Where was Game of Thrones filmed?

Few series have sent travellers reaching for their passports quite like this sprawling fantasy saga. For nearly a decade its makers refused the soundstage and went looking for real ramparts, real rift valleys and real palaces, which is why so many of its backdrops feel like places you could simply walk into. The pull for set-jetters is exactly that: the kingdoms were built from genuine European stone, and most of it is still standing.

The capital owes its silhouette to Dubrovnik in Croatia, where a circuit of the City Walls frames the same harbour and rooftops you remember, and Fort Lovrijenac broods on its rock just beyond them. Spain carries an outsized share, the Real Alcázar of Seville lending its tiled courtyards, the Girona Cathedral steps rising in the old Catalan town, and the zig-zag causeway of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe twisting out into the Basque Country sea. Add the rift path of Þingvellir in South Iceland and the farmyard tower of Castle Ward in County Down, Northern Ireland, and the map is complete.

Because the locations sit so far apart, treat the show as a reason to build several trips rather than one. Dubrovnik and Girona pair neatly with wider Croatian and Catalan holidays, while Northern Ireland and Iceland reward fans who want raw landscape over cityscape. Booking a guided walk of the walls or a day tour to Gaztelugatxe takes the guesswork out of the harder-to-reach spots.