In 1971, Sean Connery’s Bond came to Amsterdam to meet a diamond smuggler called Tiffany Case, and for about ten minutes Diamonds Are Forever becomes the best-looking travelogue the series ever shot. Canal houses, arched bridges, a hearse, and a very 1970s Amsterdam that is still remarkably intact.
Contents
It is the oldest film location trail in the city and one of the shortest, which makes it perfect as a one-hour walk. Here is exactly where to go.
Before You Go
- Time needed: about an hour on foot. This is a small, tight trail in the southern canal ring.
- Best time: golden hour. The canal houses face the water and the light along the Reguliersgracht in the late afternoon is the reason people photograph it.
- Combine it with: the Hitman’s Bodyguard trail, which finishes on the same bridge, 46 years later.
The Locations
1. Tiffany Case’s House
- Address: Reguliersgracht 36, 1017 LT Amsterdam.
- The scene: Bond, posing as the smuggler Peter Franks, arrives at Tiffany Case’s canal-side apartment. Her flat is the third floor.
- Today: a seventeenth-century Dutch Classicist canal house, privately occupied, and unchanged in any way that matters. It is the single most recognisable Bond location in the Netherlands.
- Important: only the exterior was filmed here. The apartment interiors and the lift fight that follows were shot elsewhere, almost certainly on a stage. So there is nothing to see beyond a very handsome front elevation, and it is somebody’s home. Photograph from the opposite bank of the canal, which is the better angle anyway.
2. The Reguliersgracht at Keizersgracht
- Address: the bridge where the Reguliersgracht crosses the Keizersgracht, 1017 Amsterdam.
- The scene: Bond drives north along the Reguliersgracht and over this small bridge to reach number 36.
- Today: the same bridge where the canal boat chase in The Hitman’s Bodyguard comes to its grenade-launcher conclusion. Two films, forty-six years apart, one crossing. It is our favourite piece of trivia in the whole city.
3. The Seven Bridges View
- Address: stand on the Herengracht at the Reguliersgracht junction and look south, 1017 Amsterdam.
- Why: from this exact spot, seven arched bridges line up in perspective down the Reguliersgracht. It is the most photographed sightline in Amsterdam and it is thirty seconds from Tiffany Case’s front door.
- Our tip: after dark, when the bridges are lit, it is genuinely spectacular. Bring something to brace the camera on, because a phone will not hold it.
4. The Magere Brug and the Amstel
- Address: Magere Brug, Kerkstraat at the Amstel, 1017 Amsterdam.
- The scene: the canal and bridge scenery that frames the whole Amsterdam sequence.
- Today: the Skinny Bridge is a white-painted double drawbridge over the Amstel, floodlit at night, and about five minutes east of the Reguliersgracht. Whether or not you care about Bond, it belongs on the walk.
What Amsterdam Looked Like in 1971
The pleasure of this particular trail is how little has changed. The canal ring is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the houses along the Reguliersgracht are protected, so the buildings Connery walks past are the buildings you walk past.
What has changed is everything else: the cars are gone from many of the quaysides, there are vastly more bicycles, and the city is far busier. Watch the Amsterdam sequence before you come. Spotting what survived is more interesting than the film itself, which is not one of the better Bonds.
Your Questions Answered
Where is Tiffany Case’s house in Amsterdam?
Reguliersgracht 36, in the southern canal ring. Her apartment in the film is the third floor. Only the exterior was filmed there and it is a private residence.
Can you go inside?
No. It is a private home and the interiors in the film were not shot there in any case.
Which Bond films were filmed in Amsterdam?
Diamonds Are Forever is the one with a substantial Amsterdam sequence. It was Sean Connery’s final outing as Bond for EON.
How long does the Bond walk take?
About an hour, and that includes standing around at the Seven Bridges view waiting for a boat to pass through the shot.
Where to Stay
The Grachtengordel between the Keizersgracht and the Amstel puts every stop on this page within a few minutes’ walk, and it is the prettiest part of central Amsterdam to wake up in. The Jordaan across the water is livelier and slightly better for eating.
More Amsterdam on film in our complete Amsterdam filming locations guide, or try Ocean’s Twelve for the other great Amsterdam heist.
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