Guide to King’s Landing: All Game of Thrones Filming Locations in Dubrovnik

With the arrival of spring, we are used to the fact that winter is coming to our TV screens, but the White Walkers are finally defeated – let’s raise a goblet for Arya Stark, the Hero of Winterfell! – and the seasons become boringly predictable yet again. However, not everything you have seen on TV is necessarily true. Daenerys Targaryen, First of Her Name, allegedly (SPOILER?) razed King’s Landing to the ground on her dragon Drogon, but those are just gossips, lies, slanders, the plainest “fake news”. King’s Landing, in fact, still stands proudly given its current and burdensome history, and what is more – you can visit it at any time of the year and see all the locations of victories and deaths of the frantic game of thrones. Put on a pair of comfortable shoes and join us for a walk; we won’t shout at you “Shame! Shame! Shame!”, unless you explicitly ask for it!

“The king is dead, long live the king!”

To help you orient yourself easily, we start this virtual tour of the capital of the Seven Kingdoms on the west side, we are going around the city walls, descending towards the city centre and slowly, but decisively, returning to the west. Both the old gods and the new know we are about to face many ugly memories along our way, so let’s begin our sightseeing on a positive note and relive yet again the cruel and grotesque, but so damn satisfying, death of King Joffrey. The (in)famous Purple Wedding took place in the beautiful Gradac Park, where you can still feed the pigeons who were lucky enough not to end up in the wedding pie. The view from the park shows the spectacular Fort Lovrijenac, which is the next stop of our walk of shame or pride (depending on which house you ask). This medieval tower gave the outline to the exterior of the famous Red Keep and it was right here that Cersei Lannister showed the shifty Littlefinger that power is indeed power. Just a few steps further and we are already in West Harbour where the massacre of King Robert’s bastards was committed on Joffrey’s behalf. What? You thought this story had a happy ending? Oh, you sweet summer child…

It’s a shame (not to visit Dubrovnik)

But, let’s not waste time, we are already on the West Pier, where a great battle was fought for Blackwater Bay, in which the genius Tyrion used a mystical wildfire for the first time to thwart pretender Stannis’s battle plan for conquering King’s Landing. While we can still see the green flames in front of our mind’s eyes, let’s continue towards Pile Harbour, sorry, the main port of King’s Landing, where Cersei saw off her golden-haired daughter Myrcella to Dorne and sadly, a few seasons later, greeted the ship carrying her coffin covered in a golden shroud. Myrcella’s brother Joffrey, on the other hand, did not have the best time walking around the Pile Gate, where angry locals threw stones and other horrible things at him in a rebellion that almost cost him his head, so we would rather continue towards the north, where we will, and that’s the magic of the television, end up in a completely different part of the world. The famous Minčeta Tower, in fact, played masterfully its role of the sinister House of the Undying in the mythical Qarth, where Daenerys Targaryen, in the finale of season two, finally found her dragons and regained her radically shaken power. We are descending the walls and looking for a break in front of the Pile Gate, happy that our burning feet are at least not bleeding like the bare feet of Queen Cersei, who, right after her painful walk of atonement, finally reached the Red Keep right here. People protested against the reign of the Lannisters on the stairs in front of the Dominican Monastery, the very same we are taking – Shame! Shame! Shame! – to descend towards the Church of St. Dominic, where people shouted the worst insults at the embarrassed Queen Cersei.

Here are her dragons!

We have already reached Stradun, the most famous promenade in Dubrovnik and yet another stop of Cersei’s walk of atonement, which we do not like to think about too much, so we would rather continue towards the famous Rector’s Palace, where Daenerys unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Thirteen “city councillors” of the legendary Qarth to give her ships so she could go to her promised Westeros, the very same place where only a few steps further Queen Cersei was about to start her walk of atonement. Now we are standing on the Jesuit Staircase in front of the Church of St. Ignatius and we are convinced that Cersei is finally getting the punishment she deserves, but no one deserves the ordeal that the High Septon of the Faith of the Seven has prepared for her. We have no doubt that the Queen will someday seize the right moment for revenge! We are now slowly returning to the west and we are noticing some familiar sights. Yes, we are in front of the Fortress Bokar, a location used for numerous conversations that took place on the city walls during the eight seasons of Game of Thrones. Here, for example, Varys and Tyrion have forged plans to defend King’s Landing in the inexorable Stannis’s invasion of Blackwater Bay.

But that is not all…

Much to the delight of our male visitors, we end our tour in the famous Littlefinger’s brothel… Scratch that, this is a family blog after all, and the brothel is, in real life, just an Ethnographic Museum that you can visit with your young children without any fear of catching Oberyn Martell with his pants down. And as the advertising gurus would say, that is not all! The Belvedere Hotel is located a little bit outside of the city centre. In front of this hotel, the same old Oberyn fought against Ser Gregor Clegane in the unforgettable battle of the Viper and the Mountain. By taking a short boat ride, we will reach the island of Lokrum, whose beauty will leave you breathless, and this is where we will recall Jorah’s adventures in Qarth, “the greatest city that ever was or will be”. By taking the state road from Dubrovnik, you can also reach the sensational Trsteno Arboretum, a protected monument of garden architecture that stunningly portrayed the gardens of King’s Landing, where newly-minted friends Sansa and Margaery used to take walks, naively dreaming of a happier, more peaceful future… Unfortunately – Valar Morghulis – all men must die, which is so vividly proven by this series, but before that, everyone must visit Dubrovnik, the most glittering jewel of the Adriatic coast. Fortunately – Valar Dohaeris – your Valamar Experience Creator team is at your service to turn every moment of your stay into memories that you will cherish forever.