Game of Thrones in Iceland: 14 enchanting places where the GoT serie shoting took place. An artificial lake was even created
Unique beauty of Iceland does not attract just the travelleres. The most sparse populated state of Europe lured even the creators of the most popular serie of all time – Game of Thrones. Where are the places the shooting took place and why the production decided for these ones?
Iconinc serie with the most numerous cast and crew in the history of HBO projects, which gained quite an sharp wave of criticism used to have really rich stage set.
The filming took place in 7 states – in the US, Northern Ireland, Croatia, Morroco, Spain, Malta and Iceland as well. And not everyone knows, that the recording of music was done in Prague, Czechia.
The different taste of tourism
All the movie locations mentioned above enjoy an increased rate of tourists who want to experience and see those location where their favourite movie scenes were shoot on their own eyes. And Iceland is not an expection.
So if you are planning a trip to Iceland and you´re a GoT fan, then you have 14 more reasons to do so.
Why Game of Thrones and Iceland perfectly fits together?
Before we get to know all the super places, which had been eternalized on the screen, let´s have a closer look on why only just Iceland.
You might have hear „Winter is coming“ countless of times and it became something as a tiny red line of the story. And there is a bunch of winter scenes, especially in the latter parts of the serie.
An Island country which is really rich for glaciers and freezing weather (even though in reality it is not so harsh, it just looks like that) provided perfect scenery for what is behind the Wall. And even this Wall stands here in Iceland.
„Iceland is offering plenty of locations which are like out of this world and provoking adventure, which suits perfectly well to the story. In the same time, we do have here many places which are easy to acces but look like they are faraway.“ says Einar Sveinn þórðarson, the location scout staff member for Iceland.
And now, have a tour on places you definitely want to visit as a Game of Thrones fan who is about to visit Iceland.
Gjáin valley
Do you remember the scene from the 4th serie when The Hound wakes up on morning and sees Arya to train with his Needle? There is a skirmish between the two. Their paths merges when The Hound decided to take Arya under his protection. And right here, tin the valley of Gjáin they make the stop.
It is a magical place where you´d feel like in a fairytale. With lucid rivulets fringed in rocks and unbelivable green all around so typical for Iceland.
Here you can find out all about the Gjáin Valley.
Þjóðveldisbærinn Stöng Farm
A silent arrow comes out of nowhere and hits an unsuspecting male walking next to a child in the back. The camera shows Ygritte´s face standing nearby with a bow in her hand. In this scene from the fourth season we are witnessing the cruelty of the Wildings, who are raiding a picturesque village.
In reality, it is a reconstructed viking era farmstead built with all possible consideration for the ancient methods. According to historians, the farm was destroyed in 1104 by the eruption of the Hekla volcano. The reconstruction was done in 1974 as a celebration of 1100 years of the settlement of Iceland.
Here you can find out all about the Þjóðveldisbærinn Stöng Farm.
Stakkholtsgjá canyon (Þórsmörk)
In the seventh season, Jon Snow departs courageously with few others on the Wall to stand against the White walkers. Then they set out to cross the white plains. This is the scene where Jon fights with a henchman of the Night King and Jon kills one of the Wights.
As you probably remember, right after this scene there follows a harsh stampede by hords of White Walkers on Jon and his men. They are saved by ice cracking on the frozen lake and the undead start to fall in. In reality, this is not a natural lake. It was created only for the purpose of shooting this scene.
This canyon is a sought-after location in the South and popular especially thanks to its interestingly shaped rocks.
Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon
And..here we have another canyon. Let´s fast forward in the story, directly to the eighth season. Jon collaborates with Daenerys who takes him to her Dragon children.
And I guess you remember what follows – the leader of the Night Watch still with unrevealed Targaryen blood in his veins saddles the dragon and flies it. That happens here in the Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon.
Here you can find out all about the Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon.
Skógafoss waterfall
Following this, the romantic scene appears on our screens, as Jon kisses Daenerys. At this time, he isn´t aware Daenerys is his aunt. And their lips meet in front of this famous Icelandic waterfall, broadly described as one of Iceland´s most beautiful.
Here you can find out all about the Skógafoss waterfall.
Dyrhólaey
We are now back in the seventh season, when Jon Snow sails from the shore of the Eastern Watch to meet his allies in Castle Black to discuss the strategy for the White Walkers.
This scene was shot in the southernmost tip of Iceland, close to the small town of Vík, where you can find a 120 meters tall cliff nicknamed the Gate of Iceland. From here you can enjoy beautiful views over bird colonies and stunning nature. To the north the Mýrdalsjökull
glacier, to the east the famous Reynisfjara black beach and Reynisdrangar sea stack which climb up to 66 meters above sea level. And finally to the west the Vestmanna islands.
Here you can find out all about Dyrhólaey.
Svínafellsjökull glacier
In episode six of the second season, Jon Snow meets the Wild Ygrette for the first time with whom he falls in love. Not only in the realm of the fantasy world of Game of Thrones, but in our real world as well. But we´ll discuss that later.
In the scene from the Svínafellsjökull glacier, Jon captures Ygrette and soon after executes her. Almost.
However, as we all know, Jón Snow “knows nothing”, and Ygrette escapes him right before his eyes.
This glacier in particular got the attention of other film productions. Besides Game of Thrones, other Hollywood blockbusters, Interstellar and Batman Begins were shot here.
Here you can find out all about the Svínafellsjökull glacier.
Þingvellir national park
Let´s move back in time now to the fourth season. Joffrey is dead and Littlefinger successfully manipulates Sansa, who becomes a victim of his cruelty. Together they arrive to Eagles Nest, to the home of Lysa Arryn – Sansa´s aunt – where Sansa finds refuge for a while.
The Þingvellir national park which is situated quite close to Reykjavík has been on the UNESCO list since 1983. The so-called oldest parliament in the world started here a new era of history in 930.
Þingvellir national park featured twice in Game of Thrones. For the second time, The Hound with Arya, are trespassing here trying to reach the Eagles Nest as well.
Here you can find out all about the Þingvellir national park.
Hengill lava field
Hengill is a volcano in the South West of Iceland. Active in theory, but the last eruption happened a good 2000 years ago.
The area below is a lava field and it was right here in the last episode of the fourth season the fight between Brienne of Tarth and the Hound took place. I´m sure you know how it ended.
Þórufoss
This 15-meter tall waterfall just appears in the series for a very short time.
We are in the fourth season when a lost Dragon suddenly flies over the head of a young goat herder and takes one of the goats.
Here you can find out all about the Þórufoss waterfall.
Kirkjufell mountain
The most famous mountain in Iceland for sure also appeared in Game of Thrones.
We see it for the first time in the sixth season, when Bran sees with his own eyes how the Wildling children transform an innocent man into a White Walker.
Then again, we can see Kirkjufell in the seventh season when the Hound recognises it from a vision he had and tells Jon and the others.
Here you can find out all about mt. Kirkjufell.
Kálfaströnd farm and the Höfði foreland by Lake Mývatn
Here is the place where Jon Snow settles to camp with the Wildlings, in the North East part of Iceland just few kilometers from Lake Mývatn and tries to win their favor.
For native Icelanders, these standing stones are stoned trolls.
Here you can find out all about Höfði.
The Grjótagjá cave
And.. you know for sure what follows. Who doesn´t remember the scene from the third season when Jon Snow together with Ygritte find shelter right here, in the mysterious Grjótagjá cave full of geothermal water.
And you may not know, the chemistry between the two of them transfered from the series to real life. They are a married couple now.
Here you can find out all about the Grjótagjá cave.
Dimmuborgir
So staying in the third season, there is a vast wasteland of lava fields east of Lake Mývatn which ressembles a collapsed ancient fortress. These lava fields, tunnels and caves were created approximately 2300 years ago.
And here, the leader of Wildlings, the Mance Rayder, had his encampment. This is also the place where Jon Snow was brought to Mance to decide his fate.
Dimmuborgir is one of the most popular attractions in the North of Iceland.
Here you can find out all about the Dimmuborgir lava field.