where did they film game of thrones
They filmed Game of Thrones all over Europe and North Africa, with big hubs in Northern Ireland, Croatia, Spain, Iceland, and Morocco.
Main countries they used
- Northern Ireland (UK) – The production base was in Belfast at Paint Hall studios, where many interior sets like the Red Keep were built.
- Northern Ireland on location –
- Castle Ward stood in for Winterfell’s courtyards and grounds.
- Tollymore Forest Park was used for many forest scenes, including the opening White Walker prologue.
- The Dark Hedges became the Kingsroad.
- Various fields and estates doubled as generic army camps for Stark and Lannister forces.
- Croatia –
- Dubrovnik provided the main look of King’s Landing from season 2 onwards.
- Split’s Diocletian’s Palace played underground passages and parts of Meereen.
- Nearby quarries and mountains around Split filled in for roads and landscapes across Essos.
- Spain – Used heavily from later seasons:
- Seville’s Alcázar became the Water Gardens of Dorne.
- Plaza de Toros in Osuna was the Meereen fighting pit.
- Dragonstone’s causeway and beach came from San Juan de Gaztelugatxe and Itzurun Beach in the Basque Country.
- Bardenas Reales and the Tabernas Desert played parts of the Dothraki Sea.
- The Castillo de Zafra in Guadalajara was the Tower of Joy.
- Iceland – Glaciers, lava fields, and rugged highlands were used for the lands “beyond the Wall,” including wildling camps and the Frostfangs.
- Malta – In early seasons, locations around Mdina, Rabat, and Fort Manoel provided King’s Landing exteriors and the Great Sept of Baelor before the show moved that work to Dubrovnik.
- Morocco – Coastal towns like Essaouira and cities such as Ouarzazate (not listed in detail above but documented in location rundowns) were used for parts of Essos, including cities like Astapor and Yunkai.
Quick HTML table of key spots
| Area in the show | Real-world location | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Winterfell exteriors | Castle Ward | Northern Ireland (UK) | [1]
| Kingsroad | The Dark Hedges | Northern Ireland (UK) | [5]
| King’s Landing (later seasons) | Old town of Dubrovnik | Croatia | [1]
| Meereen passages | Diocletian’s Palace, Split | Croatia | [1]
| Water Gardens of Dorne | Alcázar of Seville | Spain | [3][1]
| Dragonstone causeway | San Juan de Gaztelugatxe | Spain | [1]
| Dothraki Sea | Bardenas Reales, Tabernas Desert | Spain | [1]
| Beyond the Wall | Various highland and lava-field sites | Iceland | [3]
| Early King’s Landing & Sept | Mdina, Fort Manoel, San Anton Palace | Malta | [3]
| Essos cities (e.g., Astapor) | Coastal and desert sites near Ouarzazate | Morocco | [3][1]
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.