Game Of Thrones Tour Belfast!

I had such high hopes for today and it was way better than expected. I booked the Game Of Thrones Tours a little while ago not just because we are massive fans of the TV show but it would be a great way to see some of Northern Ireland.
We started off meeting up at a hostel just around the corner from our hotel, only a short 5 minute walk away & we arrived there super early just incase. Nathan handed our tickets over to the reception man, but he couldn’t find our booking & had never heard of the company we’d booked through. My heart immediately sank, “Does that mean we can’t go?” Lip quivering as I hobbled over on my crutches.
“It’s ok, we have a few seats left” He smiled, without further question he booked us onto the tour anyways & we left our booking sheet with him so he could look into it.

The tour guide started the journey by saying how lucky we were to have a clear blue sky with sunshine, followed by the fact that we were in Ireland and it may not last long. Some days they get four seasons in a day. We did have strong winds and some clouds come over, at one point it looked like it was going to storm, but most of the day we were wearing just a t-shirt & shorts in the sunshine. The sky was so clear around lunch time that some of the way we could see Scotland on the horizon.

The tour left at 9am in the morning & was a 9 hour day, we left the hotel & drove for about 2 hours before our first stop. Usually I hate being on coaches, they’re so stuffy & cramped but our tour guide was hilarious & so informative. He explained the TV series to us & all the little things we should look out for. Apparently the pilot episode was filmed in Scotland but HBO, who had given them 5 million dollars to make it absolutely hated it. After hours of negotiation they were given another 2 million to remake but this time they went to Ireland & changed many characters. They loved the second series & signed on for a 10 year contract...
We passed many beautiful castles & amazing country side on the way there. One point we got stuck in a bit of a traffic jam with a lady who couldn’t reverse for the life of her! The bus driver jumped off to the rescue & reversed it out of the way. We sat all trying not to laugh whilst peering out the coach window watching her inch back then brake hard.

We drove past Castle Black which had been built purely for the show, unfortunately HBO have strict orders that no one is able to go see it. Wanting to keep somethings a secret.
Many of the little towns we drove through were still using dial up internet, had no phone signal & no street lamps. They were small peaceful looking towns. Nathan & I are so used to not contacting anyone except via Facebook that we don’t even carry our English phone around with us!

We stopped off in the town of Cushendun and walked to the caves where Melisandre of Asshai gave birth to her ‘shadow baby’. We head off next to Ballycastle to see where Varys was born, we visited the Dark Hedges road, with its natural archway of intertwined trees, where only 8 seconds is shown in the TV series but they spent 3 days and a lot of money filming.
We visited Carrick a Redge rope bridge, which was absolutely stunning, part of GOT was filmed in the over flow car park. We also saw a little seal playing in the water in front of us which swam away to quick to get a photo. Nathan with his bad eye sight was convinced that a large chunk of seaweed was another one.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t go across the bridge (Probably good for me) as they send 6 over then 6 back and so on. So would have taken to long to get the group across.
Last we stopped at Caseway Coast for a great pub lunch then got a bus down to see the hexagonal rock columns and more beautiful Irish scenery. I knew Ireland was going to be stunning but today blew us away.

Through out the tour our guide would show us video clips of the series to show where we were in regards to the filming. Along the way he would tell us facts about the show & how they interwove with Irish legends. He also pointed out a group of cows chilling on the beach, apparently farmers in the area get paid by the government to take them to the beach and through the water to kill any parasites on them! He also pointed out a few things in GOT that you wouldn’t pick up on if you didn’t know what you were looking for! There were no spoilers from him either.

Oh, & I can’t forget Billy the bus driver! He was fantastic, his manners were amazing & he was so helpful. Very caring, especially with me being on crutches. On the way back they even stopped at various locations to ensure everyone was close enough to their hotels. We came home exhausted, but with amazing memories & great photographs!

If you find yourself in Belfast I would highly recommend doing this tour, especially if your a GOT fan! I know I will be if I ever find myself here again.