Strange how it doesn’t really feel like three years, but as the blog clearly attests we’ve been lucky with the amount of travel we’ve been able to have, and are looking forward to another trip down to the Magic Kingdom this year, not to mention Gen Con in August. In the meantime our third top post from our three years of blogging is our favorite travel destination Morocco. We also love George RR Martin’s epic ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ book series and the new HBO show based on it, ‘Game of Thrones‘. I love it so much I have five shirts I want to buy and am re-reading the books feverishly in anticipation of ‘A Dance with Dragons‘ – the sixth book which has been six years in the making.
Since ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ fans are about as devoted and rabid as any, we thought we’d spend a little time on the filming locations, should people (yes… people…) want to travel to them in the future. In the case of Ouarzazate, I was very disappointed to have missed it when we were in Morocco – so it’s also research for one of our next trips!
The ‘Game of Thrones’ pilot was the only episode filmed in Ouarzazate in Season 1.
Ouarzazate has historically been a stand-in for other, less fantastical places since the 1950’s as the ‘Ouallywood’ of Morocco. For ‘Game of Thrones’, it served as Pentos, one of the Free Cities and the location of Dany and Khal Drogo’s wedding. It’s also where the desert and canyons truly begin, and the place from which many a camel (or dirt bike) journey into the dunes is begun.
Rental and travel agencies abound for tours and treks of all kinds, including week-long camel journeys. North Africa Horse (in French) will even occasionally put on shows that spotlight stunts from Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and more. If you’re there for the movies, you can visit Atlas Film Corporation Studios – just out of town, but easy accessible by transit – and get a guided tour of the sets. And if you’re also a Star Wars fan, the Taourirt Kasbah was in the movie, so has survived where others haven’t, restored with help from UNESCO.
Though it doesn’t look as if it should be far from Marrakech, the trip takes five and a half hours by bus. However, the flight from Casablanca is an hour, so if you have the money, it may be worth saving yourself the time. The south of Morocco is stunningly beautiful, and I hope we’ll see more in the second season. I also hope Gary and I will make it there on our next trip to Morocco – I want to go on a camel trek!
Are you watching ‘Game of Thrones’? Have you been south of Marrakech? Let us know!
For more on Morocco, read our guest post on Ifrane at Maroc Mama, or about nearby Essaouira at My Folie a Deux.
![Locations of Thrones: Scotland [Repost]](http://www.cultureaddicthistorynerd.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/494px-GameOfThrones_Stark_Boys_01-500x332-150x150.jpg)
![Write Like the Wind (George R. R. Martin) [Repost]](http://www.cultureaddicthistorynerd.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/gary-throne-e1340672099770-150x150.jpg)
![Hannibal’s Lara Jean Chorostecki [Repost]](http://www.cultureaddicthistorynerd.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/1297401342169_ORIGINAL-150x150.jpg)
Interesting to see how this set of stories translated to a video experience. I usually find movies and videos of sci fi and fantasy literature are extremely disappointing. As lush as the visual experience of Dune was, it couldn’t hold a candle to Frank Herbert’s lush written renderings. Game of Thrones succeeds visually because it doesn’t try to visually replicate the literal written presentation, thus using the strengths of visual media to stand on their own merits. I am curious to see other locations in your series. Thank you for sharing this.
Thanks so much Steve, for Facebook chat and for your comment! And I think you have a good point – the producers seem to be working with the author to create something that evokes the feel and the experience that he was going for without trying to be slavish to the written word. That being said, The Wall was beyond my imaginings. I’m very impressed with that and Castle Black – good combo of CGI and location to create the end of the world.
There’s been talk of season 2 filming in Iceland, and I wonder if that’s due to needing so many scenes to be at the Wall and in the snow. Maybe Northern Ireland’s not white enough.
Yup, love GoT and have been to Ouarzazate and have done a camel trek. I would strongly recommend it! I would recommend all of Morocco really. Spent 3 weeks there and feel like I have stories for a lifetime. One word of caution: if you do the camel trek, don’t just grab the first guy who offers you one off the streets of Marrakesh. Do some research and pay a little extra for a more responsible guide/company. Otherwise you’ll end up on one of the sites where 1000s of people before you have left their garbage and have turned the Sahara into something ressembling used “kitty litter”. I wish I was joking.
Thanks for the tip! We still need to get down that way… I feel like we’ve barely seen Morocco even though we’ve been there twice! And Marrakech is amazing, but it’s definitely a place to watch out for scams.
Just found this website. I love travelling, history, different cultures and languages. (And RPGs) So I’ll definitely sniff around this website.
You’re all welcome in Morocco.
And yes, you’ve barely seen or heard everything.
It seems like tourists just keep to the yellowish southern desert areas.
In the spring March/April/May you should see the mountains, rivers, lakes, plains and the woods. Or the snow.
Inhabited by the clans and tribes of the berbers. (Especially the ones in the north resemble the starks in character)
Once great houses and dynasties with a history that goes back to ancient Egypt/Rome, now seen as backward farmers.
One of the oldest languages of the world, now disappearing as dominant language.
Tons of unexplored folklore, tales, mythology and songs. (Even if most of them are lost)
Even today you have remnants of how Morocco used to be if you look at the monuments, the practice of dark magic.(A lot of ancient buildings were destroyed by spoiled rulers, earthquakes and wars)
You still see men horse riding on events. (The berbers used to be one of the best horse riders in ancient times. They preferred no saddles and as a child, you were a cripple if you couldn’t ride a horse. Last war on horses was 80/90 years ago, the French and Spanish as imperial powers were embarrassed with their chemical weapons, modern, rifles and tanks)
In Marrakesh you have people perform acrobatics on the streets in those bright colour clothing. (In the dark ages, trained assassins used to climb on roofs, over and on city walls to enter places to assassin people for money, political means etc.)
Anyway, Morocco through its history, culture and landscape has so much to offer to literature, films/TV and video games.
(By the way, I honestly think Morocco could provide Game of Thrones for most of its outdoor scenes.)
We’re hoping to spend more time and go south next time we’re in Morocco, Mo! And you’re completely right on Game of Thrones being able to find many locations there… in fact, I just heard they’re returning to shoot the third season there! Very exciting!
Just returned from a Morocco trip and coincidentally witnessed the filming of the third season in Ait Ben Haddou! I feel lucky :-) They’ve shot some scenes in the Ait Ben Haddou kasbah, which was right in front of our hotel. A few days later when we visited the Atlas studio’s in Ouarzazate, they happened to be filming there also. But that was indoors so nothing to see there. Some local people there told me that the day before they also shot some scenes in and around a specially build (fake) castle that was also used in the movie Kingdom of Heaven.
Awesome to hear that you got the chance to see a little of it first hand, and in Morocco even. We love visiting that country, and are hoping to get back there in a few years to see more of it. ^g
In Morocco there isn’t only Couscous , there is mountains and beaches , there is sahara and desert
it is a lovely place where we can spend holidays
Thank you for this informative article about this imperial city