Ireland gets the lion’s share of glory when it comes to beautiful Game of Thrones filming locations, but the show has filmed all over Europe (and Iceland) during its six season run. And if you’re a big enough film buff, you may even recognize some of the regions and buildings used in other famous films.
All of the Yunkai filming is done in Ait-Ben-Haddou, Morocco, which is where a large part of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark was filmed. The fortified city’s history as a location along the caravan route through the Sahara gives it an authentic feel that has drawn many other movie productions including The Last Temptation of Christ, The Mummy, and Kingdom of Heaven.
The coastal fort of Ricasoli is used for many of the scenes involving King’s Landing, which now overshadows its role as the arena in the 2001 Academy Awards Best Picture winner Gladiator. You may have also seen its distinctive walls and ports in the movie Troy, and it is one of the key locations of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed film.
Doune Castle in Ireland stands in for the former Stark stronghold of Winterfell, and was also used to portray the many castles and keeps featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail after the Scottish government revoked the troupe’s permission to film in their heritage locations.
The Alcázar of Seville in Spain was used for many of the Dorne scenes involving the Water Gardens. It was also a location featured in the classic 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. The location looked perfect but wasn’t without its difficulties – the government severely limited the amount of time the Game of Thrones crew was allowed to use the site, and many wonder if this isn’t why some of the Sand Snake fight scenes from season five came off a little rushed.
Future Dornish countryside scenes are set to be filmed in Pechina, Almeria … a region recently used by Ridley Scott for his bible epic Exodus: Gods and Kings.
Game of Thrones related tourism continues to increase year after year as the show continues to grow in popularity, and many of these areas are seeing a massive increase in visitors looking to experience a little bit of Westeros in the real world. So next time you have a vacation coming up, take another look at this list of famous set locations. You may find the perfect spot to soak up some sun in the same places some of your favorite characters have appeared.
