Visit Quantum of Solace Locations
Drive an Aston Martin in Italy Where Quantum of Solace Was Filmed
Nov 25, 2008
Drive an Aston Martin along the same roads 007 raced over in the opening scenes of Quantum of Solace, the James Bond movie that picks up the story where Casino Royale left off. Begin, as the pre-credit action does, in Malcesine, a castle-topped town on the eastern shore of Lake Garda. Follow the shore around the northern tip of the lake, through Riva del Garda, a pretty resort town at the foot of mountains that rise steeply from the shore.
Following the Gardesana, the lakeside road between Riva and Salo, drive through the same tunnels and along cornices, with mountain views across the lake. Bond left this road to climb even higher above the lake along the Tremosine, the steep mountainsides above Garda’s western shore. Enjoy the mountain and lake scenery at a less frantic pace than 007 did, and hopefully without being chased by villains driving Alpha Romeos, as the road drops again to the lake at the town of Gargnano.
It’s a bit of a drive to the next scene, although Bond manages to cover the 200 miles to Cararra in only a few seconds. In the movie, the Aston Martin DBS meets its demise here, crashing in the famed Fantiscritti quarries where Michelangelo personally selected the most perfect blocks of marble for his sculptures. Filming was at the Fantiscritti and Canalgrade quarries, on the mountainside overlooking the Mediterranean.
To tour the quarries, leave the A-12 coast road and climb through the town of Cararra, following signs to the cave di marmo ever upward into the Apuan Alps. Signs point the way to the Fantiscritti quarry, where a museum shows tools used since the Romans sought marble here, but others are also worth a stop to see the quarrymen at work.
The chase moves on -- without the Aston Martin -- to Medieval town of Siena, farther south in Tuscany. The tiled rooftops there are not accessible, nor are the underground tunnels and chambers of the Medieval cisterns (bottini) that stored the town’s water. Check at the tourist office, however, since a tour might have been inspired by the movie.
If not, take solace in the fact that Daniel Craig, who plays Bond, didn’t actually run through them either. Authentic replicas of the bottini were built at Pinewood Studios for the tunnel chase filming.
To see Siena as it was in the film, be there on July 2 or August 16, when the city focuses its undivided attention on the Palio, a re-creation of a Medieval horse race that takes place around the huge oval Piazza del Campo. Bond emerges from the underground chase through the Fonte Gaia, a stone fountain in this piazza.
Plan to stay some distance outside Siena or reserve hotel rooms many months in advance for this very popular event. Or enjoy the narrow stone streets of this Medieval town without the crowds on any of the other 363 days of the year, and see some of the Palio memorabilia at one of the various Contrade museums. These are usually found next to the parish church of each of the city’s 17 districts that compete in the race.
While it would be difficult – or impossible -- to find an Aston Martin DBS for rent, Elite Rent-a-Car www.eliterent.com offers the Aston Martin DB9 Volante, V8 Vantage or V8 Vantage Roadster for pick-up in the French Riviera. The minimum age for renting one of these exceptional cars is 30 – old enough to know better than to drive it like James Bond does in a chase scene.
