In Northern Ireland and Donegal, a county in northwestern Ireland, you will find so much ruggedness and beauty, from cliffs to castles to caves to grasslands. Not surprisingly, Game of Thrones ' location scouts found many settings for the series here. The arrivals hall at Belfast International Airport is full of large posters referencing it. Welcome to "the real Westeros.
Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer | Online Editor: Natasha Hendriks
Image: John van Helvert
We arrive on a day when Northern Ireland is making history: according to the newspaper, 30.4 degrees is the highest temperature ever recorded in the country. The lady behind the counter at Enterprise Rent-A-Car is pretty sure. " It has never been so hot," she sighs with pearly brow. Moments later, photographer John van Helvert and I drive with the air conditioning on max toward the center of Belfast, the city that previously made the history books on other fronts. The RMS Titanic, for example, was built and launched here. On the spot where Harland & Wolff used to be located, at the time the largest shipyard in the world, is now the restaurant of Titanic Hotel. In fact, where we feast on Shipyard Chowder, thick soup with pieces of haddock, salmon, hake, mussels and shrimp, the sketches of the most famous boat ever were once made. When we later walk through Titanic Belfast - a gleaming building shaped after the bow of a ship, completed in 2012 at a cost of 110 million euros - we see in black and white the interior of the restaurant we were just in. On the tables not soup bowls and glasses of beer, but large sheets of paper and drawing utensils. You see how each piece of the ship was hand-built together; virtually visit all the decks, from engine room to first-class cabins; join us on the fateful voyage in 1912....
The next day we leave Belfast and drive north along the Causeway Coastal Route. A winding course lined by groves leads us past a sea glistening with sunshine to Glenarm Castle. This castle has belonged to the MacDonnel's for some four hundred years. Sound Scottish? True. These are invaders from times long past that have lingered. First the family resided at Dunluce Castle, which was built on a basalt cliff on the northern coast of Northern Ireland. Glenarm was their hunting lodge. When the cliff partially collapsed, taking Dunluce's kitchen with it into the unfathomable depths, the family with Scottish roots decided to move into Glenarm Castle. That's where Viscount Randal MacDonnel now lives. We are not allowed to enter the castle, but we are allowed to enter the more than six hundred acres of surrounding land and the 1735 garden.
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 both left and right. We wind along the coast, from where the clear weather allows us to see Scotland in the distance. After the quiet route along Torr, we have to get used to the hustle and bustle of Ballycastle. It looks like Stadhouderskade on a Thursday afternoon. Most people are coming from or going to the two major highlights in this neighborhood. Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge is a rope bridge connecting the islet of Carrick-A-Rede to the mainland. Whereas since 350 years ago it was mainly used for catching migrating salmon, today the bridge is a tourist attraction.
Blackrock House is a five-star boutique bed and breakfast. "And last year voted the best B&B in Northern Ireland," owner Nicola Neill proudly tells us. And she may be: she has single-handedly created a little paradise, in natural colors and with beautiful artwork to match the surroundings of sea and sand. At the reception we are welcomed with coffee and homemade cake, which we consume on the terrace overlooking the beach, promenade and harbor of Portrush. Add to that the fact that this luxury B&B is right next to the Royal Portrush Golf Club, where next year's English Open will be held, and you can rightly speak of an A-location. And A-service!
Game of Thrones ' location scouts had figured out the latter, too: Northern Ireland offers so much beauty, from jagged chalk coasts to sparkling seas, from abandoned castles to vast grassy fields. Here they found the perfect setting for The Iron Islands, Winterfell and Storm's End, among others, just to name a few locations from the series. The arrivals hall of Belfast International Airport is full of posters with texts like "Winterfell is here," "Westeros is here," "Dorne is here" and "The Wolf's Wood is here. The message is clear: in Northern Ireland, you are actually walking through the world of Game of Thrones. The country is therefore jokingly called 'the real Westeros' (Westeros is the mythical continent where most of the series is set; ed.).
The next day, John and I are on another set, that of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Before that, filming had taken place at the northernmost point of Ireland: Malin Head, a headland in County Donegal. You imagine yourself, indeed, on another planet. The rugged emptiness, the steep cliffs, the inhospitality, the swirling ocean foaming its waves against the jagged rocks. The highlight is Hell's Hole, where the sea is forcefully compressed into a narrow chasm and roars for a way out. What violence! Everything is bigger and grand in this area. Take Five Fingers Strand: a beach sandwiched between dunes as high as thirty meters, 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.
The next day we drive past meadows full of Irish beef toward the Fanad Head peninsula. The navigation lets us down, and along the way we ask an old man if we are going right. His Irish tongue is barely audible, but his gestures indicate that we can expect many turns. In one of those turns we have magnificent views of Ballymastocker Bay, once called "the most beautiful beach in the world" by British newspaper The Observer. Toward the end of the endless winding road looms Fanad Lighthouse, the lighthouse that has been trying to prevent ships from running aground for over two hundred years. From this point you can see Malin Head and Lough Swilly, an inlet of fjord-like proportions.
The rooms at Glenveagh Castle are not nearly as large as those at Harvey's Point, our lodging for the night. "My whole house fits in there," John jokes as he opens the door to his DeLuxe Suite. At his disposal include two spacious armchairs with ottoman, a table and chairs, wall cabinet, television cabinet, desk, two double beds, a chaise-longue, double Jacuzzi and kitchenette. Harvey's Point has been named "best hotel in Ireland" five years in a row and boasts an award winning restaurant. There, overlooking the lake on which it is located, we feast on fresh monkfish and sea bass.
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