Where was GoldenEye filmed? Discover spectacular GoldenEye filming locations, from the dam jump to GoldenEye Jamaica, in this fun fan guide to 007 spots.
If you’ve ever watched GoldenEye (1995) and thought, “Wait… where on earth did Bond just bungee jump from?” – welcome, friend. You’re among your people.
The James Bond GoldenEye filming locations are a globe-trotting mix of jaw-dropping dams, tropical paradise, Soviet-style cities, and places that look suspiciously like Cuba but absolutely are not.
This is your fan-friendly guide to where GoldenEye was filmed location by location, packed with trivia, nostalgia, and the kind of details that make you want to re-watch GoldenEye immediately.
Table of Contents
🎬 Spectacular GoldenEye Filming Locations
From GoldenEye Jamaica to the legendary dam, these are the real places where Pierce Brosnan, Famke Janssen, and the GoldenEye cast made Bond cool again in 1995.
🧗 Verzasca Dam, Switzerland – The Legendary Bungee Jump
One stunt, one dam, and a lifetime of Bond fans trying to find it on a map. Bond’s 220-meter bungee jump wasn’t movie magic.
Pierce Brosnan didn’t do it (insurance laughed), but stuntman Wayne Michaels did – in a single dawn take, with perfect wind conditions, attempting a style of jump that had never been done from a dam before.
The dam is the real Contra Dam (Diga Verzasca) in Ticino, Switzerland, now nicknamed the “GoldenEye jump” by locals. The facility below? Pure filmmaking – miniatures and studio sets built later at Leavesden.
The shot was so electrifying that it reintroduced Bond to the world in under ten seconds, won major stunt awards, and later became the very first mission in the iconic GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 game.
Today, commercial bungee operators work here purely because fans keep arriving asking for “the Bond jump.” You can still leap off it yourself, which is either thrilling or a spectacular life decision you’ll question halfway down.
What was filmed here:
- Bond’s opening bungee jump into the Arkangel facility
- Exterior shots of the secret chemical weapons plant
- The iconic intro that rebooted Bond for the ‘90s
Fan trivia: The jump was voted the best movie stunt of all time in a Sky Movies poll.
🌴 GoldenEye Jamaica – Ian Fleming’s Home & Bond’s Soul
Before it was a GoldenEye resort & hotel, this was Ian Fleming’s actual home, where he wrote the Bond novels. Yes – that GoldenEye.
Fleming wrote 14 Bond books here, including Dr. No, Goldfinger, and From Russia With Love, working to a strict routine: a morning swim in the lagoon, then exactly two hours at his writing desk – which still exists on the property today.
Nearby Laughing Waters Beach famously appeared in Dr. No when Ursula Andress emerged from the sea – and returned almost 60 years later in No Time To Die as Bond’s Jamaican retirement hideaway, quietly connecting the very first Bond film to Daniel Craig’s last.
This is where Bond was born on paper, making it less a filming location and more the spiritual HQ of the entire franchise. After Fleming’s death, Island Records founder Chris Blackwell turned it into the GoldenEye resort, preserving its literary soul.
Today, you can stay here, swim where Fleming swam, drink rum where he wrote, and pretend you’re MI6. No one will stop you.
What was filmed here:
- Scenic Caribbean exteriors
- Coastal landscape shots used as Cuba stand-ins
- Establishing tropical sequences
Fan trivia: Fleming named the estate after a WWII naval intelligence operation he helped plan, long before Bond ever existed.
🏛️ Monaco – Casino Elegance & Xenia’s Entrance
The Monaco casino scenes in GoldenEye were filmed at the Casino de Monte-Carlo in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This iconic Belle Époque casino is where Bond meets Xenia Onatopp for their flirtatious baccarat encounter.
Exterior shots were filmed on location, while some interior table scenes were recreated on set. It’s one of the most famous real-world casinos ever used in a Bond film – pure tuxedo glamour, exactly as 007 ordered.
This is where we first see Pierce Brosnan’s Bond in full suave mode, driving the legendary Aston Martin DB5 – the exact same model from Goldfinger – in a last-minute addition to the script designed to “re-Bondify” the film with classic elegance.
The playful DB5 vs Ferrari F355 race isn’t just eye candy; it’s Bond reclaiming his cinematic identity. Inside the casino, tailored suits, champagne tension, and Xenia’s predatory charm set the tone for the entire film.
The unfortunate Admiral who loses the DB5 here? He’s the same one Xenia later kills in the sauna – a dark continuity detail many fans miss.
Monaco didn’t just provide a location. It marked the moment GoldenEye proved Bond’s sophistication survived the Cold War.
What was filmed here:
- Casino scenes where Bond meets Xenia
- Aston Martin vs Ferrari showdown
- Exterior luxury shots establishing Bond’s world
Fan trivia: The Ferrari F355 vs Aston Martin DB5 race was a last-minute addition.
🏙️ St. Petersburg, Russia (Actually London)
Surprise! Most of “St. Petersburg’s” GoldenEye filming locations were actually in London, with a very convincing Russian costume.
The legendary tank chase was shot around St. Katharine Docks and Wapping, with entire streets redressed in Cyrillic signage while Leavesden Studios handled the interior government buildings.
A real Soviet T-55 tank hull was used, heavily modified for filming – and it caused genuine road damage as it ploughed through walls, cars, and street furniture.
This is one of the longest practical action sequences in any Bond film, and Pierce Brosnan did more of it himself than most people realize. The chaos is intentional: moments after the elegance of Monaco, Bond is suddenly driving a tank through “Russia” like a man who’s misplaced his car keys.
Movie magic turned Britain into post-Soviet Russia so convincingly that most viewers never question it – they’re too busy watching Bond commit armored vehicle mayhem.
What was filmed here:
- The famous tank chase through “St. Petersburg.”
- Ministry buildings and city streets
- Interior Russian government sets
Book a tour:
Fan trivia: The tank weighed 60 tons and caused real traffic damage during filming.
🏝️ Puerto Rico – Cuba, But Not Cuba
When Bond heads to Cuba to find the satellite dish, the production quietly went to Puerto Rico instead. Tropical? Absolutely. Politically complicated? Not at all.
Filming took place around Arecibo and in dense Puerto Rican jungle terrain because US restrictions at the time made shooting in Cuba impossible. The lush landscape sold the illusion perfectly, especially once the story moves into the film’s final act with Bond and Natalya navigating the jungle together.
The enormous satellite dish isn’t a set – it’s the real Arecibo Observatory, once one of the largest telescopes on Earth. The control rooms and interiors were later built at Leavesden Studios, but the exterior is 100% real science turned Bond superweapon.
The location became instantly iconic, later appearing in Contact and even the GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 game. Sadly, the real telescope collapsed in 2020, which makes these scenes feel even more like a time capsule for Bond fans.
What was filmed here:
- Jungle approach to the satellite control station
- Exterior shots of the Arecibo Observatory (the “GoldenEye” dish)
- Final showdown environments
Fan trivia: The real Arecibo telescope sadly collapsed in 2020.
📡 Arecibo Observatory – The GoldenEye Satellite Dish
The climax unfolds at one of the most visually spectacular 007 GoldenEye filming locations ever used. The enormous satellite dish is the real Arecibo Observatory, stretching 305 meters across – so vast it didn’t need CGI to feel like a supervillain’s lair.
Bond and Trevelyan’s final fight takes place on an actual maintenance platform suspended high above the dish, with safety rigs later removed in post-production. Sean Bean performed much of the physical action himself, adding real vertigo to the scene.
The sequence cleverly mirrors the opening dam jump: Bond begins and ends the film dangling over impossible drops. The control rooms were studio builds at Leavesden, but every wide shot is real Puerto Rican engineering turned into a Bond battleground.
After the telescope’s collapse in 2020, these scenes feel like preserved moments in both Bond and scientific history.
What was filmed here:
- Final fight between Bond and Trevelyan
- Satellite weapon control base exteriors
- Cradle fight above the dish
Fan trivia: This location also appears in Contact, The X-Files, and in the GoldenEye 007 game.
If you’re about to watch GoldenEye again, now you know exactly where it was filmed – and why these locations helped make it one of the most loved Bond films ever made.
- Spectacular GoldenEye Filming Locations: Where Was GoldenEye Filmed? - February 3, 2026
- Where Was No Time to Die Filmed? Real 007 Locations - February 3, 2026
- Where Was Downton Abbey Filmed? Grand Estates and Charming Villages - February 1, 2026
Discover more from Ahoy Matey Blog
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.