What parts of Dubrovnik were used as King's Landing in Game of Thrones?

Fort Lovrijenac served as the Red Keep exterior; the Stradun appeared in street scenes throughout all seasons; the Jesuit Staircase was used for Cersei's Walk of Shame; Minčeta Tower doubled as the House of the Undying; and various sections of the city walls appeared as King's Landing battlements. Trsteno Arboretum, 20 km north, served as the palace gardens.

What is the best time of day to photograph King's Landing locations?

Early morning — before 08:30 — is by far the best window. The Stradun, Jesuit Staircase and Pile Gate area are genuinely uncrowded from 07:00 to 08:30. After 09:00 in summer, cruise ship passengers begin arriving and the main streets fill rapidly.

Which season had the most filming in Dubrovnik?

Seasons 2 through 6 had the heaviest Dubrovnik presence. Season 7 reduced Dubrovnik filming slightly as production moved to more locations in Spain. Season 8 returned to Dubrovnik for major scenes including Daenerys's arrival at King's Landing.

Where exactly was the Battle of Blackwater filmed?

The Blackwater Bay exterior sequences were largely CGI with the coastline below Fort Lovrijenac providing background reference. The fort's exterior battlements feature in several shots. Interior scenes were filmed in studio sets rather than on location in Dubrovnik.

Is Trsteno Arboretum worth visiting for King's Landing fans?

Yes, especially if you want to escape Dubrovnik's crowds. The arboretum is 20 km north, served by bus 12 from the city, and is remarkably quiet compared to the Old Town. The garden scenes with Olenna Tyrell and Margaery Tyrell (seasons 3–4) were filmed here.

Can I walk all the King's Landing locations in one day?

The core Dubrovnik sites — Fort Lovrijenac, Stradun, Jesuit Staircase, Minčeta Tower, Pile Gate, city walls section — can be covered in 3–4 hours. Adding Trsteno requires half a day extra. Split and Klis are a separate day trip from Dubrovnik by car (2.5 hours each way) or better done when based in Split.

Was any King's Landing filming done indoors in Dubrovnik?

Most interior King's Landing scenes (throne room, council chambers, dungeons) were filmed in studio sets, not in Dubrovnik. A few covered outdoor spaces and courtyards were used. The majority of on-location Dubrovnik filming captured exterior city streets, walls and the fort.

King's Landing Dubrovnik: GoT Filming Locations Guide

When the Game of Thrones production team chose Dubrovnik as their primary King’s Landing location, they made a decision that would fundamentally reshape Croatian tourism for a generation. From season two through season eight, Dubrovnik’s pale limestone streets, fortified walls and dramatic coastal setting served as the visual backbone of the Lannister capital. What makes these locations extraordinary is not just their association with the show — it is that Dubrovnik was already one of the most beautifully preserved medieval cities in Europe, built over four centuries and largely intact since the 14th century.

Fort Lovrijenac: the Red Keep

Standing on a 37-metre rocky promontory just outside the western wall of the Old Town, Fort Lovrijenac was the most used GoT location in Dubrovnik. In the series it represented the exterior of the Red Keep — the seat of royal power in King’s Landing.

The fort was built in the 11th century in response to a Venetian attempt to construct a fortress on the same cliff. According to local legend, the Ragusans completed their own structure in just three months, denying Venice its strategic foothold. The inscription above the gate — Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro — translates roughly as “Freedom cannot be sold for all the gold in the world.” It was there long before HBO discovered the location.

The fort is compact — a triangular outer wall, a central courtyard, internal stairways to the battlements — but the views from the top are exceptional: the city walls to your right, the Adriatic below and the limestone peninsula of the Old Town spreading eastward. On a clear morning the island of Lokrum is visible to the southeast.

Practical details: entry is included on the combination city walls ticket (€35 adults in 2026, purchased at Pile or Ploče gate). If you only want the fort, a separate ticket is available at the entrance. The fort is also used as an open-air theatre venue in summer — worth checking if a performance coincides with your visit.

GoT filming notes: the battlements and courtyard appeared in seasons 2, 4, 5 and 6 in particular. The famous speech scenes and several confrontations between Lannister characters used the fort’s upper terrace.

Stradun (Placa): King’s Landing streets

The Stradun is Dubrovnik’s main thoroughfare — a broad, polished limestone pedestrian street running 300 metres from the Pile Gate in the west to the Luža Square and Clock Tower in the east. It was laid out in the 12th century on what had previously been a channel separating the original island settlement from the mainland.

In Game of Thrones the Stradun appeared in numerous street-level scenes across multiple seasons: Joffrey’s procession after his public execution of Ned Stark, Cersei walking through the city, and various background crowd scenes that required a genuinely medieval environment.

The Stradun is at its finest in the early morning: the pale limestone pavement — smoothed to a near-mirror finish by centuries of foot traffic — reflects the morning light, the shuttered windows of the buildings on either side are still closed, and the street is quiet enough to hear the fountains at each end. By 09:30 in summer it becomes the most crowded street in Croatia. Plan accordingly.

Side streets worth exploring: the narrow alleys (called ulice and od) running perpendicular to the Stradun were also used in filming. The area around Gundulićeva Poljana (Gundulić Square), reached from the Stradun via steep stone alleys, appeared in market and crowd scenes. It also hosts the morning produce market — a practical reason to be up early in any case.

Jesuit Staircase: Walk of Shame

The Ulica od Sigurate — commonly called the Jesuit Staircase — is the wide Baroque flight of steps descending from the Church of St Ignatius to the market square below. It was built in 1738 in the style of Rome’s Spanish Steps, and it serves as one of Dubrovnik’s most elegant public spaces entirely independent of any GoT association.

In season five, episode ten, this staircase was used for Cersei’s Walk of Shame — the scene in which she walks naked through the streets of King’s Landing while crowds jeer and a septa rings a bell. The filming required multiple production days, a closed-off section of the Old Town, and a crowd of extras. The resulting scene is one of the most discussed in the entire series.

The staircase is public, free and open at all hours. At the base of the steps, the small market square often has local vendors selling produce in the mornings. The Church of St Ignatius at the top is open for visits and contains some of the finest Baroque interior painting in Dalmatia.

For photographers: the staircase photographs well in the mid-morning when the light comes from above and to the east, illuminating the steps without harsh shadows. In late afternoon it falls into shadow — better for atmospheric shots but harder for clean architectural photography.

Minčeta Tower: House of the Undying

Minčeta Tower stands at the highest point of Dubrovnik’s city walls on the northwest corner, rising above the city on a commanding promontory. Its distinctive round tower, built by Michelozzo Michelozzi and then completed by Juraj Dalmatinac in the 15th century, appears on the Dubrovnik city walls ticket and is accessible during the wall walk.

In Game of Thrones season two, the exterior of Minčeta Tower served as the House of the Undying in Quarth — the mysterious structure where Daenerys’s dragons are held and where she experiences her visions. The tower’s medieval silhouette, rising dramatically against the sky, made it a credible stand-in for an ancient Essosi tower.

During the wall walk: Minčeta Tower is roughly at the halfway point of the full city walls circuit walking from Pile Gate (going counterclockwise). The walls walk takes 1.5–2 hours for the full circuit; the tower adds a short detour up its internal stair for panoramic views over the Old Town rooftops.

Pile Gate area: city entry scenes

The Pile Gate — the main western entrance to the Old Town — appeared in several scenes depicting arrivals and departures from King’s Landing. The gate is a double-portal structure (outer Renaissance, inner Gothic) connected by a drawbridge over a dry moat. The moat and outer wall area were used in exterior sequence filming.

The Pile Gate is the main pedestrian entry point into the Old Town for visitors arriving from the west. There is no separate entry fee. The gate is at its least crowded in the early morning — the best time to photograph it is before 08:00 when it is occupied only by the occasional local heading to work.

City walls: battlements and battle scenes

Various sections of Dubrovnik’s city walls appeared in King’s Landing battle and patrol scenes throughout the series. The walls circuit is 1,940 metres long and almost entirely walkable; heights vary from near sea level on the south side to 25 metres above the city on the landward sections.

The ultimate GoT city walking tour covers the principal wall sections used in filming alongside the main street-level locations, with episode-specific identification that makes the wall portions significantly more meaningful if you know what you are looking at.

The walls circuit alone is worth the price of the ticket — the views over the Old Town’s terracotta rooftops, the Adriatic to the south and the outer fortifications are genuinely extraordinary. Combining it with GoT context adds value for fans without subtracting anything for those less invested in the show.

Trsteno Arboretum: the King’s Landing gardens

Located 20 km northwest of Dubrovnik along the coastal road, Trsteno Arboretum is one of the oldest Renaissance gardens in Croatia, established in 1494 by the Gučetić noble family. The garden passed to the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in the 20th century and is maintained as a public garden and natural monument.

In Game of Thrones seasons three and four, the arboretum served as the garden within the Red Keep walls where Sansa Stark spoke privately with Olenna Tyrell and Margaery Tyrell. The towering plane trees — two of them more than 500 years old and among the largest in Croatia — and the formal fountain provided the atmospheric outdoor setting the show needed.

Trsteno is reached by bus 12 from Dubrovnik’s bus station, taking about 30–40 minutes. The arboretum is open daily in season (reduced hours in winter) and has a small entrance fee. It is calm, well-maintained and almost always less crowded than the Dubrovnik Old Town — a practical as well as historically interesting escape from the city.

Planning your King’s Landing visit

Self-guided versus guided: The main sites — Fort Lovrijenac, Stradun, Jesuit Staircase, Minčeta Tower — are clearly identifiable with minimal research. A guided tour adds production-specific context (which exact angle, which episode, which character stood where) that matters a great deal to fans but less to casual visitors.

The complete GoT tour covers all the principal King’s Landing sites in a logical circuit with a guide who can identify secondary locations you would otherwise miss.

Timing: Arrive at the Old Town as early as you reasonably can. Cruise ships begin discharging passengers from around 09:00; by 10:00 the Stradun and Jesuit Staircase are at peak congestion. The city is markedly quieter after 18:00 when day-trippers and cruise passengers depart, and the long Adriatic summer evening gives you excellent light from around 19:00 to 20:30.

Crowds and the city walls: The city walls open at 08:00. Purchasing tickets for the first entry slots — or for the early-bird walking tour (see GoT tours compared) — gives you significantly better photography conditions and a more immersive experience.

Beyond the Old Town: Trsteno Arboretum is often overlooked but genuinely worthwhile as a half-day addition. If you are based in Dubrovnik for 3–4 nights, it makes an excellent morning excursion combining the garden with a walk along the coast road.

For the full walking route connecting all King’s Landing sites with GPS waypoints and episode references, see the dedicated Dubrovnik GoT walking guide.

Frequently asked questions about King's Landing in Dubrovnik

Is Fort Lovrijenac part of the Dubrovnik city walls ticket?
Fort Lovrijenac has its own entry included on the combined city walls ticket (purchased at Pile or Ploče gate). If you only want the fort without the walls, a separate lower-price ticket is available at the fort entrance.
What is the best time of day to photograph King's Landing locations?
Early morning — before 08:30 — is by far the best window. The Stradun, Jesuit Staircase and Pile Gate area are genuinely uncrowded from 07:00 to 08:30. After 09:00 in summer, cruise ship passengers begin arriving and the main streets fill rapidly.
Which season had the most filming in Dubrovnik?
Seasons 2 through 6 had the heaviest Dubrovnik presence. Season 7 reduced Dubrovnik filming slightly as production moved to more locations in Spain. Season 8 returned to Dubrovnik for major scenes including Daenerys's arrival at King's Landing.
Where exactly was the Battle of Blackwater filmed?
The Blackwater Bay exterior sequences were largely CGI with the coastline below Fort Lovrijenac providing background reference. The fort's exterior battlements feature in several shots. Interior scenes were filmed in studio sets rather than on location in Dubrovnik.
Is Trsteno Arboretum worth visiting for King's Landing fans?
Yes, especially if you want to escape Dubrovnik's crowds. The arboretum is 20 km north, served by bus 12 from the city, and is remarkably quiet compared to the Old Town. The garden scenes with Olenna Tyrell and Margaery Tyrell (seasons 3–4) were filmed here.
Can I walk all the King's Landing locations in one day?
The core Dubrovnik sites — Fort Lovrijenac, Stradun, Jesuit Staircase, Minčeta Tower, Pile Gate, city walls section — can be covered in 3–4 hours. Adding Trsteno requires half a day extra. Split and Klis are a separate day trip from Dubrovnik by car (2.5 hours each way) or better done when based in Split.
Was any King's Landing filming done indoors in Dubrovnik?
Most interior King's Landing scenes (throne room, council chambers, dungeons) were filmed in studio sets, not in Dubrovnik. A few covered outdoor spaces and courtyards were used. The majority of on-location Dubrovnik filming captured exterior city streets, walls and the fort.