The Game of Thrones season finale may mean life feels a little empty but you can cheer yourself up with a trip to Northern Ireland and the dramatic locations where the series was filmed. 

I recently had a client depart for a month long trip to Europe, with half of that time spent in Ireland/Northern Ireland with—you guessed it—a focus on Game of Thrones sightseeing. Unbeknownst to me at the beginning of our vacation planning, some of the most majestic locations in Northern Ireland have become part and parcel of Westeros. 

Ireland is magical. There is beauty to be found across the whole country, and so much of that you get to see by actually driving from place to place.  Whereas sometimes driving on vacation is a necessary evil, in Ireland it’s part of the specialness. So, whether you take an extended vacation and see the whole country, or get specific by just picking one half or the other and take your time to see and do more at each of your stops, there will be no shortage of things that leave you speechless.