Game of Thrones fans might already be experiencing withdrawal, as the final season is set to be aired in 2019. The end of Westeros? Well, not completely.
The Game of Thrones Legacy Project has been officially announced! (You don’t know how hard it was to find the official press release. SO many articles citing it without actually linking to it!)
As early as 2019 (potentially), you’ll be able to visit Winterfell, Castle Black, and Kings Landing in person, not just through your TV screen. Northern Ireland will be the host of these locations, along with Linen Mill Studios, and will be preserving them for years to come.
Game of Thrones set in Northern Ireland. Image from tourismni.com
As if Northern Ireland wasn’t already a great place to visit, now there’s a fandom element to it? Sign me up.
Are you interested in travelling to Northern Ireland? You can contact Jennifer Desmarais through Orleans Travel. jennifer.desmarais@orleanstravel.ca
A friend may be travelling to Europe shortly, which reminded me I wanted to write about Croatia. Located on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, west of Hungary and Serbia, south of Slovenia, and wrapping around Bosnia and Herzegovina to the north and west, Croatia is considered part of Eastern Europe.
Croatia is an up-and-coming fandom travel destination. Although several movies have been made there, none of them have made an impact on the Fandom community. Game of Thrones, however, has filmed quite a few scenes in King’s Landing Dubrovnik. There are plenty of choices for fandom travel. Viator offers several tours, including the cities Dubrovnik and Split. “Memorable locations from the series include the Minceta, Bokar, and Lovrijenac fortresses; the Dubac quarry; the island of Lokum, just off the coast of Dubrovnik; the village of Mlini; and the island of Mrkan just off the coast of Cavtat” (Viator). Dubrovnik is also a great place to soak up the sun in a Mediterranean climate.
Zagreb, Croatia’s northern capital. Image from Lonely Planet.
If you want to visit the interior of Croatia, the capital Zagreb has tons of geeky things to offer. The Technical Museum offers a planetarium, an underground coal mine replica, and Nikola Tesla’s laboratory, where you can become a test subject. There’s a bar called Tolkien’s House next to a monastery. There’s more, check out this link for short descriptions of all the cool things to do!
Koprivnica, Croatia becomes a Renaissance town in August for a festival. Image from Croatia Tourism.
Further inland is the city of Koprivnica. What drew my eye is its Renaissance Festival, held the 25-28 of August 2016. Over ten European countries will be competing in this year’s events, the central theme of which is “Equestrian Knight’s Tournament”. Hundreds of performers from Croatia and the other ten countries will be in full costume, and welcome the chance to interact with tourists and locals alike.
If you’d like help booking this trip. You can contact Jennifer Desmarais through Orleans Travel. jennifer.desmarais@orleanstravel.ca
