Last week, I finally found the time to catch an official Northern Ireland Game of Thrones guided tour. Like everyone else I’m a huge GOT nerd, so I’ve been dying to get out and see where the show is actually filmed.
Our trip started around 7:30 AM in the Belfast City Center. It wasn’t hard to spot our tour guide, Jason- a long haired bearded man with a white walker printed on his jacket. And my goodness lemme tell you… Jason was quite the character. He had worked as an extra for the show in all 8 seasons (gladly he didn’t hand out any finale spoilers), so it was unreal to pick his brain about his experience with the cast and crew. We hopped on a bus and headed down the Causeway Coast. Even if you’ve never seen the show, the GOT tour would be well worth the money. The scenery truly takes your breath away. Long, windy roads that look out over the Irish Sea, cliffs and mountains that are 10 different shades of green, the list goes on and on.
The trip included stops at GOT film locations such as Castle Black, the Northern Wall, the Iron Islands, Dragonstone, Winterfell Castle, Braavos, and the Dark Hedges. Jason even led us into the cave where Lady Melisandre (The Red Woman) gave birth to that weird demon baby thing… Scary stuff.
At each stop, Jason would talk for 10-15 minutes about famous scenes filmed there and show us pictures that compared the actual scenery to what fans see on screen (a lot of CGI mixed in). It’s amazing to learn about the level of detail that goes into filming a show like Thrones. Jason mentioned on most days, cast and crew are filming in 4 different countries around the world simultaneously. And in order for the show to remain successful, everyone from Khaleesi to background actors like Jason must be on the same page. I can’t wait to re-watch the show and pick out places I’ve been able to explore 🙂
BRING ON SEASON 8!!!! Arya is ending up on that throne, you heard it here first.
