Northern Ireland's Huge 'Game of Thrones' Tour Is Now Open So You Can Visit Winterfell On Your Next Holiday
The hit HBO show's Northern Ireland studio has been turned into a massive tourist attraction, complete with an Iron Throne, King’s Landing, Dragonstone and The Wall.
If you live Down Under, winter is still coming for 2022 — but your next excuse to indulge your Game of Thrones love is already here. You will need to pack your suitcases and head to Northern Ireland, however, and also be mighty pleased that visiting the new GoT studio tour doesn't involve sailing by ship, walking for months or using other forms of transport from the fictional Seven Kingdoms.
First announced in 2018, the Game of Thrones Studio Tour at Linen Mill Studios started welcoming in eager GoT fans at the beginning of February 2022 — and it boasts plenty to get excited about. And yes, while you're waiting for prequel series House of the Dragon to arrive later this year, and still biding your time wondering when author George RR Martin's The Winds of Winter will finally hit shelves, this'll help tide you over.
Get ready to add Winterfell, The Wall, King's Landing and Dragonstone to your next holiday itinerary, and to peer at the Iron Throne as well, because that's all part of the new tour. Visitors are able to step inside the Great Hall, which is where Jon Snow was proclaimed the King in the North; see Daenerys Targaryen's Dragonstone throne; and also check out an array of props, weaponry, armoury, costumes, make-up and prosthetics from the show.
Much of the series was filmed in Northern Ireland, hence the tour — which marks the first time that HBO has opened up the sets and sites to the public. Now rebadged as a tourist site, the GoT sets span across a hefty 110,000-square-feet location in in Banbridge. Basically, if you've ever dreamed about walking around Westeros, this is your chance.
The tour has been dubbed an 'interactive experience', which covers wandering through fully dressed sets, reliving moments from the series and standing exactly where many of the show's standout scenes took place. Also part of the immersive attraction: learning more about the skills and craft behind the program that helped make it such a hit. And, there are also art files, models and other production materials in display, plus accompanying digital content and interactive materials highlighting GoT's digital effects.
If it sounds huge, that's because it is. The whole setup comprises the largest authentic public display of Game of Thrones artifacts in the world — and is bound to make fans happier than Arya Stark crossing a name off of her infamous list.
The Game of Thrones Studio Tour is now open at Linen Mill Studios, The Boulevard, Banbridge, Northern Ireland. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the tour's website.
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