Filming locations

The Game of Thrones TV series is one of the largest productions in television history, with each season filming on-location in multiple countries simultaneously. Apart from pure archival/historical interest, this article is meant to aid fans who may be seeking out ‘’Game of Thrones’’ filming locations as tourist destinations.

Overview
The main headquarters for the production is at the Paint Hall studios in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where most of the interior sets are located (such as the Red Keep sets, the Iron Throne, and the Great Sept of Baelor). The majority of on-location shooting also occurs in Northern Ireland – such as Castle Black, which was built as a fully realized set in and abandoned quarry a few minutes’ drive north of Belfast. Several exotic locations – particularly those outside of the Seven Kingdoms – are filmed in more diverse locales in other countries.

In Season 1, filming also took place in Malta for scenes set in the Free City of Pentos and in King’s Landing – to emphasize that the capital city of the Seven Kingdoms has a warm, Mediterranean climate compared to the cold lands around Winterfell. Filming has not returned to Malta since Season 1 ended.

Starting in Season 2, filming branched out to two new countries: Croatia and Iceland. The ancient Croatian port city Dubrovnik started to be used as a major stand-in for outdoor scenes set in King’s Landing. The scenic old city of Dubrovnik still has medieval walls right on the coast, which were well-suited to depict King’s Landing. Several other locations in Croatia nearby Dubrovnik were also used, not just for King’s Landing but for scenes set in Qarth and Slaver’s Bay. Meanwhile, for the Night’s Watch expedition in the frozen lands beyond the Wall, location shooting moved to national parks in Iceland, to film on actual glaciers. Filming continued in Croatia and Ireland through Season 5.

In Season 3, production moved to Morocco to represent the cities Astapor and Yunkai in Slaver’s Bay. Filming did not return to Morocco after Season 3 ended: when Daenerys Targaryen conquers and remains in Meereen in Season 4 (the largest city in Slaver’s Bay), different locations in Croatia were used for it. Also, in Season 4 the location scouting teams found some other locations in Iceland that they felt were useful for other scenes set in the Seven Kingdoms themselves, not just north of the Wall. These included shots of Arya and Sandor traveling cross-country through the Riverlands, and scenes set in the high mountains in the Vale of Arryn.

For the introduction of Dorne in Season 5, the southernmost of the Seven Kingdoms, HBO decided that the success of the TV series merited spending the money to film in Spain and its historic medieval Islamic palaces – given that Dorne in the novels was heavily inspired by real-life medieval Spain. Filming is mostly concentrated around Seville to represent Dorne and its capital Sunspear, though there is also some filming in Cordoba to represent the Free City of Volantis.

Some filming for the unaired pilot episode also took place at Duane Castle, Scotland, but the production team did not return to Scotland for the finished TV series. Meanwhile, in Season 3’s “The Bear and the Maiden Fair”, a few shots of an actor-bear were filmed in Los Angeles, USA. Actual scenes were not filmed in the United States: footage of the bear was digitally put into footage of the actors in the bear pit set in Northern Ireland (due to various laws against international transport of large animals, the production team could not simply fly the actor-bear into the United Kingdom).

The TV series filmed simultaneously in two countries in Season 1 (Northern Ireland and Malta) and three countries in Season 2 (Northern Ireland, Croatia, and Iceland). Season 3 was filmed simultaneously in four countries (Northern Ireland, Croatia, Iceland, and Morocco – five if you count that the stunt-bear footage was technically filmed in the United States). Season 4 was filmed in three countries at once (Northern Ireland, Croatia, and Iceland). Season 5’s production expanded again to filming in four countries at once (Northern Ireland, Croatia, Iceland, and Spain – though filming in Iceland was much more limited that season).