Game of Thrones Filming Locations in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik played King’s Landing in Game of Thrones, and almost every famous spot sits inside or just outside the Old Town walls, so you can see most of them on foot in a single morning. The essential stops are the city walls and Fort Lovrijenac (the Red Keep), the Jesuit Staircase where Cersei began her Walk of Shame, Minčeta Tower as the House of the Undying, and the leafy Gradac Park of the Purple Wedding — with Trsteno Arboretum, the royal gardens, a short drive up the coast.

This guide maps the locations, suggests an efficient walking order, and flags which ones need a paid ticket. It pairs naturally with our full Dubrovnik travel guide, so you can fold the Thrones sites into a normal day in the city.

A self-guided walking order

The sites cluster tightly, so the trick is sequencing them to avoid backtracking and to dodge the worst of the heat and the cruise crowds. A good loop, starting early:

1. Enter at the Pile Gate and walk the city walls first (allow 1.5–2 hours) — the walls give you Minčeta, the Fort of St. John and the rooftop views from above before the day heats up.
2. Drop back down and cross to Fort Lovrijenac on the same ticket.
3. Walk back into the Old Town for the Jesuit Staircase and Gundulić Square.
4. Finish at Gradac Park, a few minutes west of the Pile Gate, for a shaded sea view.
5. If you have a half-day spare, drive or take the bus up the coast to Trsteno Arboretum.

The whole in-town circuit is comfortably done in a morning. Going early matters: by midday the walls are exposed and busy, and the marble streets throw back the heat. Mornings before about 9am and the last hours before sunset are calmest.

Fort Lovrijenac — the Red Keep

Just outside the western wall, Fort Lovrijenac sits on a sheer rock above the sea and served as the Red Keep, the seat of the Iron Throne. The flat terrace in front of it is where Joffrey’s name-day tournament played out in season two, and the fort’s ramparts and inner courtyard appear throughout the King’s Landing scenes.

It is a real fortress with a real history — built and rebuilt from the medieval era to guard the approach to the city, and inscribed with the Republic of Ragusa’s proud motto, Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro (“freedom is not sold for all the gold in the world”). The same combined ticket as the City Walls gets you inside, and the climb up is worth it for the side-on view back at the walled city.

The city walls — King’s Landing’s ramparts

The walls of Dubrovnik are the ramparts of King’s Landing on screen, and the round Minčeta Tower at the highest point doubles as a separate location (below). Walking the full circuit puts you on the same battlements seen throughout the show, with the Fort of St. John above the old harbour standing in for various seaward defences.

The circuit is one-directional and almost entirely in the open. A single ticket covers the full wall loop and Fort Lovrijenac; buy it at the Pile or Ploče entrance or online. Prices and opening hours shift with the season, so confirm the current figures on the official Walls of Dubrovnik site rather than relying on older numbers.

Minčeta Tower — the House of the Undying

At the top of the wall circuit, the great round Minčeta Tower is the most-photographed bastion in Dubrovnik, and its smooth outer wall played the House of the Undying in Qarth — the windowless tower Daenerys walks around in season two looking for a way in. You pass it for free as part of the standard wall walk; no separate ticket is needed.

The Jesuit Staircase — Cersei’s Walk of Shame

The grand Baroque Jesuit Staircase sweeps down from the Church of St. Ignatius toward Gundulić Square, and it is the most infamous Thrones location in the city: this is where Cersei Lannister began her Walk of Shame in the season five finale, stripped and parading down toward the Red Keep. The staircase is a public space with no entry fee — just be respectful, as it sits beside a working church and a busy market square.

Pile Bay and the West Pier — Blackwater Bay

The small harbour and bay just below Fort Lovrijenac, around Pile and the West Harbour, stood in for Blackwater Bay and the King’s Landing waterfront. It is where Tyrion rallied the city’s defence and where several arrivals-by-sea were filmed; today it is a tiny working cove with fishing boats and kayakers, right beside the walls. There is nothing to pay here — it is simply part of the walk between the Pile Gate and Lovrijenac.

Gradac Park — the Purple Wedding

A few minutes west of the Pile Gate, Gradac Park is a quiet, pine-shaded terrace above the sea — and the setting for the Purple Wedding, the open-air feast where King Joffrey meets his end in season four. There is no gate or ticket; it is a public park, and a genuinely pleasant spot to sit in the shade with a sea view after the walls.

Trsteno Arboretum — the royal gardens

For the King’s Landing palace gardens — the formal terraces where Olenna, Margaery and the Tyrells scheme — you need to leave the city. Trsteno Arboretum lies about 20 km up the coast northwest of Dubrovnik and is the oldest arboretum in this part of the Mediterranean, a Renaissance garden of clipped hedges, old plane trees and a long aqueduct. It has a separate entry fee and its own seasonal hours; check the official arboretum information before you go. You can reach it by local bus from Dubrovnik or by car in roughly 30–40 minutes.

Tickets, timing and a guided option

Most of the Thrones spots are free public spaces; the two that aren’t are the City Walls (a single combined ticket also covers Fort Lovrijenac) and Trsteno Arboretum (separate fee). Buy the walls ticket at the Pile or Ploče entrance or online, and confirm current prices and hours on the official sites — both change by season, so we don’t quote a fixed figure here.

If you’d rather have the on-set detail pointed out — which step, which scene, where the camera stood — a guided Game of Thrones walking tour is the easy way to do it, and most include the walls or Lovrijenac context. For everything else around town, our Dubrovnik travel guide covers the Stradun, the Srđ cable car, day trips to Lokrum and the Elaphiti Islands, and where to stay and eat. You’ll find more ideas on our attractions hub.