The third season of House of the Dragon is here, finally giving fans of the show a much-deserved finale to season two. A huge hit on TV, it has continued the legacy of Game of Thrones by commanding huge viewership figures whenever it comes on. After three days, WBD reported a worldwide audience of 21.5 million.
While that marks an eight-percent drop from the 2024 launch of Season 2, it’s currently competing with the epic FIFA World Cup, and the second season’s close momentum has slowed down a bit. Still, it’s very impressive, and a fair part of its appeal is the beauty offered by local scouts.
Following the foundation laid by its predecessor, you can visit many of the sights of the House of the Dragon.
Westeros Proves To Be A Tourist Site
Game of Thrones was so big that even today, it continues to drive the tourism figures for the most well-developed destinations. Northern Ireland has been among the most successful in this trend. In 2018, Tourism Northern Ireland reported that 350,000 visitors – or one in six from outside the region – came because of Game of Thrones.
That injected more than £50 million into the local economy that year alone. Then the Game of Thrones Studio Tour opened, which has enjoyed steady growth in recent years. In January 2026, when A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was released, visitor figures rose 94 percent for their strongest year-on-year growth.
Along with the places in the shows that create real-world interest, it’s important to note how consistent the setting is. Game of Thrones continues to be watched by fans repeatedly, despite the end, and the product has grown into other entertainment rooms.
Forever trending on UK bingo fan forums, the official Game of Thrones game is still surprisingly proud. With the iconic song and characters from the show, the number of players it’s getting shows that there’s still a lot of love for the original show, and its glamorous settings.
Wales, Surrey, and the Iberian Peninsula
In the prequel series, the location of the show has changed from Northern Ireland to Wales. As shown in this list from the BBC, the group visited many places in Wales, including some of its most beautiful castles. Yr Eifl Granite Quarry is said to represent the Dragonstone castle, while Harrenhal was taken from Dinorwig Quarry.
Elsewhere, the Ogwen Valley, Penmachno Roman Bridge, and so many places in Anglesey can be seen during the game. Further east, the team once again arrived in Surrey to find a forest sequence. The densely populated Barossa, owned by the Crown Estate and Swinley Forest played host to the film’s third season.
Out of the UK, the Iberian Peninsula, too, was a popular filming location for Westeros. Cáceres and Trujillo in Spain were used for filming, with the former becoming a stand-in for King’s Landing. From Portugal, the historic village of Monsanto, the ‘city of stones,’ and the nearby fortress Penha Garcia will appear in the exhibition.
The popularity of Game of Thrones during its run, the popularity of the recent Westeros tour on TV, and its permanent place in entertainment continue to inspire holiday decisions.
