Real world Game of Thrones destinations (part 1)
Game of Thrones is quite possibly the biggest series on TV of the past few years and besides the intrigue and political – and actual – backstabbing that takes place on the show, another major characteristic of it is its great location shots, and the fact that all of these are actual real destinations not green-screen. So today we’ll start to look at some of the real world Game of Thrones destinations from around the globe.
County Down – Northern Ireland
This is where the opening sequence of Game of Thrones was filmed, in which a patrol of Black Brothers meets a rather messy end – the scene was filmed in Tollymore Forest Park.
The nearby Castle Ward stood in for Winterfell, whilst Inch Abbey features as the Riverlands – where the army of the north waited to cross the River Trident.
Once you’ll set foot in County Down you’ll get a pretty good idea of why the filmmakers chose this place. The rugged uplands and tranquil coast create one of the most appealing corners of the province, a region very popular with hikers because of the nearby Mourne Mountains.
County Antrim – Northern Ireland
The rolling countryside and very dramatic shoreling of County Antrim have provided a lot of locations for the show. Lordsport on Pyke – the island base of the Greyjoys – was in fact the village of Ballintoy whilst the harbor town of Ballycastle acted as the Free City birthplace of Varys – the eunuch.
Nearby you’ll find the very famous Giant’s Cuaseway and Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.
Vatnajokull National Park – Iceland
It’s not hard to fathom which location this place was used for: all the backdrop scenese set north of the Wall. This is where the stand at the First of the First Men was shot – on the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Vatnajokull National Park. The park also acted for other locations in the Frostfangs.
The park itself takes up more than ten percent of Iceland’s surface area and features the world’s largest ice cap outside the poles.
Keep some of our worldwide car rental services in mind when traveling to any of these places and stay tuned for more real world Game of Thrones destinations.
