Game of Thrones Studio Tour Guide

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The Game of Thrones Studio Tour in Northern Ireland is the first permanent official Game of Thrones tourist attraction in the world. Located in the Linen Mills Studios, the original filming studios for Game of Thrones, the tour offers visitors a unique behind-the-scenes look into how the show was filmed. The tour includes a host of original sets along with the original costumes and props used in filming.

The tour is one of the best Game of Thrones filming locations in Ireland and is a must-visit for any fans of the show. Having visited the studios we’ve put together this guide to help anyone planning a trip, including how to get there, what to expect on the tour and any tips we found useful.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The Iron Throne, which visitors get to see on the Studio Tour

The Game of Thrones Studio Tour

The Game of Thrones Studio Tour opened in the Linen Mill Studios in February 2022 as the first permanent officially licenced Game of Thrones tourist attraction in the world. Visitors take a self-guided tour through the original studios which includes 12 of the original sets used for filming.

When we heard of the studio tour opening we took the first opportunity to visit and visited the opening weekend in February 2022.

We’re huge fans of the hit HBO series, Game of Thrones. We’ve visited many of the Game of Thrones filming locations around Europe, you can check our guides to:

GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS AHEAD! As you might expect, parts of the tour described below contain massive spoilers for the show!

How to Get to the Game of Thrones Studio Tour

The Studio tour is located at the Linen Mills Studios outside Banbridge in Northern Ireland. Visitors must park at the designated car park at the Banbridge shopping outlet, The Boulevard, and take a shuttle bus to the actual studios. The Boulevard is around 90 minutes by car from Dublin or 30 minutes from Belfast.

After parking in the designated car park, there is a ticket office where you can wait for the bus. Once the bus arrives the staff will scan your ticket and it’s a 10 to15 minute bus ride to the studios.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour tip: there are a limited number of parking spaces for Blue Badge holders at the Linen Mills Studio. You must reserve in advance.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The ticket office at the car park pick-up

How much are tickets for the Studio Tour?

There are various ticket options available for the studio tour. Standard individual tickets are £39.50 per person with child tickets (5-15 years) costing £27.50. Students are £31.50 with a valid ID. Children 4 and under go free.

Family tickets (2 adults and 2 children or 1 adult and 3 children) are £115 and £109 respectively.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour tip: Ticket prices are expensive, however having visited the studios we found the entrance is well worth the price. The wealth of materials from the show and sets make it well worth the entrance price.

There are also ticket and transfer ticket packages that include return transport from Dublin and Belfast. Tickets for the tour must be purchased in advance from the studio tour website here.

How long is the Tour?

The studio tour will likely take at least 2 hours, including the shuttle bus from the Boulevard Shopping Outlet at Banbridge. We spent around 3 hours in total and could easily have spent another hour exploring all the exhibits. Based on this we’d budget around 3 to 4 hours to really enjoy everything the studio has to offer.

Game of Thrones Studio tour tip: The Shuttle bus from the parking lot takes around 15 minutes each way so you’ll need to factor this into your plans.

The Studio Tour

We’ve included a brief summary of each of the main areas of the studio tour.

Game of Thrones Studio tour tip: We highly recommend downloading the Game of Thrones Studio Tour app (iOS / Android) prior to your visit. You can store your ticket QR code on the app and the app has the free studio map and audio tour (for an additional cost)

On arrival at the studio, there is a cloakroom and a stall to pick up audio guides (these can be purchased in advance when ordering tickets) or ear protectors for young children (there are some loud parts of the tour).

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The entrance to the Linen Mills Studios building

Before starting the tour there is a cafe in the lobby for snacks. The tour starts after you leave the lobby.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
All Men must Die, All men must serve (in High Valyrian)

1 | Theatre

The first stop in the studio is a short Game of Thrones and studio introductory video in the auditorium. After this visitors start the self-guided tour around the studio.

2 | Beyond the Wall

The first section of the tour after the auditorium is all things North of the Wall. Character costumes include the Free Folk (the wildlings), the Night King and his henchmen and the life-sized giant, Wun Wun.

It’s incredible to see the actual props and costumes used in the show and the level of detail is incredible.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The Night King
Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Wun Wun, the giant, is one of the most impressive costumes

Game of Thrones Studio Tour tip: Make sure to check out the prosthetics section of the tour where staff outline how the actor wore the giant suit. It even had its only air conditioning to counter the heat of the suit!

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Hodor in his most famous scene

3 | Production and Set Design

The tour progresses to a section on production and set design. This was one of our favorite parts of the tour as it gave a behind the scenes look at the concept art and set designs for many of the shows iconic scenes. There are many original scale models of various sets, including Winterfell and the Great Sept of Baelor.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The internal plan for the Great Sept of Balor

4 | Castle Black and The Night’s Watch

Next up is Castle Black and the home of the Night’s Watch. As the set designers envisioned, Castle Black was not a pleasant place. Characters on display include Jon Snow, Sam Tarley, and Melisandre (the priestess).

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Sam Tarley (left) and Jon Snow (right)
Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The death of Jon Snow

5 | Set Decoration and Props

The props section of the tour includes a myriad of props from the show. From small items such as weaponry and dragon eggs to larger-scale ships this section is packed with instantly recognisable props from the show

It’s worth looking at all the display cabinets in this section as there are some real gems hidden away, like the original “petrified” dragon eggs that were a wedding gift to Daenery’s Targaryen in season 1.

There’s also a fun interactive exhibit where visitors can design their own shield and crest.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The infamous Dragon eggs

Game of Thrones Studio Tour tip: For those who fancy a break there is a studio cafe located just before the Winterfell Crypts. The restaurant serves food throughout the day from breakfast until close

6 | The Crypts of Winterfell

Fans of the show will remember the crypts that lie under Winterfell castle. They feature in many scenes in the show and some of the most impressive tombs can be viewed on the studio tour.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Ned Stark

7 | Winterfell

The Great Hall of Winterfell set is the only set at the studio that has remained in the same place since season one of Game of Thrones. As the location for so many iconic Game of Thrones scenes, it’s no surprise that it was our favorite set on the tour! It really feels like you are in the world of Game of Thrones when you enter the Winterfell set.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The Great Hall of Winterfell

Many of the show’s best-known character costumes are lined around the hall walls, including Jon Snow, Arya Stark, Sansa Stark, Sandor Clegane (The Hound), Tyrian Lannister, and Brienne of Tarth to name just a few.

Visitors can easily spend over 30 minutes just looking at all the costumes in this set.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The Hound and warriors from the Battle of Winterfell
Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Arya Stark, Jon Snow and Sansa Stark

8 | Dragonstone

The feature set in the Dragonstone section is the Chamber of the Painted Table which has a detailed map of Westeros engraved on its surface. The characters depicted here include Tyrion Lannister and Olenna Tyrell.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Chamber of the Painted Table
Game of Thrones Studio Tour
One of the dragon skulls from the show

9 | Costume Design

One of the most impressive aspects of Game of Thrones was the intricate and diverse range of costumes that the actors wore. From heavily armored outfits to sleek, flowing dresses, the costume design section follows the Dragonstone sets and shows visitors exactly what it took to design all of the costumes, including displays of many of the iconic outfits.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Costume design
Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Little Fingers

10 | The Hall of Faces

The Hall of Faces is one of the most recognisable sets from Game of Thrones. The designers of Game of Thrones had to make over 600 individual prosthetic faces for the Hall of Faces set.

There is a really cool interactive exhibit where you can appear on one of the pillars of the Hall of Faces.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Waif and Jaqen H’ghar (the Faceless Man)
Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The Hall of Faces

11 | The Armory

The job of designing and making the vast array of weapons in Game of Thrones fell to master craftsman, Tommy Dunne. Tommy is a master armorer for movies and tv shows and worked previously on the movie Braveheart, Gladiator, and V for Vendetta.

Most of the signature weapons are on display, including Jon Snow’s sword, Longclaw, Ned Starks swords, Arya’s Needle and the dagger used to slay the Night King.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The Scorpion, a giant crossbow used by Euron Greyjoy to kill the dragon Rhaegal

There is also a fun interactive game where visitors can “shoot” a bow and arrow to kill the Wights attacking Winterfell.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The Valyrian steel dagger Arya used to slay the Night King

12 | Kings Landing

While the real-life city of Dubrovnik was used for Game of Thrones filming locations of Kings Landing, the studio was used for most of the internal shots. One of the most recognizable sets, the Map Courtyard is on display and featured in many important scenes.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour tip: The map was handpainted on tiles by two scenic painters, Dave Packard and Greg Winter, at the original set in the Titanic Studios.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The Map Courtyard of the Red Keep and costumes of Jamie and Cersei Lannister
Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The Queensguard armor worn by Ser Gregor Clegane, the Mountain

13 | The Throne Room

The final stop on the tour is the remains of the Throne Room after Daenerys Targaryen destroyed Kings Landing. The centrepiece of the room is of course the Iron Throne. Although there was a debate at the end of the show whether Drogon destroyed the throne, the original is here for everyone to see.

Game of Thrones Studio Tour
The entrance to the Throne Room
Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen in the Throne Room

The tour finishes in the studio gift shop which holds a really impressive selection of merchandise from the show.

Is the Game of Thrones Studio Tour Worth it?

So is the Game of Thrones Studio worth the trip? We say yes! Any fan of the Game of Thrones series will love the studio tour. The variety and number of sets, costumes, and props on display are amazing and it’s also cool to walk around the studio where many of the show’s iconic scenes were filmed. Although the entry cost is high, we guarantee that fans of the show will really enjoy the tour and we found it worth the cost.

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