Visiting the Seven Kingdoms (Dubrovnik)
This is a blog detailing my wife and I's quest to travel the Seven Kingdoms in a Game of Thrones Geekathon! We travelled to Dubrovnik in Croatia in May 2014 and here are all the different locations we found, including Blackwater Bay, Kings Landing and the Purple Wedding. The blog is meant to be read by people who have watched the TV Show and are up-to-date so there will be spoilers but nothing from the books!
You can see us both Kayaking into Blackwater Bay in the Video below!
The first thing you need to realise about Dubrovnik is there is two main parts, the old City (where they film Game of Thrones) and then the rest of the City. Both have great places to go and enjoy but for the purposes of this being a Game of Thrones blog I will keep it to the Old City and surrounding Game of Thrones locations!
As you can see from the picture to the left, the Old City lends itself to being a Game of Thrones location. I took this picture from the battlements which surround the walled area. Inside these there are 2 or 3 large roads and then lots of intricate little pathways and alleys which have been used to film Fleabottom and other parts of King's Landing. The battlements are shown at the start of season 3, when Tyrion walks with Bronn.
The building on the right of the picture is Dubrovnik Castle. This has been used to film all different parts of the series including the start of series 2 when Joffery is having his nameday and the different courtyards where Cersei meets with Littlefinger. You can go and visit both of these locations and pay for them in one. Its not that expensive, I think it worked out about £10 for each adult. Its really worth it and some of the views of the Island of Lokrum and the Adriatic are magnificent!
Below is a picture of Dubrovnik Castle from the top.
When you stand on the battlements you do believe you are staring out accross the narrow sea! It does seem to have a charm to it and a certain 'je ne sais quoi'. There is a lot of tourists especially from cruise ships from the nearby harbour, and when we went last year, there wasnt any memorobilia and no-one selling a Game of Thrones tour so it is worth doing your reseach before you go!
The Old City looks very medieval and when you cross the small bridge and enter the enclosed area for the first time you can immediately spot places they have filmed in. It made Dr Nice and I go all goose-pimply when we got to saw all of the different places used in the series!
The picture on the right is one of the first locations you will notice. Its from the 2nd season when Tyrion, Sansa, Joffery and Cersei are all attacked by rioters in King's Landing. This is the door that they all go through just before the riots take place and its clearly visible in the scene.
As you can see the Battlements are exactly what you'd expect from a medieval City!
One of the other interesting parts of the Old City and one that helps distinguish it as King's Landing is the red roofs on all the buildings. It gives the City a very exotic feel, especially in helping identify it with the Red Keep from Game of Thrones. As you can imagine the producers have digitally enhanced parts of the Red Keep into Dubrovnik in line with the descriptions from the books but most of the places you visit they haven't had to do much at all, such is the beauty of the place.
Located in the City is a small tower which was used as the House of the Undying in the Season 2 Finale. You can see where Daenerys Targaryen magically enters the Tower. This is a kodak moment for any Game of Thrones fan!
Outside of the City Walls between the Old City and Dubrovnik Castle is where you will find the pier where Sansa and Shae discuss the different ships in the bay, and Littlefinger tells Sansa his plan to take her away from King's Landing. To the right of the pier is where Robert's bastard babies were killed in the water (if you want to remember such a scene!). It was great fun, casually reinacting the scenes, not with dialogue mind, but just standing in the places that the actors stood from our favourite TV show.
The weather was beautiful in Croatia so I recommend that you wear appropriate clothes if you go anytime post April. I'd also definitely recommend the kayaking if you are interested in seeing the City from the sea.
We went to some other locations which are near the Old City, like the car park where they filmed the purple wedding, the King's Landing gardens where they filmed the Tyrell's in Season 3 and Lokrum, a small island opposite the Old City which became Qarth in Season 2. I'll go into detail about each in my next blog!
Thanks for reading and please feel free to write any comments below!
