Winterfell Tour Belfast: If you’re a Game of Thrones fan and planning on heading to Northern Ireland, then you must put the Winterfell Tour in Belfast on your list!
Located a one hour drive from Belfast city, you can spend the day out at Winterfell Castle as well as various other Game of Thrones filming locations, including Walder Frey’s ‘Twins’ castle.
Winterfell Tour Belfast
Winterfell Tour Package: Ned Package (Private)
Due to the time of year, we were unable to sign up for a group tour of Winterfell’s Archery Movie Set Experience. It was low season in October so not many people were around. Instead the only option for us was to do the private ‘Ned’ package. It costs 99 pound for the three of us. Though now I see they’ve increased the price to 99 pound for 2 persons.
Because it was so quiet on this day and we were the only tour booked, our guide gave us an extra half hour on the tour. So if you can, go during the low season! Otherwise it can get super busy and your experience may feel a little rushed.
Archery Movie Set Experience
With our tour, we arrived and met with the guide. He had been an extra in several seasons and encouraged any questions we had about the filming or the cast. We were taken to a GOT decorated room and shown how to put on the costumes. Plus we were allowed to try on the Hound’s helmet, of which had been used in the actual filming of the series.
Once all suited up, we headed out to the archery range, reserved just for us for the hour. This is where Bran would practise his archery in the first few episodes of season 1. We learned how to shoot arrows properly and had a little competition between us three.
Once the archery was over, we had some time to walk around and take photos of the set and of ourselves in the costumes.
We didn’t include any of the add ons to our package like meet the Dire Wolves or rent bikes and visit the other filming locations as we were pressed for time. Though if it’s a beautiful day and you have the time, it could definitely be worth it!
What You Should Know About The Winterfell Tour
Here’s the major thing you should know before getting too excited about this tour…. It doesn’t look a thing like Winterfell.
Nooooo! But WHY!???
Mainly because a lot of Winterfell is actually CGI, so the real ‘Winterfell Castle’ doesn’t even exist!
Also, the castle here, isn’t maintained with all the GOT props etc. The archery range, and the costume room are the two places with props and GOT ‘decor’. This is what I found most disappointing about the tour because many don’t realise this until arriving. Plus, you can’t actually go inside the castle tower. So perhaps ‘tour’ isn’t the right word for this. I believe this is why they call it an ‘experience’ instead of a tour.
Also note, that they stopped filming here several seasons ago, because too many people would come on the property to watch. So this is no longer the current filming location of Winterfell.
However, all that aside, getting to dress up in the actual Game of Thrones attire and shoot arrows and play with (fake) swords, definitely made up for the initial disappointment. We still had a blast all the same.
So if you’re looking for a set tour/experience similar to ones like Hobbiton in New Zealand, or like Harry Potter World in London, you won’t get that here. Instead you’ll get to dress up and play with weapons plus learn a bit about the filming process from the show’s extras.
I thought to write this post just to share what the experience was like for us. We had a boat load of fun, but I can definitely see why some people may feel ‘cheated’ upon their arrival.
You can watch the vlog of our Winterfell tour here, or check out our cringe cinematic parody video we made haha!
As always, be sure to leave a comment below or feel free to leave me a private message here. I love hearing about your travel experiences or any tips you have to share as well!
Next up…. Recapping our Ireland Road trip!
Until next time,
Hannah
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