Photoblog: Gaztelugatxe in Basque Country, Spain (aka Dragonstone in GOT)

June 2018

Who else watches the HBO show Game of Thrones? I don’t want to brag but my brother and I have been watching the show since season one. Yup, we never had the pleasure of binge watching. We had to wait each week for a new episode and each year for a new season.

I’ve been lucky enough to travel to a few of the show’s filming locations. My first time to Europe was actually a study abroad trip to Croatia. They filmed a lot of the first couple seasons there! In some of the later seasons, they started filming in Spain where I lived and worked last year. While there, my family and I drove to Norther Spain to see one of Game of Thrones most iconic locations: Dragonstone.

My family and I visited here before they dropped off my brother and I to start El Camino de Santiago; read all about my first time walking the way of Saint James.

Gaztelugatxe, or the stairs above the sea, has a beautiful winding staircase from the mainland to a tall inlet. It’s located in the Basque region of Spain where they speak their own unique language. Gaztelugatxe translates to “the craggy fort” or “difficult castle” in Basque.

The inlet is called San Juan de Gaztelugatxe after the Saint. On top of the inlet sits a small hermitage to John the Baptist dating to (at least) the tenth century. The hermitage is stunning in the middle of nowhere. It’s quite isolated and has panoramic views.

Althought it had been made more popular by the show using it as a filming location. I still think it’s absolutely insane. It might even show up in the final season! If so, I will unabashedly fangirl. It’s just a lovely spot that I enjoyed seeing with my family but especially my brother. We were on the bandwagon before it was cool because of our mutual interest in fantasy. (Did you see I wrote a fantasy book? Fantasy is awesome!)

So without further ado, enjoy some pictures!