We visited some of the most iconic Clarkson, Hammond and May locations on Google Earth including a legendary one that no longer exists

We did what viewers couldn’t have done back then and visited some of the most iconic Top Gear locations on Google Earth.

But we’re not talking about well-known Top Gear locations the Dunsfold Park track or the studio; we’re talking about random Top Gear locations where some of the most iconic arguments and moments took place.

Most were presumably pretty random, but some were definitely staged.

And there’s a ‘honorable mention’ for a place that no longer exists.

‘Jezza’s Back Alley’ in Jezza, Uganda (Top Gear Africa Special, Series 19)

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May hosted Top Gear from 2002 until 2015, which means that for most of their tenure things like Google Maps and Google Earth were either yet-to-be-invented or still rudimentary.

That’s not the case today, which is why we’re starting with what we’ve established with reasonable certainty could be ‘Jezza’s Back Alley’.

For Series 19, filmed in 2012, the trio traveled to Uganda to find the definitive source of the River Nile for the Africa Special.

At some point, they drove through a Ugandan village called Jezza, which is also Clarkson’s nickname.

The entire segment was characterized by cheap puns and double entendres about the village’s name, including when they found ‘Jezza’s Back Alley‘.

This is a super narrow passage you can barely call an alley, but, amazingly, we found it because other hardcore Top Gear fans had already mapped it.

The ‘worst hotel in the world’ in Fort Portal, Uganda (Africa Special, Series 19)

In the same episode, Hammond aimlessly drove around in search of a ‘tea plantation’ hotel, which they never found.

Instead, they ended up staying at a hotel called the Economic Lodge, which Clarkson dubbed ‘the worst hotel in the world’.

A list of Top Gear locations would include several other shoddy hotels, but this one takes the crown.

All three rooms were terrible, but Jeremy’s bed was particularly disgusting, with you-can-imagine-what stains on the mattress.

Also, it was raining heavily that day, leaving all three rooms damp as rainwater leaked from the ceilings.

To add insult to injury, the next day they couldn’t even have breakfast, because the breakfast place next to the hotel, called Christ the King, was shut.

“Christ the King hasn’t risen yet,” joked May.

Believe it or not, the hotel apparently still exists.

The Thingaha Hotel in Naypyidaw, Myanmar (Burma Special, Series 21)

Two seasons later, the trio headed to Myanmar (or Burma) for a truck special.

All three bought long-haul trucks and traveled across the country.

Early in the journey across Myanmar, they arrived at a surprisingly fancy hotel, The Thingaha, in the middle of nowhere.

The hotel was empty, but even so, when they approached the reception desk, they were told it was ‘fully booked,’ which is why they ended up modifying their trucks for sleeping instead.

The hotel is still operational as of 2026.

Butch Cassidy’s House in Argentina (Patagonia Special, Series 22)

The Patagonia Special was the one with the infamous Porsche 928 plate moment that nearly totaled the show.

But it also included a visit to one of the most memorable Top Gear locations: the historic hideout of Butch Cassidy in Patagonia.

Still relatively well-preserved, the tiny lodge is located near Cushamen, a rural village in the northwest of Chubut Province in Patagonia, Argentina.

You can find it here.

Honorable mention that wasn’t actually in Top Gear: the FCC in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We decided to cheat and include a place that’s technically not part of Top Gear.

Not long ago, Clarkson, Hammond, and May traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia for a Grand Tour adventure titled Seamen.

Halfway through the episode, they paid a visit to the FCC – Foreign Correspondents Club – is, or rather was, a historic and iconic bar frequented by journalists and media representatives during Pol Pot’s rule in Cambodia.

Back then, the FCC became an institution for a bunch of reasons, chief among which was its status as ‘safe haven’ for journalists in a country that was not particularly safe at the time.

“This is one of the coolest bars in the anywhere in the world. Back in the day, when Cambodia was, let’s say, a troubled nation, this is where all the foreign correspondents used to meet for a drink, hence the name, Foreign Correspondents Club,” Clarkson explained in the episode.

“It’s when there was some romance in journalism,” Hammond added.

“Oh, and expense accounts,” Clarkson joked.

Sadly, the FCC is currently shut, and has been for some time.

Looking at various reviews and comments from Google and TripAdvisor, no one seems to know if or when it is going to open again, with numerous reports confirming there are other open restaurants in the same area, but the FCC is still closed in 2026.

Pity.