At this point, we can all agree that the Game of Thrones ratings are beyond our universe. But while most of the intrigues of King’s Landing and Winterfell are all filmed on-set, did you know all of the outside settings are on locations that are very real? Oh, sure, there is a lot of CGI used for the backgrounds, but it is less than you’d think. In fact, the cast does so much traveling all over Europe and northern Africa that they often never meet while filming, even for the same episode.
Beyond the Wall = ICELAND
Couldn’t have picked a better place. Rocky, barren, windswept, and frozen solid, the Land of Ice and Fire was a shoo-in for just about any scene that required a snowflake. Perfect for wildings and White Walkers. If you see and actor’s breath when he or she speaks, have no doubt that it really is that cold. The spectacularly primordial vista of the Hverfjall volcano in northern Iceland makes so many appearances it should get a supporting actor credit.
Essos and King’s Landing = MALTA, CROATIA, and MOROCCO
Fans of the series will note that the continent of Essos is much more arid than lush Westeros, so producers headed off to the Mediterranean and Sahara to get the look right. Daenerys and Khal Drogo’s wedding? That was at the Azure Window in Malta. The House of the Undying? It’s actually the much more prosaic Minceta Tower in picturesque Dubrovnik, Croatia — a country whose coastline along the Adriatic Sea is spangled with all the Westerosi palms, ferns and gardens Olenna and Cersei plot in, and Joffrey and Eddard die in. The Moroccan city of Essaouira stood in for Astapor, while the landscape around the town of Ait-Ben-Haddou was used for Yunkai.
Winterfell and the Kingsroad = NORTHERN IRELAND
Let’s face it: Nobody is going to Winterfell for the balmy beaches, and the same can be said for Northern Ireland. As most of the filming is done in Belfast, producers literally just walk out the door when they need a moody castle, forbidding keep, or eerie forest. Green and wooded, but definitely chilly like the fictional land it represents, the lands and tower-gates of the Stangford Castle Ward Estate rising from the rolling countryside of County Down lend their stony muscularity to the increasingly endangered ranks of House Stark. And over in County Antrim, a short stretch of road famous throughout Ireland for the natural vault formed over it by a series of beach trees makes the perfect misty monumentalism needed for the famed Kingsroad.
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