Game of Thrones Travel: Northern Ireland or Dubrovnik?

If Game of Thrones makes you want to see Westeros in real life, two destinations stand out for very different reasons: Northern Ireland and Dubrovnik.

Northern Ireland gives you the studio, Winterfell country and wild coastal filming locations. Dubrovnik gives you King’s Landing wrapped inside a real Adriatic city that is worth visiting even if you never watched an episode.

I would not call one better. They are completely different trips.

Northern Ireland is the deeper Game of Thrones experience

If the show itself is a big reason for traveling, Northern Ireland has a lot going for it.

The official Game of Thrones Studio Tour is outside Belfast at the actual production site. Then you have real outdoor locations spread around the country: Castle Ward stood in for Winterfell, Ballintoy Harbour became part of the Iron Islands, the Dark Hedges became the Kingsroad and stretches of the coast appeared as Dragonstone and other parts of Westeros.

The nice part is that these are not fake attractions created after the show ended. They are castles, harbors, forests and coastal landscapes that already belonged in a Northern Ireland trip.

I have a 7-day Ireland and Northern Ireland itinerary with the official Game of Thrones Studio Tour built in. It also includes Galway, Derry, Giant’s Causeway, Belfast and Titanic Belfast, so the whole trip does not depend on everyone being a fan.

Dubrovnik is King’s Landing, but it is also Dubrovnik

From Season 2 onward, Dubrovnik became the primary filming location for King’s Landing.

The Old Town, city walls, Fort Lovrijenac and other places around Dubrovnik are immediately recognizable if you know the show. You can take a dedicated filming-location walk, but I would make sure you leave time to experience the city without looking at it only through a television lens.

The walls, harbor, stone streets and Adriatic views are the reason Dubrovnik worked so well on screen in the first place.

Croatia makes it easy to turn King’s Landing into a bigger Adriatic trip

This is where Dubrovnik has an advantage if your main goal is a Mediterranean vacation.

You can continue up the Croatian coast to Split, Hvar, Korčula and other islands, or see the region by small ship instead of moving between hotels.

My Croatia and Slovenia itinerary finishes with two nights in Dubrovnik, while the Venice-to-Dubrovnik small-ship trip gives you the Dalmatian Coast, Croatian islands and Kotor before ending in the city.

Which one makes more sense?

Choose Northern Ireland if you want the most concentrated Game of Thrones experience, especially the official studio plus outdoor filming locations.

Choose Dubrovnik if King’s Landing sounds fun but the bigger dream is Croatia, the Adriatic, islands and Mediterranean scenery.

If you are traveling with someone who is not a fan, both still work. Northern Ireland has Giant’s Causeway, Belfast and some beautiful coastal driving. Dubrovnik has enough history and scenery that the show can be a small part of the trip.

Could you do both?

You could, but I would only do it on a longer Europe trip.

Northern Ireland and Croatia are not natural neighbors, so combining them means another flight and a pretty dramatic change of scenery. I would not squeeze both into a short vacation just because they appeared in the same series.

The show is the inspiration. The real trip still needs to make sense.

If one side of Westeros sounds more like your kind of vacation, I can build the rest of the trip around it.