007 Travel story: Lenno, San Siro (ITALY) & Andermatt (SWITZERLAND) 2015
June 6, 2016 0 By 007 TravelersIn order to read our Italy 007 travel story from day one, click here.
Thursday 30 July 2015
After breakfast 007 Travelers family (Pirita, Mika and Little Agent Traveler) walked along Lenno´s beautiful streets and waited for the first transport to Villa del Balbianello, which is a Bond movie location in “Casino Royale” (2006). There Bond recovered from his injuries caused by car accident, and Bond was also tortured by villain Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen).
The Villa del Balbianello is a villa in the commune of Lenno (province of Como), Italy, overlooking Lake Como. It is located on the tip of a small wooded peninsula on the western shore of the south-west branch of Lake Como, not far from the Isola Comacina and is famous for its elaborate terraced gardens.
A number of feature films have used the villa for location shooting, including “A Month by the Lake” (1995). The villa was also used for the lake retreat scenes in “Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones” (2002) however CGI was used in place of the building’s true exterior.
How to get there:
The taxi boat transportation cost 14,00 EUR and we had that choice. However, it is also possible to walk there.
Bond girl Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) with James Bond (Daniel Craig) Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Mika / 007 Travelers |
Mr. Mendel (Ludger Pistor) bringing news Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
“Monsieur Mendel. How are things in Switzerland?” “You didn’t bring any chocolates with you?” Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
René Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Bond recovering Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Mathis is going to get an electroshock Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
*Bzzzzzzzz* |
Bond recovering, Mathis is unconscious.
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Mathis is dragged away Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
After visiting Villa del Balbianello, we continued our trip. Direction Menaggio: via San Siro towards Switzerland.
Traveling by car
From: Lenno, Italy
To: Andermatt, Switzerland
Toll charges: 0,00 EUR
Road tax: 40,00 EUR
We drove first from Lenno to San Siro where we took some photos.
Bond connection: Here is the Villa La Gaeta where Bond meets villain Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) at the end of “Casino Royale” (2006).
How to get there:
Milan Malpensa Airport 85 km, Milan Linate Airport 95 km, Bergamo Orio al Serio Airport 1 and a half hour drive, Lugano Agno Airport 45 minutes drive.
Ferry, boat pier and bus station one minute driving.
Train station in Como or on the other side of the lake in Varenna.
Distances:
Como 30 km
Lugano (Switzerland) 30 km
Milan 85 km
Bellagio and Varenna 10-15 minutes by public boat.
Village centre 10 minutes walk.
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Mika & Pirita / 007 Travelers |
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
Later we reached beautiful Andermatt where we had visited once before.
Location of Andermatt in Switzerland Coordinates: 46°37′N 8°35′E |
Andermatt is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.
With Realp and Hospental, it is located in the Urseren valley, 22 km (14 mi) south of Altdorf.
Andermatt has two mountains around it which are used for ski slopes in the winter.
- Nätschen, which is on the north-east side of Andermatt
- Gemsstock, which is on the southern side of Andermatt
Andermatt’s ski slopes are part of the Gotthard Oberalp Arena.
There is a cable car running from Andermatt to the middle of Gemsstock, and a 2-man chairlift running from Andermatt up to the middle of Nätschen. There are plans to build a new gondola going up each mountain.
We reached our hotel where Sean Connery and the whole EON crew stayed during during filming of “Goldfinger” (1964).
Accommodation
Hotel: Hotel Bergidyll **
Address: Gotthardstrasse 39, CH-6490 Andermatt, Switzerland
Booked: Via Hotel Bergidyll
Price: Contact the hotel: info@hotel-bergidyll.ch
City tax: 0,00 EUR / person / night
Breakfast: Included
Wi-Fi: Free
Parking: Free, no reservations
Check-in: 13.00-20.00
Check-out: 11.00
Room type: James Bond room (Twin room with additional bed)
We had great pizzas for lunch in this restaurant. The service was good and fast.
This is the table where Sean Connery sat during his staying in this hotel.
007 Travelers had drinks here too.
We got just the room we wanted: Number 21, the Bond room, where Sean Connery stayed.
JAMES BOND ROOM: NUMBER 21
The room of James Bond was very nice and the beds are good to sleep, probably the best beds during our 11 days Bond tour.
BOOK THIS ROOM
Contact: info@hotel-bergidyll.ch
We had dinner in their restaurant and we enjoyed very much our staying in Hotel Bergidyll!
This is a great hotel to stay over especially when you drive the “Goldfinger route”, where Bond followed the villain Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) and raced with Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet) in movie “Goldfinger“.
Tilly Masterson Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC |
And here is the link to Filming location of “Goldfinger“: Gas station, where Bond left Tilly.
Our next 007 travel story: Lauterbrunnen and Schilthorn Piz Gloria´s VIP party in Switzerland.
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About The Author
Pirita and Mika travel around the world searching for James Bond filming locations. Since 2010.