Most of Westeros is within ninety minutes of Belfast. The Iron Islands, the Kingsroad, Renly’s camp, Robb Stark’s camp and the Stormlands were filmed along the Antrim and Down coastline, and the locations are still there, mostly free to visit.
This Game of Thrones filming locations’ guide covers each of the following: what was filmed there, where it is, and what you will actually find when you arrive.
The Dark Hedges
Appeared as: the Kingsroad, in Season Two, when Arya escapes King’s Landing disguised as a boy.
An avenue of beech trees planted in the 1770s along the approach to Gracehill House near Armoy. Storms have taken several of the trees over the years, and the avenue is thinner than it was, but it remains the most photographed spot in Northern Ireland.
Roughly an hour and twenty minutes from Belfast. Park at the Hedges Hotel rather than on the road itself.
Ballintoy Harbour
Appeared as: Lordsport Harbour in the Iron Islands, where Theon returns to Pyke and meets Yara.
A small working harbour reached by a steep, narrow lane down from the village. Ten minutes from Carrick-a-Rede and twenty from the Giant’s Causeway.
Cushendun Caves
Appeared as: the cave where Melisandre gives birth to the shadow that kills Renly Baratheon.
Sea caves around 400 million years old, beside the village of Cushendun on the Antrim coast road. A short walk from the car park and free to enter.
Larrybane Quarry
Appeared as: Renly Baratheon’s camp in the Stormlands, where Brienne of Tarth defeats Ser Loras Tyrell.
A disused chalk quarry beside the Carrick-a-Rede car park, with views over Sheep Island and the coast.
Dunseverick Castle
The ruins sit on a headland between the Giant’s Causeway and Ballintoy, on the Causeway Coast path. The remains are fragmentary, a single surviving gatehouse on a dramatic promontory, and the site is free and open.
Reachable on foot from the Causeway along the clifftop path, or by road.
Kinbane Castle
A ruined castle on a long white limestone headland near Ballycastle, built in 1547 by Colla MacDonnell. Getting down involves a steep flight of around 140 steps, and the return climb is the hard part. Fewer visitors come here than anywhere else on the coast, which is rather the point.
Carrickfergus Castle
A Norman castle on the shore, begun in 1177 and in military use until 1928. Twenty minutes from Belfast on the road north. Not a confirmed filming location, though its scale and setting are exactly what the production was looking for across the region.
Carnlough Harbour
Appeared as Braavos in Season Six, where Arya climbs from the canal after being stabbed by the Waif.
A Victorian harbour in a village on the Antrim coast road. The steps she climbs are the actual harbour steps, and the Londonderry Arms nearby has connections to the filming.
Ballygally Castle
A seventeenth-century castle, now a hotel on the coast road south of Glenarm. Its Game of Thrones door, one of ten carved from beech trees felled at the Dark Hedges during a storm, is on display.
Tollymore Forest Park
Appeared as: the Haunted Forest beyond the Wall in the opening sequence of the very first episode, and the site where the Stark children find the direwolf pups.
In County Down beneath the Mournes, around forty-five minutes south of Belfast rather than on the Antrim coast.
Inch Abbey
Appeared as: Robb Stark’s camp, where he is proclaimed King in the North.
A Cistercian abbey ruin near Downpatrick, on the far side of the River Quoile.
Murlough Bay
Appeared as: Slaver’s Bay, and where Theon rides with Yara.
A remote bay east of Ballycastle, reached down a very narrow road. One of the quietest places on the coast.
About the Cliffs of Moher
Often searched alongside Northern Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher appeared as the Cliffs of Dragonstone. They are in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, around five hours from Belfast, so they belong to a different trip rather than a day out from the city.
Seeing the Locations
Most sit along the Causeway Coastal Route between Larne and Portrush, and a full day covers six or seven of them. The County Down sites, Tollymore and Inch Abbey, sit in the opposite direction and need their own day.
Our private Game of Thrones tour builds a route around the locations you actually want to see. Because it is private, you set the pace at each stop rather than following a coach schedule.
Many visitors combine the filming locations with the Giant’s Causeway, which sits between Dunseverick and Ballintoy, and with Carrick-a-Rede, which is next to Larrybane. Our day tours across Northern Ireland cover the alternatives, and cruise passengers should see the shore excursions page for what fits inside a port call.
Common Questions
Where was Game of Thrones filmed in Northern Ireland?
Mainly along the Antrim coast between Larne and Portrush, with further locations in County Down and studio work at Titanic Studios in Belfast.
Where was Winterfell filmed?
The Winterfell exteriors were shot at Castle Ward on Strangford Lough in County Down, which offers its own tours.
Are the locations free to visit?
Most are. The Dark Hedges, Ballintoy, Cushendun Caves, Dunseverick and Kinbane are all open with no charge. Carrick-a-Rede and Castle Ward are ticketed.
How many can you see in a day?
Six or seven along the Antrim coast without rushing.
Do I need to have watched the series?
No. Every location is worth seeing on its own, and the coast road is one of the finest drives in these islands, regardless.