The Italian Job: Turin and the Alps

The film begins high in the Alps, where thief Roger Beckerman is murdered by the local Mafia while driving. The opening scenes with the Lamborghini Miura were shot at the Great St Bernard Pass, which reaches 2,469 m and is the third highest road pass in Switzerland. It connects Martigny in Valais, Switzerland, with Aosta in Italy. At the summit stands the Great St Bernard Hospice, founded in 1049.

Visitor guidance: A high mountain road pass between Switzerland and Italy, with the hospice at the summit.

Newly released from prison, Charlie Croker breaks back in to ask the crime lord Mr. Bridger, played by Noël Coward, to back the Turin job. The prison interior was Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, while the exterior seen when Croker leaves is HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs in West London. Kilmainham opened in the late 18th century as the County of Dublin Gaol and is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works.

Visitor guidance: Museum; check opening and booking details before you go.

Before Turin, the plan is rehearsed in London. The attempt to blow the doors off a bullion van, which destroyed the van completely and produced Croker's line "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!", was filmed at the Crystal Palace Sports Centre, with the Crystal Palace transmitter in the background. The centre opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park; the Mini drivers' training sessions were shot at the Crystal Palace race track nearby.

Visitor guidance: A working sports centre in Crystal Palace Park, south London.

This is where the heist lands. With the traffic control system malfunctioning, jams build until the convoy is forced to stop outside the Museo Egizio. The crew intercept it, subdue the police escort, and tow the armoured van with the gold into a building. The chase sequences were filmed in Turin. The Egyptian Museum was founded in 1824 by King Charles Felix and holds more than 40,000 artifacts.

Visitor guidance: A museum in the city centre; check opening hours and tickets.

The Mini drivers escape Turin by an ingenious route taking them over stairs, pedestrian streets, rooftops and through sewers. The original rooftop test track of the Lingotto, a car factory built by Fiat, features briefly in the getaway sequence. Finished cars emerged at rooftop level onto a 1,500-metre test track. The complex now houses a multipurpose centre designed by architect Renzo Piano.

Visitor guidance: Public parts of the complex are open; the original rooftop track appears only briefly in the film.

One of the film's lost scenes was shot here. A portion of the car chase was filmed as a dance between the Minis and police cars, with a full orchestra playing "The Blue Danube", inside Pier Luigi Nervi's Palazzo Esposizioni. The sequence was deleted from the final cut, but it appears as an extra on home video releases. The hall, primarily completed in 1948, is an exhibition hall and convention centre; it also hosted ice hockey during the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Visitor guidance: An exhibition hall in Turin; access depends on events.

The last scenes were filmed on the road from Ceresole Reale via Lago Agnel to Nivolet Pass, in Gran Paradiso National Park. The highway does not lead to France or Switzerland because it is a dead end. The approach from Agnel Lake was the location of the iconic final bus crash. With the coach teetering over a cliff, Croker says: "Hang on a minute lads. I've got a great idea."

Location precision: The film shows several scenes along the approach road; the exact spot of the bus crash is not given in the sources.