The Complete GoT & Narnia Trail

Start your three-day adventure in Newcastle with a proper breakfast. Niki's Kitchen Cafe on Main Street does honest, big portions and strong coffee — the kind of place where locals actually eat. Or try the Great Eastern for a full Ulster fry with a view of Slieve Donard rising behind the promenade. You're about to enter the Seven Kingdoms and Narnia in the same weekend. You'll need the fuel.

This is where it all began. The very first scene of the very first episode of Game of Thrones was filmed right here — three Night’s Watch rangers riding through the trees before their fatal encounter with the White Walkers. Walk the Shimna River trail past the moss-covered stone bridges: this is where the Stark children found the direwolf pups in the snow, and the old bridges doubled as the Kingsroad. The morning mist through these ancient trees is the real magic — the production scouts walked in here and knew immediately. Don’t miss the Gothic gate arches and the 18th-century follies hidden along the paths. These ornamental bridges and gateways are older than the show by three centuries, and just as atmospheric.

The big one. Castle Ward’s 18th-century farmyard was transformed into the courtyard of Winterfell — and you’ll recognise it immediately. This is where Ned Stark stood when Robert Baratheon arrived with his royal procession, and where Jon Snow taught Bran to shoot a bow. The archery range is still there: the Winterfell Archery Experience lets you dress in cloaks and fire longbows on the same spot (book ahead). The National Trust runs the estate, with a small exhibition of props and costumes. Wander down to the lough shore afterwards for views across Strangford Lough that make you want to swear fealty to House Stark. Audley’s Field nearby was used for the Baratheon camp scenes — the tents were pitched right here.

Strangford (*Strangfjorðr* — the Vikings named it ‘Strong Fjord’ for the fierce tidal currents) is a tiny, gorgeous village on the lough. The Cuan is an old coaching inn with excellent seafood — fish and chips, chowder, local crab in a warm pub atmosphere. The Strangford–Portaferry car ferry runs right past the village — worth watching while you eat.

These atmospheric Cistercian ruins, sitting in a field beside the River Quoile, doubled as the camp near the Twins. This is where Robb Stark received news of Ned’s death and was crowned King in the North — that triumphant, hair-raising moment when the Northern lords drew their swords and chanted. Inch Abbey is a 12th-century monastery founded by John de Courcy, and even without the GoT connection it’s hauntingly beautiful. Free to visit, rarely crowded. One of those places where you get the whole ruin to yourself and can almost hear the swords being drawn.

Head back to Newcastle for the evening. The Mourne Seafood Bar in Dundrum (15 mins from Newcastle) is legendary for locally caught seafood. Or stay in town and try the Anchor Bar for something more relaxed. You’ve walked the Haunted Forest and stood in the courtyard of Winterfell — you’ve earned a proper dinner.

Day two. Today belongs to C.S. Lewis and the landscapes that became Narnia. Start with breakfast at a cafe on the promenade — window seats overlooking the beach and Slieve Donard. Lewis spent childhood holidays in these parts, staring at the Mourne Mountains from across Belfast Lough. Today you’ll walk the forests and mountains he was looking at.

Drive to Rostrevor and into Kilbroney Forest Park, where the dedicated C.S. Lewis / Narnia trail winds through ancient woodland. Lewis holidayed in Rostrevor as a child, and wrote that the Mourne Mountains were his “idea of Narnia.” The trail features carved wooden sculptures of Narnian characters — Aslan, Mr Tumnus, the White Witch — hidden among the trees. Follow the path through stands of old oak and beech that feel exactly like stepping through the wardrobe. The forest floor is carpeted in moss, the light filters through the canopy, and you genuinely understand how a boy from Belfast looked at these woods and imagined another world. The Cloughmore Trail starts from the same car park if you want to add the stone.

If you didn’t take the Cloughmore detour from Kilbroney, drive into Rostrevor village first. This adventure village is tucked into the foot of Slieve Martin with Carlingford Lough spread out before it. Walk up to the Cloughmore Stone — a 50-tonne granite boulder the giant Fionn Mac Cumhaill supposedly threw across the lough from the Cooley Mountains. It’s about 40 minutes up, with views that go on forever. The stone itself is extraordinary — a massive glacial erratic balanced on the hillside like something a giant actually did place there. Lewis would have known this story. His Narnia is full of giants and enchanted stones.

You’ve earned lunch. The Kilbroney Bar does hearty pub food with views over the lough. Or try the Rostrevor Inn for something a bit more refined. Rostrevor has the feel of a village that knows it’s special but hasn’t tried too hard. Exactly the kind of place Lewis would have loved.

Drive from Rostrevor towards the Silent Valley or Spelga Dam for the sweeping Mourne mountain views that appear as landscape backdrops in both GoT and were Lewis’s original inspiration. The road over Spelga Pass gives you panoramic views of the High Mournes — Slieve Donard, Slieve Commedagh, Slieve Binnian rising in a wall of granite. This is the landscape the GoT aerial units filmed for establishing shots of Westeros. It’s also the landscape Lewis described in letters: “I have seen landscapes… which, under a particular light, made me feel that at any moment a giant might raise his head over the next ridge.” Stop at Spelga Dam, walk to a viewpoint, and just look. Two fictional worlds were born from what you’re seeing.

Back to Newcastle for the evening. Try somewhere different from last night. Brunel's does solid pub grub in a relaxed setting. Or if you want to push the boat out, the Slieve Donard Hotel's restaurant has the grandest setting in town — Victorian dining room with mountain views. Tomorrow is your last day. Make it count.

Final day. Today wraps up the remaining GoT locations and adds a dose of ancient history. Niki’s Kitchen Cafe for another full fry if you’ve got the appetite, or try a lighter breakfast with pastries and proper coffee. You’re heading to Strangford Lough first, then finishing in Downpatrick.

Start the day at Audley’s Castle, a 15th-century tower house on a hilltop overlooking Strangford Lough, just beside Castle Ward. It was used for exterior shots around Walder Frey’s towers — the Twins. The walk up is short but steep, and the reward is a panoramic view across the lough that’s genuinely one of the best in County Down. In the late morning light, the lough shimmers below and you can see all the way to the Ards Peninsula. This is the spot where the GoT production team set up their cameras for those sweeping approach shots. Have it to yourself — hardly anyone comes here.

Walk around Strangford village itself. The Vikings named this place *Strangfjorðr* — ‘Strong Fjord’ — for the fierce tidal currents that rip through the narrow lough mouth at up to eight knots. The castle tower on the waterfront dates to the 16th century. Strangford was used for various GoT exterior shots, and the whole setting — stone buildings, harbour, fortress tower, wild water — feels like it belongs in Westeros without any set dressing at all. Watch the car ferry battle the current as it crosses to Portaferry.

You have two options. Stay in Strangford for lunch at The Cuan again (their seafood is that good), or drive to Downpatrick and eat at Denvir’s — one of the oldest coaching inns in Ireland, dating from 1642, with a bar and restaurant serving local fare. Daily Grind in Downpatrick does excellent coffee and lighter lunch options if you’d rather something quicker. Either way, you’re about to step from GoT territory into something much older.

Downpatrick (*Dún Pádraig* — Patrick’s Fort) is the burial place of Ireland’s patron saint. Walk up the hill to Down Cathedral, where a granite slab marks the spot where Saint Patrick is said to be buried. The cathedral sits on a mound that has been a sacred site for thousands of years — long before Christianity arrived. The Saint Patrick Centre nearby tells the full story. Lewis was an Anglican from Belfast — this landscape of churches, holy wells, and ancient pilgrim paths would have been part of the cultural fabric he grew up in. Standing at Patrick’s grave, looking out over the plain of Down, you’re connecting the literary and the sacred threads of this entire journey.

A short drive from Downpatrick, hidden in a sheltered valley, lie Struell Wells — two holy wells, two stone bathhouses, and a ruined church. For centuries, hundreds gathered here on Midsummer Eve, walking barefoot circuits and bathing in the freezing well water by candlelight. The tradition stretches back to pre-Christian times, older than Patrick himself. The site is eerie, atmospheric, and almost always deserted. It’s the kind of place that makes you understand why this landscape produced so many stories — GoT, Narnia, and far older tales besides. A fitting final stop.

Head back to Newcastle for a final dinner, or eat in Downpatrick before you leave. In Newcastle, the Mourne Seafood Bar (Dundrum, 15 mins) remains the standout choice for fresh local seafood. In Downpatrick, Denvir’s is hard to beat for atmosphere — a 400-year-old coaching inn with a roaring fire. Whichever you choose, you’ve spent three days walking through two of the most beloved fictional worlds ever created, in the real landscapes that inspired them. The North Remembers. And so does Narnia.