Where was Game of Thrones filmed in Northern Ireland, Croatia, and Spain?

## Northern Ireland: the show’s home base

Northern Ireland was the practical heart of Game of Thrones. Production was based at Titanic Studios in Belfast, along with the former Paint Hall Studios, where the crew built many big recurring interiors: parts of Winterfell, King’s Landing, Castle Black, and other sets that could not simply be found outdoors. But the country was much more than a studio base. Its forests, beaches, quarries, castles, and harbours became locations all across Westeros and even beyond it. A common mix-up is calling Northern Ireland “the North,” as if it only played Winterfell territory. It did supply a lot of Stark material, but it also doubled for Pyke, Dragonstone, Braavos, Renly Baratheon’s camp, and the Wall area. That flexibility is one reason the production returned there year after year, even as filming expanded to Croatia and Spain.

## Winterfell, the Kingsroad, and the Iron Islands

For early Winterfell exteriors, the major stop is Castle Ward in County Down. Its courtyard and farm buildings helped create the Stark home in season 1, while nearby Tollymore Forest Park became the Wolfswood. In “Winter Is Coming,” it is the forest where the Stark children find the direwolf pups. The famous avenue at the Dark Hedges near Armoy became the Kingsroad when Arya leaves King’s Landing in season 2’s “The North Remembers,” disguised as a boy with Yoren’s group. Ballintoy Harbour, meanwhile, is closely tied to the Iron Islands and Pyke’s harbour. Larrybane Quarry near Ballintoy was Renly’s camp, where Catelyn Stark meets Renly and Brienne enters the story. These places can look wildly different on screen because the show added banners, ships, weather effects, crowds, and digital scenery.

## Northern Ireland’s caves, coast, and battle ground

Several Northern Ireland locations belong to some of the show’s most memorable darker scenes. Cushendun Caves in County Antrim are where Melisandre gives birth to the shadow assassin in season 2’s “A Man Without Honor.” Magheramorne Quarry was used for Castle Black and Wall-adjacent work, as well as major constructed sets and battle-scale production. Downhill Strand and Mussenden Temple in County Londonderry helped sell Dragonstone’s dramatic coast, especially for Stannis and Melisandre scenes. Shane’s Castle was used for exterior material including the Hand’s tournament setting. Carnlough Harbour is a later surprise: it becomes Braavos when Arya crawls out of the water after the Waif attacks her in season 6’s “No One.” That scene is a good reminder that a location’s real-world look is only the starting point; Braavos was assembled from Northern Irish, Croatian, and Spanish pieces.

## Croatia: Dubrovnik became King’s Landing

From season 2 onward, Dubrovnik was the show’s main real-world face of King’s Landing. Its Old Town, stone walls, gates, stairways, and sea views gave the capital its instantly recognizable Mediterranean look. Fort Lovrijenac, just outside the old city walls, stood in for the Red Keep exterior in several scenes, including tournament and court-related material. Streets around Pile Gate were used for King’s Landing street scenes, including parts of Joffrey’s riot in “The Old Gods and the New.” The Jesuit Staircase is where Cersei’s walk of atonement begins in season 5’s “Mother’s Mercy.” Trsteno Arboretum, northwest of Dubrovnik, was the Red Keep garden, where Olenna Tyrell, Margaery, Sansa, and Varys trade secrets and threats among the hedges. Dubrovnik is the big King’s Landing answer, but it is not the whole answer: season 1 used Malta heavily, and later seasons added Spanish locations too.

## Croatia also supplied Qarth, Meereen, and Braavos

Croatia did not only play King’s Landing. Lokrum Island, just off Dubrovnik, became Qarth for Daenerys’s season 2 plot, including its palace and garden atmosphere. Farther north around Split, Diocletian’s Palace supplied important Meereen interiors, including the space used as the dragon dungeon, while Klis Fortress became Meereen’s imposing outer fortifications. Those places helped give Daenerys’s city a hard, ancient-stone look as she tried to rule after conquering it. Kaštel Gomilica, near Split, also appeared as a Meereen harbour and exterior area. Šibenik’s old town and the area around St. James Cathedral were used for Braavos city scenes. So if a scene feels like it was shot in Dubrovnik but it involves Daenerys in Slaver’s Bay or Arya abroad, it may well be somewhere else in Croatia. The show reused architectural styles very cleverly rather than assigning each country to one fictional kingdom.

## Spain: Dorne, Dragonstone, Highgarden, and beyond

Spain became especially important in the later seasons. Seville’s Real Alcázar was Sunspear’s Water Gardens in Dorne, while the Alcazaba of Almería provided more Dorne exterior material. Plaza de Toros in Osuna was Daznak’s Pit, where Daenerys is attacked during the fighting spectacle in season 5’s “The Dance of Dragons.” Itálica, the Roman ruins at Santiponce near Seville, became the Dragonpit for the huge season 7 summit in “The Dragon and the Wolf.” Castillo de Almodóvar del Río played Highgarden, and the Roman Bridge of Córdoba was used for Volantis imagery. In Catalonia, Girona’s streets and bridges became much of Arya’s Braavos, while its cathedral steps were used as the exterior of King’s Landing’s Great Sept of Baelor. Castell de Santa Florentina was Horn Hill, the Tarly seat. Peñíscola played Meereen in season 6, and Castle of Zafra was the Tower of Joy in Bran’s vision. Finally, Basque Country sites such as San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Zumaia/Itzurun beach, and Barrika formed Dragonstone’s coast in seasons 7 and 8. Gaztelugatxe’s stairway is real; Dragonstone castle itself was heavily digitally added.