If you’re a Game of Thrones fan and planning on heading to Northern Ireland, then you must put the Winterfell Tour on your bucket list! Located a one hour drive from Belfast city, you can spend the day at Winterfell Castle as well as various other Game of Thrones filming locations.
We were here during low season in October, so not many people were around. My friends girlfriend had bought him the private ‘Ned’ package which cost £99 pound for 2 people private tour. You can then add on as many people to your tour as you like for £29.50 each.
We arrived early and met with the guide. We were taken to a GoT decorated room and shown how to put on the costumes, which were actually used by the extras for filming. Plus we were allowed to try on the Hound’s helmet, of which had also been used filming the series.
Once we were all suited and booted, we headed out to the archery range, reserved just for us for an hour. This is where Bran would practise his archery in the first few episodes of season 1. We were shown how to shoot the arrows , then had a few practice rounds and then it got serious with a little competition between the five of us and the loser had his head chopped off on the block… albeit with a rubber sword! ⚔
Once the archery was over, we had some time to walk around and take photos of the set and of ourselves in the costumes. Luckily we poked our heads inside the tentipi where to our surprise sat a throne. The guide didn’t mention it, so we would of missed it.
We didn’t include any of the add ons to the package like meet the Dire Wolves or rent bikes and visit the other filming locations. We were lucky as the weather was dry so we just walked around the other filming locations instead. Each location had a marker, but unless you have the leaflet to read with you, very few of the locations had information about them. Only a couple actually had a sign that showed a scene from the series from the place you stood.
There is a little shop full of GoT memorabilia, but it comes at a price. There was an amazing ale tankard I thought, yes I have to have that and then saw it was £60!! 😲 Needless to say I slowly turned it over and gently put it back on the shelf.
When we had finished we went onto Cuan bar in the village for a pint of Hodoor, you can also eat here, but the menu is a little pricey. This is where almost all the stars came for a drink after filming and one of the many bars that has one of the Thrones Doors. When some of The Dark Hedges’ trees blew over during a storm, the wood from two of the felled trees was made into 10 intricately carved doors, each of which displays a scene from Game of Thrones. These doors were then gifted to various local landmarks around Northern Ireland, each of which sits near a filming location from the show.
Next stop Dubrovnik Croatia 😁
Don't forget to crank up the quality setting to 4k
Don't forget to crank up the quality setting to 4k
Spoiler Alert!!! Here’s the thing you should know before getting too excited about this tour…. It doesn’t look anything like Winterfell.
WHAT, Nooooo!!!! why??? Well, simply because almost all of Winterfell is actually CGI, so the real ‘Winterfell Castle’ doesn’t even exist!
Also, the archery range, and the costume room are the only two places with props and GoT ‘decor’ which was a little disappointing. I somewhat expected more and think that £99 for 2 to do an hours archery and wear the costumes isn’t very much for your buck.
Also note, filming has actually stopped here several seasons ago, this was because too many people would come on the property to watch. So this is no longer the current filming location of Winterfell. However, that aside, it was still a good laugh getting all dressed up in actual Game of Thrones attire, shooting some arrows and fighting with swords.
Winterfell is the ancestral castle and seat of power of House Stark and is considered to be the capital of the north. It is located in the center of the northernmost province of the Seven Kingdoms, on the kingsroad that runs from Storm’s End to the Wall.
- Winterfell is based at Castle Ward, one hours drive from Belfast city.
- Castle Ward is open to the public and includes 332 hectares (820 acres) of landscaped gardens.
- When some of The Dark Hedges’ trees blew over during a storm, the wood from two of the felled trees was made into 10 intricately carved doors, each of which displays a scene from Game of Thrones. These doors were then gifted to various local landmarks around Northern Ireland, each of which sits near a filming location from the show.
- Archery
- Dress up
- Explore the mansion & gardens
- Cycle or walk the trails
- Meet the wolves
- Merchandise shop
- Corn & Saw Mill
When we had finished we went onto Cuan bar in the village for a pint of Hodoor, you can also eat here, but the menu is a little pricey. This is where almost all the stars came for a drink after filming and one of the many bars that has one of the Thrones Doors. When some of The Dark Hedges’ trees blew over during a storm, the wood from two of the felled trees was made into 10 intricately carved doors, each of which displays a scene from Game of Thrones. These doors were then gifted to various local landmarks around Northern Ireland, each of which sits near a filming location from the show.
We hired a car as it was 28 miles to get here from where we were staying near the city.
- Bus, I didn’t use the bus while here, but Metro service run throughout the day, but it could take 2 hours or more.
- Car, is the best way to get here.
- Taxi, the best seem to be
- Value cabs (028) 90809080.
- Fone a cab (028) 90333333.
- Uber, There are some around, but when we looked they weren’t any nearby at the time, so we just used a taxi.
- Look inside the Tentipi to see the throne.
- Head into the village to the Cuan pub to enjoy a pint of Hodoor and see one of the Game of Thrones doors.
- Taxi, numbers:
- Value cabs (028) 90809080.
- Fone a cab (028) 90333333.
- Get £25 off your first Airbnb trip of £55 or more click here.
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