Filming locations in Venice

Venice needs no set dressing, which is precisely why filmmakers keep coming back, and Casino Royale used the city itself as its grand finale. The film's climax unfolds along the Grand Canal, where an entire palazzo collapses into the water and Bond's reinvention as 007 reaches its bruising conclusion against the most cinematic waterway on earth.

The good news for visitors is that the star of the scene is free to enjoy. The Grand Canal is simply ridden, most affordably aboard a vaporetto water-bus that threads the length of the city, or, for a price, by gondola. The Rialto and Accademia bridges deliver the classic postcard views down the canal, the same sweep of palazzi the film parades.

Venice rewards those who time it right. The canal is at its most crowded around midday and at its calmest early in the morning, when the light is soft and the water traffic thin, so an early start buys you both the best photographs and the quietest ride. The whole city is pedestrian and water-bound, with no cars at all, so plan to explore on foot between the vaporetto stops.

Base yourself in one of the central sestieri, near the Rialto or San Marco, and the Grand Canal becomes the spine of every wander. Half the joy of Venice is deliberately getting lost in its tangle of alleys and bridges, surfacing now and then onto the great canal the film made its closing stage.

While the Casino Royale climax is the headline draw, Venice has played host to everyone from Bond to the costume-drama greats, and the city wears all of it lightly. The crumbling palazzi and shimmering water that the camera loved are simply the everyday backdrop here, waiting at the end of every narrow calle.