17 Game of Thrones Filming Locations to Travel in Real Life

Game of Thrones is a visually stunning series on HBO because it’s filmed in incredible travel destinations all around the world, many of which you can actually visit in real life.

Castle Ward, Northern Ireland

Make your first stop Winterfell, whose real name is “Castle Ward”. Many Game of Thrones locations combined real-life locations with a ton of CGI. The Castle Ward looks a lot like it does in the show. You can rock a fur clock just like the Nights Watch. Learn some archery skills and even play with the dire wolf.

The Dark Hedges

Make your way to the Kings Road located outside the town of  Armoy in Northern Ireland. The dark hedges are the real-life location for the shots of the Kings Road. Be warned, it’s full of tourists all of whom are trying to get that perfect selfie so if you want to get a great photo, arrive very early.

Ballintoy Harbour

Ballintoy Harbor, a gorgeous little seaport that was transformed into Lord’s port in the Ireland Islands for the show.

Carrick-A-Rede

Just down the road from Ballintoy Harbor is Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge. The actual bridge is unfortunately not featured in the show but the cliffs surrounding the bridge were featured in the show when Renly Baratheon was camped out near storms. The Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge is right next to the Giant’s Causeway perhaps one of the most famous tourist attractions in the island of Ireland. It definitely worth a visit even though it didn’t make it into the show.

Mussenden Temple

Mussenden Temple which is like a neoclassical temple on a cliff overlooking this huge beach. You might recognize this beach from the place where the red woman burned all the heretics at the stake but it’s much more peaceful these days, this building has a really funny history behind it. I believe it was built for the owner’s mistress and the cool thing about all these places, in general, is that they’re actually quite close together so you can do all of these pretty much in a day trip.

Fort Lovrijenac, Croatia

The on-site shots of the Red Keep were filmed in Dubrovnik fort Lovrijenac. The city’s walls which were built during the Middle Ages when Dubrovnik was caught between the Battle of the Venetians and the Ottoman Turks for control of the eastern Mediterranean.

Mdina, Malta

Malta which also was a setting for King’s Landing but only in season one. Now the filming was concentrated in the ancient capital of Mdina which is actually a landmark city while King’s Landing supposed to be on the coast. So, all the shots that use for really tight shots are supposed to be kind like the alleyways of the city while the coastal shots of King Land were all filmed independently. However, they did use the San antón Palace, the modern home for Malta’s president as the Red Keep.

Thingvellir National Park, Iceland

To portray the inhospitable tundra north of the wall the producers chose to film in Thingvellir National Park in Iceland, just a short drive out of the country’s capital Reykjavik. It’s home to some of Iceland’s most stunning natural wonders including its largest lake which sits atop the continental drift between the North American and European plates. There, you can actually scuba dive down into the visibility is incredible but the water is freezing.

Gullfoss Waterfall

Gullfoss Waterfall is one of the most beautiful in Iceland. The Snaefells glacier which was the fist of first men, as well as the Grjotagja cave which is where Jon Snow and Ygritte first made love.

Ait Benhaddou, Morocco

In season 3 the story follows Denarius as she searches for an Army in Slavers Bay. in fact, most of these desert cities were filmed in Morocco. So, housing areas went liberating city by city the first one she goes to his Yong Chi. Yong Chi is actually Ait Benhaddou.

Essaouira

This is a cool hippie bohemian city that has a big Portuguese fort and was really popular in the 1960s. But, after season 3 production left Morocco for good. As Denarius travel to marine which in Game of Thrones world is not far from there but is actually filmed in Croatia

Meteora, Greece

Greece was never actually used as a filming location. But when they created the Erie, which if you remember was the sky tower with the sky cells and the moon door, that whole area. That was actually based on this thing called the floating monasteries in the north of Greece athletes called Meteora. It might not have made the cover filming but it’s definitely a place worth visiting.

Andalusia, Spain

By season five, the story moves to the new world of Dorne which is filmed in Andalusia in Spain. It said author George RR Martin based Dorne off the medieval Caliphate in Andalusia which was one of the most advanced centres of learning in all of the medieval world.

Alcazar

The Royal Palace at Dorne was actually filmed in the Alcazar in Seville, constructed in 913 by the Islamic Moors who fused the Roman Mediterranean fluencies with Arabic design and it’s absolutely beautiful. Other minor locations in the land of Dorne include the Roman bridge in Cordoba, the Alcazaba in Anne Marie.

Girona

The city of Girona was the location for the free city of Braavos where Arya Stark traveled to learn from the many-faced God.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe

There was some filming at the most beautiful spot San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. It is a fortified hermitage, it’s really pretty and it’s definitely worth visiting but if you’re gonna do it, it’s two hundred and thirty-odd steps to the top where you need to the bell for good luck.

Zumaia

They also film down the road at the beach of Zumaia where this is a really cool natural formation called “flysch”.