The James Bond movie franchise loves a good ski chase, and if you feel the same, you can pursue a Bond-inspired travel adventure in the Austrian Alps and beyond. Since 1969, when the fictional secret agent hit the slopes in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," Bond has returned to such alpine settings again and again. Here's a guide to some of the most iconic James Bond ski locations you can visit.
Sölden, Austria ("Spectre")
Nestled in the Ötztal valley, Sölden's ski area is where scenes for "Spectre" - Daniel Craig's second to last outing as Bond - were shot in 2015. You may remember the big action set piece where Bond flies the plane in, chasing bad guys in Land Rovers who have kidnapped Dr. Madeleine Swann, played by Léa Seydoux.
Ice Q Restaurant in Sölden, Austria, featured in "Spectre."
That was filmed on Ötztal Glacier Road, one of Europe's highest paved roads, which also leads through the Rosi Mittermaier Tunnel, which is said to be the continent's highest road tunnel. Sölden is the only place in Austria where you'll find three ski mountains taller than 3,000 meters. The highest of them, Schwarze Schneid, has a gondola that lets out at 3,340 meters, where you can access the country's longest ski run. To get there, you'll pass through Rettenbach Glacier, where Piste No. 31 was filmed.
Bond first meets Madeleine Swann at a wellness clinic perched high up on one of the other three mountains, Gaislachkogl. The architecture is real, but those glass walls looking out over the snow-covered Alps from 3,048 meters up house a gourmet restaurant, not a clinic. Like Q in "Spectre," you can make the 12-minute ride on the cable car up to the restaurant on Gaislachkogl's summit.
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Forget about the "digestive enzyme shake" Q orders for Bond, after the non-alcoholic bar rebuffs 007's request for his typical martini, shaken, not stirred. At ice Q, you can order a martini if you like, and the restaurant also specializes in a Pinot Noir label called Pino 3000.
Other European Ski Destinations
If you can't make it to Sölden, there are half a dozen other European ski destinations associated with James Bond. Even Austria has other options. "The Living Daylights" shot its ski chase (with Timothy Dalton's Bond riding the aforementioned cello case), at Weissensee, a frozen lake in Carinthia, Austria. Weissensee's ski resort is family-friendly, and the lake is billed as Europe's biggest natural ice rink.
"James Bond Kulisse": Der Weißensee in Kärnten, Österreich
Across the border in Switzerland, Roger Moore fans can go skiing and snowboarding in St. Moritz, where "The Spy Who Loved Me" chase was filmed (with 007 evading KGB assassins by parachuting off a cliff).
Mürren, Switzerland ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service")
Above the village of Mürren, Switzerland, the summit Schilthorn and its revolving restaurant still draw visitors to the location seen in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," the George Lazenby-led Bond movie that first got the snowball rolling. That restaurant, Piz Gloria, used the same name on-screen as the headquarters of the villain Blofeld (Telly Savales). It now offers a "Spy World" exhibit, 007 Burger, and the James Bond Brunch, while Schilthorn's skiing area caters to skiers of all levels.
Piz Gloria revolving restaurant in Schilthorn, Switzerland, featured in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."
The 360° Panorama-Revolving-Restaurant Piz Gloria, lying on an elevation of 9748 feet (2971m) is an El Dorado for us Bond fans. You really don’t know where to go first. So, to get attuned properly, let’s start with the ‘Touristorama’. At the pillar in the centre of this cinema-like room two buttons are installed. With one you can switch on a multivision slide show (17 projectors) presenting a spectacular Alpine panorama. If you press the button with the inscription ‘007’ a movie show with the most thrilling excerpts of OHMSS starts. Seeing 007 and Blofeld chasing around and hearing John Barry’s splendid Bond-theme puts us into the right mood to continue our exploration of Piz Gloria.
Blofeld's coat of arms inside Piz Gloria.
Above the escalator to the next floor we discover another trace of OHMSS: Blofeld’s elaborate coat of arms (ARAE ET FOCI) is painted on the wall. In the James-Bond-Bar on this floor an imaginative range of snacks for smaller appetites is available. The walls of the room are decorated with a coloured painting of an action-scene and three black-and-white murals of Bond, Tracy and Blofeld (although you have to admit that Diana Rigg looks much better in the film than in that picture). In the adjacent gift shop Bond-souvenirs like T-shirts, mugs, postcards etc. are on sale.
On the same level as the James-Bond-Bar lies the sun terrace, which we of course know better as the heliport, where Bond, posing as Sir Hilary, and the girls spent their spare time curling. Since the filming some modifications have been made. Instead of quadrangular it is now nearly round and the lateral stairs, which led to the basement, are gone. Here we are amid grandiose, mountain scenery. The famous peaks of Eiger, Monch (monk) and Jungfrau (virgin), which are almost always thought of as a trio, lay directly vis-à-vis.
The most appropriate way to admire this majestic, Alpine wonderland is to enjoy it while having a meal in the solar-powered Revolving Restaurant Piz Gloria. Ascending the stairs along the gilded grating like Bond, you enter the restaurant on the top floor of the building. The ring of tables along the windows takes an hour to do one complete revolution. Among others a ‘James-Bond breakfast’ and ‘Spaghetti James Bond’ are on offer. A nice souvenir for free are the menus and paper napkins with 007-logos. Relishing a tasty dinner (for a reasonable price), while the marvellous landscape passes by, is a really unique experience.
Furka Pass, Switzerland ("Goldfinger")
The St Gotthard Pass road meanders up to an altitude of 6920 feet (2109m). Near the top a gift shop is located, from where you have a marvellous view over the Alpine landscape beneath you. Descending the St Gotthard to the north you reach Hospental after a while. Here you turn left into the Furka Pass. The road between Hospental and Realp, with the railroad tracks on the left-hand side, will immediately look familiar to us Bond fans. It is the place where Bond ‘ditched’ Tilly Masterson by shredding the tires of her car in Goldfinger in 1964.
The hairpin bend in Furka Pass where Goldfinger's Rolls Royce was parked.
The picturesque small village Realp, with the mountains in the background that we approach next, is also visible in the film. Behind Realp the road becomes pretty narrow and steep. In a series of serpentines it ascends the mountainside. Most of the time there are not even crash barriers, only a line of concrete or wooden poles are installed to protect you from driving off the road into the deep. So you have to drive very carefully.
About 3 miles (5km) after Realp you have to look for a boulder with the red inscription ‘Kil 47’ on the left-hand side of the road. A couple of yards further down the road is a small parking space also on the left. Be very cautious when leaving the car there and walking along the busy, narrow road. Looking down into the valley you see a sharp hairpin bend directly above a torrent. At that spot the Rolls Royce is parked when Oddjob and Goldfinger take a break and buy some fruit from a street-vendor. You are on the very location where Bond stands observing Tilly Masterson’s assassination attempt upon Goldfinger.
Following the Furka Pass you will see some other spots that are passed by Goldfinger’s Rolls and Bond’s Aston Martin during their ride through the Swiss mountains, like for example the Furka Hospiz.