Game of Thrones Filming Locations: The Ones I Have Seen in Croatia and Iceland
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The final season of Game of Thrones starts in a week, and I am ready for it. I have read all 5 published books, about 4,200 pages, several times. I have watched all 7 seasons, about 2,370 minutes, several times. And I have watched far too many fan theories on YouTube and read far too many on Reddit. Is Bran the Night King? Will Hot Pie win the throne?
So while waiting, I went digging for where the show was actually filmed, and it turns out that I have stood in a few of those places without ever planning to, mostly in Croatia and Iceland.
Where was Game of Thrones filmed?
In 5 main countries: Croatia, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Spain and Malta, with Morocco and Scotland in the early seasons. Here is the list, by country.
Croatia
– King’s Landing: Dubrovnik old town, plus Ston, for the long walls
– The Red Keep: Lovrijenac fortress, Dubrovnik
– The House of the Undying: Minčeta Tower, Dubrovnik
– Meereen’s underground passages: the basement of Diocletian’s Palace, Split
– Meereen: Klis Fortress, near Split
– Braavos: Šibenik
– Landscapes of the west: Krka National Park
Iceland
– North of Westeros: Þingvellir
– North of the Wall: Vatnajökull glacier, Lake Mývatn
– The wildling camp: Dimmuborgir
– Jon and Ygritte’s cave: Grjótagjá
Northern Ireland
– The road from King’s Landing (the Kingsroad): the Dark Hedges
– The Iron Islands: Murlough Bay, and Ballintoy Harbour as Lordsport
– The Stormlands: Cushendun Caves, Larrybane Quarry
– The burning of the 7 gods: Mussenden Temple
– The Dothraki Sea: the Glens of Antrim
– The forest in the North: Tollymore Forest Park
Spain
– The palace of Dorne: the Real Alcázar, Seville, and its gardens
– The Long Bridge of Volantis: the Roman Bridge, Córdoba
– Daznak’s Pit: the bullring at Osuna
Malta
– Daenerys and Drogo’s wedding: the Azure Window, Gozo
– The King’s Landing gate: Mdina
– The Red Keep: Fort Ricasoli and San Anton Palace
– The Great Sept of Baelor: Fort Manoel
– Sowbelly Row: Fort St Elmo
Morocco and Scotland
– Pentos and Yunkai: Aït Benhaddou and Ouarzazate
– Astapor: Essaouira
– Winterfell, in the pilot: Doune Castle, Scotland
Which ones have I actually seen?
Seven, as far as I can tell, all from 2 trips I took before I ever thought to look.
Dubrovnik, Croatia. I went to Croatia in 2010, before the show had even started, and walked Dubrovnik’s old-town walls with no idea they would become King’s Landing. On screen, the walls over the west cove, the cannons over the old harbour, Lovrijenac on its rock and the round Minčeta Tower turn up again and again.
Split, Croatia. The vaulted halls under Diocletian’s Palace, a Roman emperor’s retirement home from about 300 AD, became the passages under Meereen where Daenerys keeps her dragons.
Þingvellir, Iceland. In 2016, I walked the Almannagjá path, a gorge between 2 cliff walls at the edge of the North American plate. In the show, it stands in for the north of Westeros.
Vatnajökull, Iceland. On the same trip, I did a glacier hike on Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest ice cap. In the show, it is the frozen land north of the Wall.
I also saw Kirkjufell on that trip, the steep, cone-shaped mountain on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Fans will know it as the “arrowhead mountain” that the Hound and the others see north of the Wall.
Which big one have I missed?
Northern Ireland. It has more filming locations than anywhere else.
A note from today: Season 8 aired in April and May 2019, and the ending split the fans.
If you are planning a trip around the filming locations, a few tips:
- Go early. Dubrovnik’s walls fill up fast once the cruise ships arrive.
- Some sites have changed. Malta’s Azure Window collapsed into the sea in 2017.
- Northern Ireland’s sites are spread out. Most people do them as a day tour from Belfast.
And if you trade, all of these places are on a market clock you can work with. I wrote up how I manage that on the road, the watchlist, the alerts and the time zones, in how I trade while travelling.
Which Game of Thrones location would you visit first, King’s Landing or the land beyond the Wall? Let me know in the comments.
All my other trips are on the travel log, country by country, and more photos are on Instagram, @iamrecneps.
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