Travel 25th July 2017 by Grace McGettigan
Game Of Thrones Fan? You Need To Go On This Belfast Tour *Immediately*
Explore the sites where GOT was filmed and play with *actual* swords.
Game Of Thrones is, by far, the show of the decade with season seven’s opening episode being watched by over 16 million people on TV, and by over 90 million people online.
With the majority of the HBO series filmed in Northern Ireland, between the Titanic Studios in Belfast and across a number of natural, scenic sites in Antrim, it’d be rude not to explore – and thanks to one particular tour company, you can explore all the sites in one adventure-filled day-trip.
I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never seen a single episode of the show, but that didn’t matter because our tour guide, Andrew, filled in all the gaps.
On the coach en route to our first location, the Cushendun Caves where Melisandre gave birth to a dark spirit, Andrew played a DVD of the scene in question, making sure it was fresh in our minds when we arrived.
The same thing went for each location, including the Larrybane Chalk Quarry, where Brienne bested Ser Loras Tyrell, as well as Ballintoy Harbour, the location where Theon came ashore on Pyke Island, and where he later rededicated his faith to the ‘Drowned God’.
Our guide, Andrew, was an extra in numerous seasons of the show, and so he told us *tonnes* of behind-the-scenes stories about the cast, the costumes, and the set while we travelled from location to location.
But beyond the hilarious tidbits, the most fun part of the trip was our ‘dress-up’ stop where we were provided with real medal swords, shields (very heavy BTW) and costumes for some Insta-worthy snaps.
We later stopped at the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge and the Giants Causeway, but as these locations were not involved in Game of Thrones, Andrew gave us free-reign to explore the sites alone.
Then, once regrouped, we were brought to the Dark Hedges, the haunting avenue of beech trees through which Arya and Gendry escaped King’s Landing. The trees hang over the road creating a sort of roof, but given that we were there on the hottest day of the year, they were more like Sunny Hedges than anything else.
Lunch was had between stops at a charming restaurant in Ballintoy along the north coast, where we were fed and watered before hitting the road once more, and complimentary water was available on board the coach.
From a non-GOT-fan’s perspective, the tour was one of the best things I’ve ever done, so I can only imagine the craic you’d have if you’re really into the show.
The tour runs from 7:45am to 5:30pm and involves a fair chunk of walking, so make sure to bring your comfiest shoes and check the weather forecast in advance!