Game of Thrones Tours in Croatia Compared: Dubrovnik, Split & Klis
Dubrovnik: The ultimate Game of Thrones city walking tour
Why Croatia became King’s Landing — and what the tours actually show you
When HBO’s production team scouted locations for King’s Landing in 2011, Dubrovnik was an obvious choice: a walled medieval city with intact limestone fortifications, narrow stone streets, and a harbour that could plausibly stand in for a fantasy Adriatic capital. The city’s walls, towers, and sea gates have appeared in every season of Game of Thrones from season 2 onwards, accumulating what is estimated to be tens of millions of euros in tourism impact annually.
Split and the Klis Fortress contributed a second set of major locations. Diocletian’s Palace — the enormous Roman-era complex that forms the living heart of Split’s old town — appeared as the slave pits beneath the Great Pyramid of Meereen in season 4. Klis Fortress, a real medieval fortification on a limestone ridge above Split, stood in for Meereen’s exterior across multiple seasons.
Taken together, Croatia contains more identifiable Game of Thrones filming locations than almost anywhere else in the world. This guide compares every major tour format across both cities, honestly, including what separates an excellent guide from a mediocre one.
Dubrovnik Game of Thrones tours: what each format covers
Standard Dubrovnik walking tour — A licensed guide leads 15–25 participants through the old town over 1.5 to 2 hours, stopping at 8–12 filming locations. The core circuit covers Fort Lovrijenac (the Red Keep exterior), the steps below St Dominic’s church (the Walk of Atonement), the Rector’s Palace courtyard, the Ethnographic Museum entrance, Pile Gate (the city gate seen in multiple establishing shots), and stretches of the city walls that appear repeatedly as King’s Landing’s fortifications. Good guides bring screenshots from the relevant episodes and place them against the real view — the alignment between show geography and real space is one of the pleasures of these tours.
See the full Dubrovnik Game of Thrones walking tour1.5-hour compact tour — A shorter version covering the central locations without the outer stops. Best suited to travellers with limited time or those who have already visited Dubrovnik and want a focused Game of Thrones pass. Duration: 1.5 hours. Price: 20–30 EUR. Guide quality on these shorter tours is more variable — the compressed format leaves less room for depth.
Complete Dubrovnik tour (extended) — Covers all major King’s Landing locations including some that the shorter tours skip: the steps below the Dominican Monastery (used in multiple crowd and riot scenes), the harbour front, and views from specific bastions on the walls that served as establishing shots. Duration 2.5–3 hours. Price: 30–50 EUR. For serious fans of the show, this is the version worth booking.
Private Dubrovnik Game of Thrones tour — A private guide, your group only, with full flexibility on pace and additional questions. Private tours allow the guide to tailor content to your specific knowledge of the show — fans who want to debate production decisions and non-fans who want more historical context can both be served. Duration 2–3 hours. Price: 80–150 EUR for the group. The per-person cost becomes competitive for groups of four or more.
Book a private Game of Thrones tour of DubrovnikKaraka boat cruise and walking tour — The Karaka is a historically accurate replica of a 16th-century Ragusan merchant vessel that was used in Game of Thrones filming (the ship appears in multiple Essos harbour sequences). This tour combines a 2-hour cruise on the Karaka around Dubrovnik’s harbour walls with a walking tour of the King’s Landing locations on shore. It is a genuinely distinctive product — the only way to physically interact with a filming asset rather than simply standing at a location. Price: 50–80 EUR. Recommended for fans who want something beyond a standard walking tour.
Split and Klis: the Meereen locations
Split offers a different Game of Thrones experience from Dubrovnik. Where Dubrovnik provides a dense cluster of walkable King’s Landing sites, Split’s GOT locations are split between the urban palace complex and an out-of-town fortress.
Diocletian’s Palace underground halls — The Roman-era cellars beneath Diocletian’s Palace were used to film the slave pits and catacombs beneath the Great Pyramid of Meereen. These are real underground spaces — massive, well-preserved Roman vaulted chambers — that are impressive independently of any show association. The Diocletian’s Palace guide provides the full historical context. Game of Thrones tours of Split typically begin here before moving to Klis.
Klis Fortress — The fortress sits on a narrow limestone ridge 15 km north of Split, visible from the city below. It served as the external architecture of Meereen — Daenerys famously frees slaves from the battlements in season 4. The fortress itself is a genuinely important historical site: a medieval stronghold that held off Ottoman expansion into Dalmatia for decades before falling in 1537. The views across Split and the Dalmatian coast are exceptional, and the connection to Game of Thrones adds a layer of recognition that most visitors appreciate even on top of the historical interest.
Split Game of Thrones tours are either walking-only (covering the Diocletian’s Palace area) or combined tours that add Klis by car or minivan. The Klis addition requires transport and adds roughly 2–3 hours to the total visit. It is worth the extra time if the show is a meaningful part of why you chose Croatia.
Comparing price tiers and value
Standard Dubrovnik walking tour: 20–40 EUR. Best value for a first-time visitor who wants the essential King’s Landing circuit efficiently.
Extended or complete Dubrovnik tour: 35–55 EUR. Worth the premium for fans who want depth and less commonly visited locations.
Private Dubrovnik tour: 80–150 EUR for the group. Competitive for groups of four or more; the best guide quality tends to be found in private tours where guides invest in client relationships.
Karaka cruise plus walking: 50–80 EUR. A premium product with a genuine differentiator — the boat itself — that justifies the price for fans wanting something beyond a walking itinerary.
Split standard walking: 20–35 EUR. Palace cellars and surrounding old town.
Split plus Klis: 45–70 EUR. The full Meereen experience. Klis is not walkable from Split — this tour includes transport.
Private Split plus Klis: 100–200 EUR for the group. Full flexibility and a dedicated guide across both sites.
The Game of Thrones trail itinerary provides a multi-day framework for combining Dubrovnik and Split locations in a single trip.
Honest assessment of guide quality variance
This is the most important section for managing expectations. Game of Thrones tours vary more in quality than almost any other tour category in Croatia. The locations are fixed — a guide cannot make Fort Lovrijenac more impressive — but the commentary can range from transformative to perfunctory.
The best guides in this space have deep knowledge of both the show and the production decisions behind specific scenes. They bring episode stills, can explain why certain scenes were shot in specific directions to avoid anachronistic modern elements, and can articulate how the production team mapped fictional geography onto real Dubrovnik (a process that required deliberate inconsistency, since the city is far smaller than King’s Landing was depicted as being).
Weaker guides rely on a scripted list of locations and minimal elaboration. If a tour listing emphasises “15 locations” without describing what the guide actually does at each one, that is a signal worth noting.
Private tours and small-group tours with verified local guides consistently outperform large group walking tours on this metric. If Game of Thrones is a genuine priority rather than a box-ticking exercise, the per-person cost of a private tour is justified.
What the tours cannot offer anymore
Game of Thrones wrapped production in 2019. No filming has occurred in Croatia since. The locations remain precisely as they were — the walls, streets, and fortress of Dubrovnik are permanent historical sites — but there is no active production, no props or costumes on-site, no filming schedules to intersect with. Some tours used to include cast sightings during production years; that element is gone.
What remains is substantial: real locations with documented historical depth that predate the show by centuries. The walk of Atonement steps date from the 15th century. Fort Lovrijenac was built in the early 11th century. Klis Fortress has records dating to the 9th century. Game of Thrones gave these sites global recognition; the sites themselves were extraordinary before the cameras arrived.
How to book
Dubrovnik walking tours should be booked at least 3–5 days ahead in peak season, with private tours requiring more lead time. Karaka cruises have limited capacity and often sell out. Split plus Klis tours are generally more available but still worth booking in advance.
For Dubrovnik, confirm whether the tour includes Fort Lovrijenac entry (some do, some don’t — it has a separate entry fee). For the Karaka cruise, confirm the approximate weather cancellation policy. For Split plus Klis, confirm whether transport is included or whether you arrange your own way to the fortress.
Book the Karaka cruise and King’s Landing walking tourThe Croatia filming locations guide covers additional productions shot in Croatia beyond Game of Thrones, for travellers with broader film-location interests.
Compare alternative tours
| Tour | Duration | Rating | Price | Highlights | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubrovnik: Game of Thrones complete tour | — | — | — | — | Check |
| Dubrovnik: Private Game of Thrones tour | — | — | — | — | Check |
| Dubrovnik: 1.5-hour Game of Thrones walking tour | — | — | — | — | Check |
| Split: Game of Thrones tour | — | — | — | — | Check |
| Split: Private Game of Thrones tour to Klis | — | — | — | — | Check |
| Dubrovnik: Karaka Game of Thrones cruise and walking tour | — | — | — | — | Check |
Frequently asked questions about Game of Thrones Tours in Croatia Compared
Is filming still happening at these locations?
No. Game of Thrones concluded in 2019 and no filming has taken place in Croatia since. The locations are permanent — the walls, streets, and fortresses are real historical sites that existed long before the show — but there is no active production to observe.How many Game of Thrones locations are in Dubrovnik?
Dubrovnik contains around 20 identifiable filming locations used for King's Landing across seasons 2 through 8. The most visited include Fort Lovrijenac (the Red Keep exterior), the city walls, Pile Gate, Rector's Palace courtyard, and the steps below St Dominic's church.What is Klis Fortress and why is it in a Game of Thrones tour?
Klis Fortress is a medieval fortification on a ridge 15 km north of Split. It served as the filming location for Meereen — Daenerys's slave city — across seasons 4 and 5. The fortress is impressive in its own right and offers spectacular views of Split and the Dalmatian hinterland.Can I do both the Dubrovnik and Split Game of Thrones tours?
Yes, but it requires two days: one in Dubrovnik and one with a Split-based tour to Klis. Some travellers build a mini Game of Thrones itinerary around this combination. The Game of Thrones trail itinerary covers this in detail.Is the Karaka boat the actual ship from the show?
Yes — the Karaka is a historically accurate replica of a 16th-century merchant ship that was used in filming. Taking the cruise is one of the few ways to physically interact with a prop-level asset from the production. It is a genuine differentiator from purely land-based tours.How do Game of Thrones tours compare in quality?
Enormously. The best guides have watched every episode, know the exact camera angles and scene context, and can show you how the production team used specific real-world spaces to create fictional geography. The worst guides walk you to a location, say 'this was in Game of Thrones,' and move on. Private and small-group tours generally deliver better guide quality.Do I need to have watched the show to enjoy the tour?
A Game of Thrones tour without series knowledge is still a high-quality historical walking tour of Dubrovnik or Split. The guide commentary covers the real history of every location alongside the show context. Non-fans regularly report enjoying these tours.
