Mr. Bean: London and the Sitcom's England

Bean's home is the show's fixed point. On screen he lives alone at Flat 2, 12 Arbour Road, Highbury, but the exterior was filmed on The Avenue in Surbiton, and the same frontage returns across several episodes. That mismatch is part of the joke: an ordinary street hiding television's most fastidious neighbour. The Avenue is in Surbiton, a suburban neighbourhood in south-west London, and the house is a private home.

Location precision: The show's address is Flat 2, 12 Arbour Road, Highbury; the flat's exterior was filmed on The Avenue in Surbiton, and the pin marks that street.

Before the church comes the beach. Bean visits Peacehaven and tries to change into his swimming trunks, convinced the man in the next deckchair is watching. He struggles, hides and finally succeeds — then the man stands up, unfolds a white cane and walks off. The pebble beach sits below the chalk cliffs east of Brighton, reached by steps, a concrete ramp and the sea walk.

Location precision: The episode names only the Peacehaven area; the pin marks the promenade below the chalk cliffs, where the beach is reached.

Visitor guidance: The pebble beach is below the cliffs, reached by steps and a concrete ramp from the sea walk.

The pilot's last act goes to church. Bean attends a service at Stanmer Church, sits next to a man named Mr. Sprout, and spends the sermon fighting a sneeze, wiping his nose on his coat and dropping a sweet down his shirt. The church played itself: the first episode was filmed here. It was declared redundant in 2008 and is Grade II listed; the Stanmer Preservation Society now opens it every Sunday, inside Stanmer Park.

Visitor guidance: Stanmer Church stands in Stanmer Park and is opened by the Stanmer Preservation Society every Sunday.

Bean takes his new Polaroid to Battersea Park to photograph himself with Henry Moore's Three Standing Figures. A helpful passer-by offers to take the picture, then flees with the camera; Bean chases him, traps him in a rubbish bin and pokes him with a pencil. The sculpture, three draped women carved in stone, has stood in the park since 1950 and became Grade II listed in 1988. It is still on the same slight rise, so you can frame the selfie yourself, minus the thief.

Visitor guidance: The sculpture stands on a slight rise with trees behind it in Battersea Park.

The Christmas special sends Bean to a town square. He meets Irma outside a jeweller's, sees the ring she wants, joins a Salvation Army band, catches a pickpocket and ends up conducting the band. When he cannot buy a tree, he simply takes the square's own. The market scenes were shot in Kingston upon Thames, whose ancient market still fills the Market Place every day with fish, flowers, jewellery and food. The town centre is pedestrianised, so the square is easy to wander.

Location precision: The episode says only that the market scenes were shot in Kingston upon Thames; the pin marks the Market Place in the town centre.

Visitor guidance: Kingston's market runs daily in the Market Place, in the pedestrianised town centre.

Room 426 is a farce in one building. Bean checks into the Queen's Hotel for a bank holiday, copies his neighbour at the buffet and eats oysters that have gone off. That night he locks himself out of his room naked, then hides in Danny La Rue's suitcase and emerges in the performer's spare dress. The hotel played itself: filming began on 1 October 1992. The Edwardian building still trades as a hotel, with 74 rooms, two bars and a restaurant, and was Grade II listed in 2020.

Visitor guidance: The Queen's Hotel faces Osborne Road and Clarence Parade, overlooking Southsea Common; it still operates as a hotel.

Bean drives to the funfair at Southsea and accidentally tows a baby's pram behind the Mini. The rest is one long chase around Clarence Pier: dodgems, a rollercoaster he sleeps through, a coin pusher, and finally a pram carried into the sky by balloons. The pier was the real location — the entire episode was filmed there — and the Super Loop and Skyways coaster both appear on screen. The funfair still runs on pay-per-ride tokens, though Skyways was removed in 2018.

Visitor guidance: Clarence Pier is on the Southsea seafront next to the Hoverport; rides use pay-per-ride tokens.

The last stop is a golf ball's epic journey. Bean plays mini golf, knocks his ball off the course and follows it onto a bus, into a shopper's bag, onto an ice-cream cone and down a drain before it reaches a village green. The golf course and village scenes were shot in Maidenhead, and the bus moment was filmed on Ray Mead Road. Bean finally holes out with 3,427 strokes. Maidenhead is a market town on the Thames, 27 miles west of London.

Location precision: The episode names only Maidenhead; the pin marks Ray Mead Road, where the bus scene was filmed.

Visitor guidance: Ray Mead Road is in Maidenhead, a market town on the Thames 27 miles west of central London.