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.
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 Filming locations in Malta
- Game of Thrones Filming locations in Croatia
- Game of Thrones Filming locations in Ireland
- Game of Thrones filming locations in Dubrovnik
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.
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).
Before starting the tour there is a cafe in the lobby for snacks. The tour starts after you leave the lobby.
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 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!
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.
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).
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
There is also a fun interactive game where visitors can “shoot” a bow and arrow to kill the Wights attacking Winterfell.
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.
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.
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.
