How to choose your Game of Thrones tour
Depending on the time spent in Croatia and your holiday budget, you will have a wide range of choices. From the 2-hour racetrack to the half-day circuit with a passionate guide, who arrives in medieval costume, leads you to the sites and monuments, giving you a history lesson on the culture of Ragusa, while flooding you with behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the filming. The challenge is to show the historical heritage while restoring the memorable scenes. We recognize the silhouette of the Clock Tower, the west pier, where the Battle of Blackwater raged in season 2, with fights filmed on the ramparts, the façade of the Ethnographic Museum, which served as the entrance to Petyr Baelish's brothel, the courtyard of the Rector's Palace, perfect as a royal residence, the great public street (Stradun), the powerful fortifications of Lovrijenac which protected King's Landing, the Pile Gate where King Joffrey faced a revolt of citizens, the Bay of Pila, where Princess Myrcella left for Dorne, where Sansa plotted with Littlefinger. Special mention for the staircase of the Jesuit church of Saint-Ignace-de-Loyola, where one of the most shocking scenes of the series was shot, the walk of shame of the naked Queen Cersei (final of season 5). The journey ends with a boat crossing to Lokrum for the famous souvenir photo on the Iron Throne, which belonged to the amazing subjects of the kingdom of Qarth. This small island, just a few miles from the old port of Dubrovnik, is a nature reserve where people come all year round to relax and in summer to swim.
Some fans, really addicted, choose total immersion! In addition to all the sights of the old town within the city walls and Lokrum, the tour includes a visit to the old arboretum in Trsteno, 15 km from Dubrovnik, and then the climb to Mount Srđ on top of which, like the King of King's Landing, you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the pearl of the Adriatic.Jet-setters, fans, cruisers or simple vacationers... when it's too much, it's too much!
But all these filming locations, as a backdrop to fiction, are also places of life. An economic windfall that is very profitable for some residents but heavy to support for others who still live within the walls. Already taken by the daily procession of cruise passengers, groups travelling by bus, the old city is literally suffocating from an overflow of visitors. Mass tourism is a daily problem. From 5,000 in the early 1990s, the number of residents officially dropped to 1,500, and in reality, there are fewer than 700. Some speculate, rent their homes for gold, turn them into coffee shops and live elsewhere. Those who resist, the less well-off in general, suffer from noise pollution, the intrusion of indiscreet people into their buildings, small incivilities. In response to the grumbling of its citizens, to the threat of decommissioning launched by UNESCO, the Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković, had to sign courageous orders to determine quotas. The municipality installed a counter at the entrance to the walled city, in order to reduce the number of visitors to enter the historic city each day to 4,000.
Discover other equally evocative filming locations
Ironically, Dubrovnik's problems in terms of over-tourism have made other Adriatic cities, as well as smaller towns, happy, as well as the more modest ones, which are advised to fall back when Port Real has to close its doors to keep the crowds in check. Split first. The Dalmatian capital, which didn't really need the GoT effect to fill its hotel reservations, got caught up in the game. Spring 2019, it has even just opened a museum, the Game of Thrones Museum Split. Vetus-Itinera, a specialized agency from Split, entirely dedicated to fans of the series, organizes trips to all European and Croatian filming locations.
In the historic centre, Diocletian's palace was built to the glory of ancient Rome, around 300 AD. A unique architectural ensemble, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the imperial residence is based on an ingenious system of vaulted foundations, tunnels and underground networks that have been particularly well restored. Within these thick, dark and weeping walls, the throne room of Daenerys and the powerful Targaryen, the struggles and fights, most memorable of all, that of the Queen of Westeros against the slave-owning lords Mereen and Yunkai, were filmed . Going up to the open air, you pass the narrow Papaliceva (Slave Rebellion) street and then you leave for Žrnovnica, a town that in medieval times was home to grain mills, a few kilometres from Split. Some very picturesque ones have been meticulously restored. This is where Missandei, Daenerys' servant and confidante, takes her bath. Also in the Split region there is the lagoon town Kaštel Gomilica (Free Town of Braavos) and above all the Klis Fortress. Built on cliffs, the massive military silhouette was the location chosen to establish the stronghold of Danaerys Targaryen. In real Croatian history, Klis was the first duchy to rule laws, under the aegis of Trpimir I, who ruled from 845 to 864. Today, the small town, which has seen the number of visitors increase by more than 60% in 2018, benefits directly from the success of the stronghold. Local politicians and neighbouring municipal museums (Šibenik, Herceg Novi, Zenica) are dreaming of a plan to enhance the regional heritage. Their common project is the development of sustainable agrotourism, with "ethno-villages", leisure centres, cycle paths and other local restaurants.
If you choose to stay for several days, you will also enter the old Trogir, filmed for its medieval street atmosphere (scenes from season 2, episode 6); you will pose for the photo on the square in front of the St. James Cathedral in Šibenik, which serves as an imposing backdrop for the Iron Bank of Braavos; you will climb the steps of the Ston wall. In Imotski, last but not least, the two deep lakes captivate the fans. Red Lake as the blood of the dead, Blue Lake as the royal clothes of Daenerys. Quite a story... one that will be remembered for a long time.
