The James Bond trail: Schilthorn and Verzasca Dam

Switzerland’s starring role in Bond history

Few countries have featured as prominently in the James Bond franchise as Switzerland. Between the alpine grandeur, the villainous mountain lairs, and one of cinema’s most iconic opening sequences, Switzerland has given 007 some of his finest moments. If you’re a Bond fan visiting the country, two locations are non-negotiable: the Schilthorn summit above Interlaken and the Verzasca Dam down in Ticino.

This isn’t just a pilgrimage for film buffs either. Both locations are worth visiting entirely on their own terms — the Schilthorn for its jaw-dropping 360-degree alpine panorama, and the Verzasca for some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the Swiss south. Bond just adds an extra layer of cool.

The Schilthorn: Piz Gloria and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

In 1969, the summit restaurant at Schilthorn — then brand new and still awaiting its official name — appeared as Piz Gloria in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” The producers essentially funded the completion of the revolving restaurant in exchange for filming rights, giving the mountain its identity and one of Bond’s most underrated films its most memorable setting.

Telly Savalas played Blofeld operating his allergy research clinic from this mountaintop fortress. George Lazenby (in his single outing as Bond) infiltrated it, fell in love, and watched Diana Rigg’s Tracy become perhaps the most significant Bond girl in the entire franchise. The film holds a special place among Bond aficionados precisely because of its alpine authenticity — much of it was shot on location in genuinely brutal winter conditions.

Getting to the Schilthorn

The journey to the summit is an experience in itself. From Interlaken, you take the train to Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald, then a combination of cable cars up through Grütschalp, Mürren, and finally to the 2,970-metre Schilthorn summit. The whole ascent takes around 1.5 to 2 hours, and each stage opens up more dramatic views than the last.

The Swiss Travel Pass covers transport to Mürren and gives a 25% discount on the final cable car to the summit — a meaningful saving given the full ticket price. If you’re already visiting the Jungfraujoch, the Schilthorn is a natural addition to your Bernese Oberland itinerary.

What you’ll find at the top

The Piz Gloria revolving restaurant still turns slowly at the summit, completing a full rotation approximately every 55 minutes. Sit by the window with a coffee and watch the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau rotate past — it’s absurdly cinematic even without the Bond connection.

The summit now features a permanent James Bond Exhibition called “Bond World 007,” which is free to enter. You can walk through scenes from the film, try a zip line installation, and take photos at replica props. There’s a gun barrel walk, a rotating photo experience, and various interactive elements that kids and adults both find entertaining. It won’t take more than 45 minutes, but it’s genuinely well done and gives context to the filming history.

The panorama itself stretches from the Bernese Alps across to the French Alps on a clear day. On the best days you can identify over 200 Alpine peaks. The Eiger’s north face sits opposite in dramatic proximity — climbers tackling it can occasionally be spotted through the summit binoculars.

Timing your visit

Winter visits (December to March) offer the full snow-covered Bond atmosphere and access to the Schilthorn ski area. Summer visits give better visibility and the chance to combine with Lauterbrunnen valley hiking. The mountain is open year-round, though specific cable car sections occasionally close for maintenance — check the official Schilthorn website before travelling.

The Verzasca Dam: GoldenEye’s bungee jump

The opening of “GoldenEye” (1995) is one of the most audacious sequences in Bond cinema. Pierce Brosnan’s 007 bungee jumps off a massive dam wall, swings into the facility below, and sets about his mission. The dam in question is the Verzasca Dam (officially the Contra Dam) in the Verzasca Valley near Locarno, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.

At 220 metres, it’s one of the tallest bungee jumps in the world. The stunt in the film was performed by Wayne Michaels and required extensive rigging — the opening credits sequence has him falling for several seconds before snapping back upward. It remains one of the most visually striking Bond openings, and the dam wall itself is every bit as imposing in person.

Getting to the Verzasca Dam

The Verzasca Valley is accessed from Locarno, which sits on the shores of Lake Maggiore in Ticino. By train, Locarno is reached from Zurich in about 2.5 hours (with a change at Bellinzona), or from Lugano in around 1 hour. From Locarno, buses run up into the Verzasca Valley to the dam — the journey takes roughly 40 minutes.

The Swiss Travel Pass covers both the train to Locarno and the postbus into the valley, making this an easy and affordable excursion from almost anywhere in Switzerland.

The bungee jump itself

The same 220-metre bungee jump that appeared in GoldenEye is available to the public through Trekking Team AG, who operate it seasonally (typically April to October, weekends only outside peak summer). It is absolutely not a gentle experience — 220 metres is a very long way down, and the dam wall faces a deep reservoir on one side and open valley on the other.

This is one of the most legitimately thrilling things you can do in Switzerland. You’re not jumping off a platform over a river — you’re leaping from one of Europe’s largest dam walls with hundreds of metres of air beneath you. If that sounds like your thing, book well in advance. Slots fill up quickly, particularly on summer weekends.

If you’d rather keep both feet on the dam, that’s entirely reasonable. The view from the crest of the wall is stunning even without the adrenaline component. The emerald green water of the reservoir above and the deep valley floor below make for excellent photographs.

The Verzasca Valley beyond the dam

Most visitors come purely for the dam, but the valley above it is genuinely beautiful and worth exploring if you have time. The Verzasca River is famous for its extraordinarily clear turquoise water, and on warm summer days people swim in the natural pools around Lavertezzo — a small village with a picturesque double-arched Roman bridge that photographs beautifully.

The valley has a distinctly different atmosphere from the German-speaking Alps — more Mediterranean in feel, with stone-built villages, chestnut forests, and a slower pace. If you’re spending time in Ticino, the Verzasca Valley deserves at least a half-day.

Planning a Bond-themed Switzerland trip

The two locations are far apart — the Schilthorn is in the Bernese Oberland in central-northern Switzerland, while the Verzasca Dam is in Ticino in the south. Realistically you need at least two separate days, or they work well as bookends to a longer Switzerland trip.

A natural pairing would be to spend two or three days in the Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen area covering the Schilthorn alongside the valley’s other attractions (the Jungfraujoch, the waterfalls, paragliding if conditions are right), then travel south through the Gotthard to Ticino for the Verzasca. Lugano makes an excellent base for the Ticino portion.

The Swiss Travel Pass makes this kind of multi-region Swiss circuit genuinely practical. The intercity trains between regions are fast, comfortable, and pass through spectacular scenery — notably the Gotthard Base Tunnel or, on the scenic route, the old mountain pass. You can check the 7-day itinerary for ideas on structuring a trip that covers both regions.

Other Bond connections in Switzerland

While the Schilthorn and Verzasca are the headline locations, Switzerland crops up elsewhere in the Bond filmography. Murren village — the car-free resort below the Schilthorn, accessible via the Lauterbrunnen and Murren guided tour — featured in the background of various scenes during the OHMSS shoot. Geneva and Zurich have served as glamorous backdrops in several films (Bond’s love of Swiss banking being a recurring plot device). The Glacier Express route through Zermatt and the Valais appeared briefly in “The World Is Not Enough.”

If you’re thorough about it, visiting Zermatt and riding the Glacier Express adds another Bond-adjacent experience to the circuit, even if the connection is lighter than the Schilthorn or Verzasca.

Practical tips for both locations

Schilthorn:

• Book cable car tickets online in advance during summer to avoid queues at Stechelberg
• Arrive early (before 10am) for the best light and smallest crowds at the summit
• The Bond World exhibition is free with your summit ticket
• Weather can change rapidly — check the summit webcam before heading up
• Combine with a stay in Mürren for the full car-free alpine village experience

Verzasca Dam:

• Bungee jump booking: contact Trekking Team AG directly and book months ahead for summer weekends
• The dam is free to visit without jumping — accessible by postbus from Locarno
• Swimming in the Verzasca River is best at Lavertezzo, a short bus ride beyond the dam
• Ticino is considerably warmer than the rest of Switzerland — summer visits can be very hot
• The Cinque Terre-like atmosphere makes Ticino worth spending several days in rather than rushing

Both locations deliver on the promise. The Schilthorn genuinely looks like a Bond villain’s lair — because it was one. The Verzasca Dam genuinely looks terrifying to jump off — because it is. Switzerland understood cinematic spectacle long before any film crew arrived, and these two places prove it perfectly.

Whether you’re a lifelong Bond obsessive or someone who vaguely remembers watching GoldenEye on television in the late 1990s, both visits are worth making. They’re among the most dramatically situated attractions in a country already overflowing with dramatic attractions — and that’s saying something.