The 2006 hit movie Casino Royale, which introduced Daniel Craig as James Bond, took place partly in Montenegro. In a crucial scene in the film, Dame Judi Dench, playing “”M,”" tells Agent 007 that there will be a high stakes poker game in the “”Casino Royale”" in Montenegro. In the original novel, Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, the Casino Royale hosted a game of baccarat, not poker, and it was at a beach town located in France, not Montenegro.
photo credit: raymond_zoller
Montenegro tourism benefited from its exotic and glamorous depiction in that film. Unfortunately, it was not, in fact, Montenegro. The entire Montenegro portion of the movie was actually filmed in Prague and elsewhere in the Czech Republic. The Hotel Splendide, where Bond and his companion, Vesper Lynde, stay, is not the same as the actual Hotel Splendide located in Montenegro. In fact, it is the famous Grandhotel Pupp, located in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. This hotel was also featured in the Queen Latifah vehicle last holiday, in which it was not “”dressed”" as another hotel but played itself.
In Casino Royale, James Bond and Vesper Lynde traveled by train from London to Montenegro. This is easily accomplished, although you must change trains in Belgrade.
Montenegro’s beauty as a tourist destination cannot be denied, even if the James Bond film people didn’t appreciate the real thing! It features lakes a beaches, spectacular views of the Adriatic Sea, and magnificent mountains.
Although Montenegro has fewer than 700,000 inhabitants, there are famous citizens who are known to the world. Great Montenegrin athletes include Dejan Savicevic, the great football (soccer) player. Other great footballers include Stevan Jovetic and Mirko Vucinic. Famous Montenegrin artists include Marino Abramovic, an award-winning performance artist, and Miodrag Dado Djuric, an influential painter. There is also the noted musician Milos Karadaglic.
Famous musicians from all over the world perform in Montenegro, including Andrea Bocelli (2010), Beyonce (2009), Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones (all in 2008).