THE REALM OF GAME OF THRONES

In Northern Ireland and Donegal, a county in the northwest of Ireland, you will find so much rugged and beautiful, from cliffs to castles and from caves to grasslands. Not surprising that location scouts like it Game of Thrones found many settings for the series here. The arrivals hall of Belfast International Airport is full of large posters referring to this. Welcome to 'the real Westeros'.

Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer | Online editor: Natasha Hendriks
Image: John van Helvert

Something for the history books

We arrive on a day when Northern Ireland makes history: according to the newspaper, the highest temperature ever recorded in the country was 30,4 degrees. The lady behind the counter at Enterprise Rent-A-Car knows for sure. “It has never been so hot”, she sighs, her forehead pearling. A little later, photographer John van Helvert and I drive with the air conditioning on maximum towards the center of Belfast, the city that previously made it into the history books on other fronts. The RMS Titanic was built and launched here. The Titanic Hotel restaurant is now located on the site where Harland & Wolff used to be located, at the time the largest shipyard in the world. In fact, where we enjoy Shipyard Chowder, a thick soup with pieces of haddock, salmon, hake, mussels and shrimp, sketches of the most famous boat ever were made in the past. When we later walk through Titanic Belfast - a shiny building shaped like the bow of a ship that was completed in 2012 at a cost of 110 million euros - we see the interior of the restaurant where we just visited in black and white. goods. No soup bowls and glasses of beer on the tables, but large sheets of paper and drawing utensils. You can see how each piece of ship was put together by hand; virtually visits all decks, from engine room to first-class cabins; joins us on the fateful journey in 1912…

Intruders

The next day we leave Belfast and drive north via the Causeway Coastal Route. A winding trail lined by woods leads us along a sea glistening with sunshine to Glenarm Castle. This castle has belonged to the MacDonnel's for about four hundred years. Sound Scottish? Beats. These are invaders from times long gone that have stuck around. The family first resided in Dunluce Castle, which was built on a basalt cliff on the north coast of Northern Ireland. Glenarm was theirs hunting lodge. When the cliff partially collapsed and took Dunluce's kitchen into the fathomless depths, the family decided with Scottish roots to take up residence in Glenarm Castle. Viscount Randal MacDonnel now lives there. We are not allowed to enter the castle, but we are allowed to enter the more than six hundred hectares of land surrounding it and the garden from 1735.

Migrating salmon

In the picturesque village of Cushendun, with its quaint cottages and traditional pubs, we take the Torr Head route: a road so narrow that you drive on both the left and the right. We meander along the coast, from where the clear weather allows us to see Scotland in the distance. After the quiet route along Torr, it takes some getting used to the hustle and bustle in Ballycastle. It looks like Stadhouderskade on a Thursday afternoon. Most people come from or go to the two major highlights in this neighborhood. Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge is a rope bridge that connects the island of Carrick-A-Rede to the mainland. Since 350 years ago it has mainly been used to catch migrating salmon, but today the bridge is a tourist attraction.

Homemade cake

Blackrock House is a five-star boutique bed and breakfast. “And last year it was voted the best B&B in Northern Ireland,” says owner Nicola Neill proudly. And she may be: she has single-handedly created a paradise, in natural colors and with beautiful works of art that match the surroundings of sea and sand. At the reception we are welcomed with coffee and home-baked cake, which we enjoy on the terrace overlooking the beach, the boulevard and the harbor of Portrush. Add to that the fact that this luxury B&B is located close to the Royal Portrush Golf Club, where the English Open will be held next year, and you can rightly speak of an A-location. And A-service!

The Kings Road

Behind the latter were the location scouts Game of Thrones also came: Northern Ireland offers so much beauty, from rugged chalk coasts to sparkling seas, from abandoned castles to vast lawns. Here they found the perfect setting for The Iron Islands, Winterfell and Storm's End, to name just a few locations from the series. The arrivals hall of Belfast International Airport is full of posters with texts such as 'Winterfell is here', 'Westeros is here', 'Dorne is here' and 'The Wolf's Wood is here'. The message is clear: in Northern Ireland you actually walk through the world of Game of Thrones. The country is therefore also sometimes joked about 'the real Westeros' mentioned (Westeros is the mythical continent where most of the series takes place; ed.).

The eye of nature

The next day John and I are on another set, that of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Filming took place in the northernmost point of Ireland: Malin Head, a headland in County Donegal. You feel like you are, indeed, on another planet. The rugged emptiness, the steep cliffs, the inhospitability, the swirling ocean that smashes its waves against the jagged rocks. The highlight is Hell's Hole, where the sea is forcefully compressed into a narrow gorge and roars as it searches for a way out. What violence! Everything is bigger and grand in this area. Take Five Fingers Strand: a beach wedged between dunes that are up to thirty meters high, the highest in Europe. A place to wander endlessly. Malin Head is the eye of nature, where all the beauty comes together. From there you can follow the coast of Ireland south via the Wild Atlantic Way.

Irish beef

The next day we drive past meadows full of Irish beef towards the Fanad Head peninsula. The navigation fails us and along the way we ask an old owner if we are doing well. His Irish accent is hard to follow, but his gestures indicate that we can expect a lot of twists and turns. In one of those bends we have a magnificent view of Ballymastocker Bay, through the British newspaper The Observer once called 'the most beautiful beach in the world'. Towards the end of the endless winding road looms Fanad Lighthouse, the lighthouse that has been trying to prevent ships from running aground for more than two hundred years. From this point you can see Malin Head and Lough Swilly, an inlet of fjord-like proportions.

showbizz

The rooms at Glenveagh Castle are not nearly as large as those at Harvey's Point, our accommodation for the night. “My whole house fits in there,” John jokes when he opens the door of his DeLuxe Suite. He has access to, among other things, two spacious armchairs with footstools, a table and chairs, wall cupboard, television cabinet, desk, two double beds, a chaise longue, double jacuzzi and kitchenette. Harvey's Point has been voted 'Ireland's best hotel' for five years in a row and boasts an award-winning restaurant. There, while looking out over the lake on which it is located, we feast on fresh monkfish and sea bass.