Game of Thrones Locations in Dubrovnik: The Complete Guide

Why Dubrovnik Was the Perfect King's Landing

When HBO's production team scouted locations for Game of Thrones, they needed a city that looked genuinely ancient, required minimal set dressing, and could accommodate large cast-and-crew shoots. Dubrovnik's Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, ticked every box. The honey-coloured limestone walls, the sea-facing bastions, the warren of narrow streets and baroque staircases: it all reads as medieval on camera without needing a single CGI correction to the skyline.

The show filmed in Dubrovnik across multiple seasons, primarily seasons 2 through 8, using different parts of the Old Town as separate districts within King's Landing. The Stradun, the main limestone promenade, never appears directly in the show, which surprises most visitors. The production deliberately avoided the most recognisable street to preserve the illusion of a fictional city. What you see on screen are the back streets, the harbour walls, the stairways, and the forts.

The Key Filming Locations, One by One

The single most iconic Game of Thrones location in Dubrovnik is Fort Lovrijenac, the freestanding fortress on a 37-meter cliff just outside the Pile Gate. It appears as the Red Keep during the tournament scenes in season 2. The fort predates the show by roughly 400 years and carries an inscription above the door that translates as 'Freedom cannot be sold for all the gold in the world.' It is anything but a theme-park prop.

• Fort Lovrijenac The Red Keep exterior and tournament grounds in season 2. Sold as a combined ticket with the City Walls (around €35). Offers genuinely dramatic views of the Old Town from the seaward side.
• Jesuit Stairs (Uz Jezuite) The starting point for Cersei's Walk of Shame in season 5. The sweeping baroque staircase descends from the Collegium Ragusinum toward Gundulićeva Poljana square. Free to access at all hours.
• St. Dominic Street (Ulica Sv. Dominika) Appears as a King's Landing market street in season 2 and as part of the Walk of Shame route in season 5. Still has a working market feel in summer, with vendors and street stalls.
• Rector's Palace (Knežev Dvor) Used as the interior residence of the Spice King of Qarth in season 2. Today it functions as the Cultural History Museum. Entrance is separate from the walls ticket, around €10-12.
• Ploče Gate (Vrata od Ploča) The eastern gate of the Old Town, which stood in for the Red Keep gate in several street-level scenes. Still used as an active entrance to the Old Town.
• Dubrovnik West Harbour The harbour just below Fort Lovrijenac served as Blackwater Bay, most visibly during the Battle of Blackwater in season 2. The stone quay and defensive walls are unchanged.
• Lokrum Island The island's lush botanical gardens and stone ruins stood in for the gardens and reception halls of Qarth. A 15-minute ferry ride from the Old Town harbour, running April to October.

The full list of Game of Thrones filming spots in Dubrovnik extends to minor locations across the Old Town, including the Minčeta Tower (which appears briefly as the House of the Undying exterior in season 2) and various archways along Prijeko Street. Most are accessible without any entry fee.

Guided Tour or Self-Guided Walk: Which Is Worth It?

This depends entirely on how deep your interest in the show runs. If you watched casually and mainly want to stand where Cersei stood, a self-guided walk with a downloaded map takes about two hours and costs nothing beyond standard site entry fees. The locations are close together and clearly signposted in the context of broader Old Town tourism.

A dedicated Game of Thrones tour, typically running 2 to 2.5 hours with a guide, adds context that matters to serious fans: which exact angles the cameras used, which scenes were cut for time, how the production team adapted real architecture to fictional geography. Guides often carry production stills for side-by-side comparisons, which dramatically increases the 'recognition factor' at each site. Group tours run around €30-45 per person. Private tours cost significantly more but allow you to linger.

Practical Information: Tickets, Timing, and Logistics

The City Walls and Fort Lovrijenac are sold as a combined ticket at around €40 per adult (verify current pricing at the ticket offices, as it adjusts seasonally). This combination is excellent value because the walls walk takes 1.5 to 2 hours on its own and delivers outstanding views of virtually every GoT exterior location from above.

If you plan to visit multiple paid attractions, the Dubrovnik City Pass (around €50-75 for 1-3 days depending on duration) covers the walls, forts, and several museums including the Rector's Palace. For fans doing a full GoT circuit in a single day, it typically pays for itself.

• City Walls open at 8AM in peak season (June-August), closing around 7PM. Hours shorten significantly in winter, and sections may close in bad weather.
• Fort Lovrijenac has the same ticket as the walls. It can be accessed from the western side near the Pile Gate.
• Lokrum Island ferry departs from the Old Town harbour approximately every 30-60 minutes between 9AM and 6PM, April to October. Round-trip costs around €7. There is no overnight accommodation on the island.
• The Rector's Palace charges a separate admission of around €10-12. Combined museum passes are available at the ticket desk.
• All street-level locations (Jesuit Stairs, St. Dominic Street, Ploče Gate) are free and accessible 24 hours.

When to Visit and How Crowds Affect the Experience

Dubrovnik in July and August is a different city from Dubrovnik in May or October. Cruise ships can deposit up to 8,000 passengers into the Old Town on a single day, and the GoT sites bear the brunt of this. The Jesuit Stairs become a queuing zone, Fort Lovrijenac fills quickly, and the walls walk slows to a shuffle. If you want the experience to feel cinematic rather than like a theme park queue, read the advice in our guide to the best time to visit Dubrovnik before booking flights.

May and June offer reliable warm weather (averaging 20-25°C), full ferry services to Lokrum, and crowds that are significant but manageable. September is arguably the best month overall: the Adriatic is still warm enough for swimming, the summer rush has eased, and the afternoon light on the limestone walls is exceptional for photography. October sees services begin to wind down and some tour operators reduce their GoT tour frequency.

November through March is genuinely quiet. Several GoT tour operators suspend operations in the low season, but the filming locations themselves are accessible (with the exception of Lokrum ferries, which stop running). Temperatures drop to 10-15°C and rain is more frequent, but the Old Town feels like a real city again rather than a film set open to the public.

Beyond the Show: What These Locations Are Really About

Fort Lovrijenac was built in the early 11th century to defend against Venetian expansion. The inscription above the entrance, 'Non Bene Pro Toto Libertas Venditur Auro' (Freedom cannot be sold for all the gold in the world), predates Westeros by several centuries. The fort also hosts performances during the Dubrovnik Summer Festival each year. More on that at our Dubrovnik Summer Festival guide.

Lokrum Island has its own character entirely separate from its GoT cameo. The island holds a Benedictine monastery dating to 1023, a botanical garden established in the 19th century, and a saltwater lake known as the Dead Sea. Peacocks roam freely across the grounds. The island is a nature reserve and no private overnight accommodation is permitted, which keeps it genuinely peaceful.

The Rector's Palace, which served as a Qarth interior, was the seat of government of the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik's historical name) from the 14th century onward. The sitting rector was forbidden from leaving the building during his one-month term of office. The palace now holds artefacts documenting the republic's 450-year history as an independent state. Combine it with a visit to Sponza Palace next door for context on Ragusan commerce and diplomacy.