King's Landing, Croatia

The medieval towns along Croatia's Adriatic coast, with their historic walls and a red-tiles roofs, were often used as the backdrop to the scenes in the South of Westeros.

It is the latest and official seat of the kings of Westeros: King’s Landing, Dubrovnik. It’s no wonder that this monumental city was chosen to pose as one of Westeros’ main landmarks: Dubrovnik’s old town is surrounded by thick stone walls and is located on a peninsula surrounded by a dramatic stone cliff. 

King's Landing, the kingdom's capital city and home of the Iron Throne, has been filmed in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, a fitting choice with its seaside locale and imposing walls. Dubrovnik also doubled as the location of Qarth, an ancient port city featured in the second season of "Game of Thrones."

Croatia is also where much of the Daenerys storyline takes place. Croatia truly feels like you are stepping back in time and one can almost imagine dragons flying overhead. I think the GOT cast and crew that drew straws for this location came out winners. While the other filming locations are amazing places to visit, filming outdoors can be cold, wet and difficult. Croatia may be hot at times, but it is heavenly. Most filming takes place in and around Dubrovnik but they have ventured out more stopping in spots like Sibenik posing as Braavos and Split which is also King’s Landing.

The mysterious House of the Undying is actually the Minceta Tower, located along the above mentioned walls of Dubrovnik. It was an important defence tower facing towards the land and a symbol of how 'unconquerable' the city is.

The Red Keep – the heart of King’s Landing – is, in the real world, Lovijenac Fortress, located outside Dubrovnik on a 37m high rock right on the shore. Fun fact: at the entrance is an ancient inscription which apparently translates as 'Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world'. Looks like the Lannister approach might not pay off after all. The scenes of the Red Keep in season one were actually shot in Malta, but from season two onward the film crew moved the set to Croatia to shoot more exterior shots of Dubrovnik and Lovrijenac Fortress. The bay right in front of the fortress was used for the climatic scenes during the Battle of Blackwater.

In the second season of “Game of Thrones,” shooting of the royal capital of King’s Landing was moved from Malta to Dubrovnik, Croatia. King’s Landing is a walled city on the water, and Dubrovnik provides the show’s creators with exterior shots of that very thing, something Malta did not. It also doesn’t hurt that Croatia offers a 20% cash rebate to any film or television production company that spends about $ 3.3 million per project there.

Several tourist companies offer package tours of the “Game of Thrones” locations, including Vetus Itinera. This agency’s Game of Thrones Tour is a one day package lasting between four and five hours, for a cost of $142 per person.