Games of Thrones Locations You Can Actually Visit 2026
Game of Thrones Locations in Northern Ireland You Can Actually Visit
The Studio Tour in Banbridge, the Dark Hedges, Ballintoy, Castle Ward, Tollymore and more – what was filmed where, what it costs, and the honest truth about screen tourism.
Why Northern Ireland became Westeros
Most of HBO's Game of Thrones was made in Northern Ireland. The production was based at the Paint Hall studios in Belfast's Titanic Quarter and at Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, and it used the coast, forests and castles of Antrim and Down for hundreds of scenes over eight series. For a small country still rebuilding its image after the Troubles, the show became one of the biggest tourism stories of the century.
This guide lists the locations you can genuinely visit, what was filmed there, and what you will actually find – which is often a beautiful, windy, very real place that looks nothing like it did after the digital effects team had finished with it. For the wider trip, see our 7-day Northern Ireland itinerary.
Game of Thrones Studio Tour, Banbridge
The official Studio Tour at Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, about 30 minutes from Belfast and 90 minutes from Dublin, is the only official Game of Thrones studio experience. It holds original sets – the Great Hall of Winterfell, the Dragonstone map room, the Iron Throne – along with costumes, weapons, props and models.
- Price: standard adult tickets from about £25; discounted mid-week offers appear in quiet months. Check the official site.
- Parking: there is no parking at the studio. Everyone parks at the Studio Tour car park at The Boulevard in Banbridge and takes a free 10-minute shuttle; the time on your ticket is the shuttle time.
- From Belfast or Dublin: combined tickets with return coach transfers are sold.
- Time: allow at least three hours.
Honestly: if you only do one Game of Thrones thing in Northern Ireland, this is the one – the outdoor locations are spectacular in their own right, but the studio is where the show itself lives.
Locations on the Antrim coast
The Dark Hedges, Bregagh Road – the Kingsroad
The beech avenue where Arya travelled the Kingsroad in series two. Read the honest bit below before you go: the road is closed to traffic, and the trees are dying.
Ballintoy Harbour – Lordsport, Pyke
The small limestone harbour stood in for the Iron Islands, where Theon Greyjoy returned home. It is a real working harbour with a tea room; parking on the steep, narrow road down is limited, and coaches cannot reach it.
Larrybane – Renly's camp
The old limestone quarry beside Carrick-a-Rede, where Brienne first appears and defeats Loras Tyrell. It is now the car park area for the rope bridge.
Cushendun Caves
The sea caves where Melisandre gives birth to the shadow creature in series two. Free, a short walk from the village beach.
Murlough Bay – the Iron Islands and Slaver's Bay
The remote bay below Fair Head, reached by a very steep lane, used for several Iron Islands scenes and as the place where Tyrion and Jorah are taken by slavers. Far fewer visitors than Ballintoy.
Downhill Strand and Mussenden Temple – Dragonstone
The long beach below Mussenden Temple was the shore of Dragonstone, where Melisandre burned the statues of the old gods. Portstewart Strand, a little east, also appeared in later series.
Shane's Castle, Lough Neagh
The ruined castle on the shore of the largest lake in the British Isles was used for scenes including the tourney in the first series; the estate opens only for events.
Locations in County Down
Castle Ward – Winterfell
The National Trust estate on Strangford Lough provided the farmyard and tower for Winterfell in the first series. Castle Ward's own story is stranger than fiction: an 18th-century house built with one classical front and one Gothic front, because Lord and Lady Bangor could not agree on a style. Archery and costume experiences on the estate are run by a private company. Parking and estate entry charges apply; free for National Trust members.
Audley's Castle
A small tower house on the Castle Ward estate overlooking the lough, used for Robb Stark's camp and the Twins in the distance.
Inch Abbey – Riverrun
The Cistercian ruins near Downpatrick, where Robb Stark was declared King in the North. Free to visit.
Tollymore Forest Park – the Haunted Forest
The forest at the foot of the Mourne Mountains where the very first scene was filmed, and where the Starks find the direwolf pups. Car parking charge; free on foot.
Further west
Pollnagollum Cave in Belmore Forest, County Fermanagh, was the cave of the Brotherhood Without Banners; nearby the Marble Arch Caves offer guided boat and walking tours through a real underground river system, a UNESCO Global Geopark. Binevenagh, the mountain above Downhill in County Londonderry, appeared as the Dothraki grasslands where Daenerys is found by Drogon.
The Doors of Thrones and the Glass of Thrones
When storms brought down trees at the Dark Hedges in 2016, Tourism Northern Ireland had the wood carved into ten elaborate doors, each telling the story of one series, and installed them in pubs and restaurants across the country – from Belfast to Ballycastle and Fermanagh. Collecting stamps at each became a pilgrimage in its own right. In Belfast's Titanic Quarter, a trail of large illuminated "stained glass" panels, the Glass of Thrones, marked the end of the series. Check what is still displayed before you plan around them.
The honest bit: tourism, trees and taste
The Dark Hedges show the cost of screen fame. The avenue of around 150 beech trees was planted by the Stuart family in the 18th century to impress visitors approaching their house. After the show, tourist cars and coaches packed the narrow road, compacting the roots; it was closed to traffic in 2017. Storms – Gertrude, Doris, Arwen, Isha and Éowyn – have brought down tree after tree, and safety felling removed more. Around 75 trees remain, and specialists have warned that the trees are coming to the end of their natural lives and could disappear within about 15 years. In 2025 responsibility for the site passed to the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust, which is preparing a new masterplan.
So: walk, don't drive; park at the Dark Hedges Estate; do not climb the trees or lean on them for photographs; and go at dawn or dusk when the coaches are gone. And remember that this is one avenue in a country full of extraordinary places that never needed a dragon to be worth seeing.
Planning a Game of Thrones trip
- Antrim coast in one day: Dark Hedges, Ballintoy, Larrybane/Carrick-a-Rede, Cushendun – easiest by car or on a dedicated day tour from Belfast.
- County Down in one day: Studio Tour in Banbridge, then Tollymore, Castle Ward and Inch Abbey.
- Base: Belfast works for both; Ballycastle or Bushmills for the north coast.
- Entry: most non-Irish visitors need a UK ETA, also when arriving over the land border from Dublin – see UK visa and entry rules.
Game of Thrones tours
Dedicated location tours run daily from Belfast and Dublin, with costumes and props on the coach; Studio Tour tickets with coach transfers are also sold.
Tours and experiences
Entrance fees are included in the tour price; tips are not included but are always welcome.
Read next
Belfast, the Causeway Coast and Derry, day by day.
Rathlin, Fair Head, the Mournes and Strangford Lough.
Real castles across the water – including Alnwick, the screen's Hogwarts.
All our guides to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Real history on the other coast
Fantasy borrowed its slave markets from real history. For the real thing – the forts and the people of West Africa's coast – see our partner sites Cape Coast Castle, Elmina Castle and African Independence.
The African side of the story
Britain Adventures is an independent partner website. Our partner sites on Africa and its history are where the stories on this page continue:
- Pan-African: African Independence · Uganda · Egypt · Sierra Leone · All African Radio Stations
- Ghana: Ghana-Net · Cape Coast Castle · Elmina Castle · James Fort, Accra · They Made Ghana · War Cemetery Cape Coast
- Across Africa: Kenya Web News · Explore Nigeria · Gambia Vibes · Zambia Vibes
- European history: V2 Rocket and Peenemünde · Tannenberg Memorial
Search our Network. Start here.