchers

Buy tours for friends and family who delight in discovery

Buy Now

Buy for a group

Get 15% to 50% off when you buy for a group

Buy Now

License this tour

Adapt this tour to use your brand and suit your guests

Find out more

Tips

Places to stop along the way

Maybe you might like to sample a Vesper Martini in Dukes Hotel Bar, shaken of course, not stirred. You could go inside the National Gallery and see the picture that Bond was looking at when he met the new Q. If you're hungry you might like to think about eating in Rules Restaurant, the oldest restaurant in London and seen in Spectre. Car enthusiasts might like to visit Bond in Motion which contains the largest official collection of Bond vehicles in the world.

Best time of day

To ensure that you can access all locations please start the tour between 9:30 and 17:30

Precautions

This tour tales place in a very safe part of London, but like all big cities the traffic can be very heavy at times. If you're visiting from another country remember that we drive on the left side of the road here. When crossing roads, look both ways carefully before crossing as the traffic may well be coming from the opposite direction from which you are used.

Get The App

Download tours to use them offline

Listen hands-free with GPS playback

Get turn-by-turn directions

Scan the QR Code

“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”