A Walk Through King's Landing
I spent a couple of days in Dubrovnik, a Croatian city dubbed "The Pearl of the Adriatic", just before my birthday. I am a big fan of Game of Thrones and after the epic season that just ended I could not wait to do a tour of King's Landing, walk the steps of the Great Sept chanting "Shame", and sit on the
Iron Throne!
Dubrovnik was so hot I wasn't sure I could last the 2 hours or so of the tour. If you must visit the city, stay away from summer where the temperature felt like 40 degrees and I got burnt despite being covered with a SPF 50 suncream. I imagine spring and autumn will be much more pleasant times to visit.
Started off with a meal and Kir Royal at Dubravka, an outdoor restaurant overlooking the Adriatic, before going to meet up with the guides at the square.
It was a large group so they gave us a phonebook, radio and ear piece to listen to the guide's comic commentary while walking at our own pace. Brilliant idea!
The Walls of Dubrovnik and of Fort Lovrijenac are used for scenes in King's Landing and the Red Keep. From the fortress you can see the island of Lokrum used for scenes set in Qarth.
Over the next two hours we walked the Old town, one of best preserved medieval walled cities in the world, learning about its rich history over the last 400 years and of course, stories behind some of the scenes in the GOT series. It was a 2-in-1 tour.
Here are some other Game of Thrones filming locations you should add to your to-visit list:
Northern Ireland
Downhill Beach, Co. Londonderry - Setting for the burning of the seven old gods of Westeros on Dragonstone.
The Mourne Mountains- Country Down’s Mourne Mountains were used for location shots in the pilot episode, as well as in season one when entry to Vaes Dothrak was filmed at Sandy Brae. In season three, Tollymore Forest was used for Theon Greyjoy’s failed escape.
Malta
The Azure Window, Gozo - setting for Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo’s wedding in season one.
Mdina - King’s Landing in season one. The town gate can be seen at the moment of Ned Stark’s arrival, and other scenes were filmed in the city’s winding stone alleyways.
Morocco
Essaouira - Astapor (where Danaerys raises her army of the Unsullied).
Aït Benhaddou and Ouarzazate - Yunkai – a slaving city Danaerys takes with the Unsullied army. Found in Morocco’s Saharan Atlas Mountains region, Aït Benhaddou is 32km from Ouarzazate and you can visit both places on a day trip from Marrakesh like I did
.
Iceland
Lake Myvatn & Svínafellsjökull - Beyond the Wall, the land of Wildlings, the Night’s Watch and White Walkers. Grjotagja lava cave - setting for Jon Snow and Ygritte’s big romance scene in season three.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of a GOT stan are you?
