2019 Euro Trip – Dragonstone!
OK, this is going to be its own post because it’s so awesome. All of you from House Targaryen who are still left alive, hold onto your dragons because we’re going to Dragonstone! Well, almost.
As you may know, Game of Thrones shoots at locations from Northern Ireland, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Malta, Morocco, Scotland, the United States, and also just about an hour away from Bilbao! Jim read about this, so we had to check it out while we’re nearby.
Sadly, the outside of Dragonstone Castle itself is a computer creation, but the famous winding bridge and steps to the top of the hill are very real, and it’s located at the small island of Gaztelugatxe, which translates in Basque to “Castle Rock.” Casterly Rock, anyone?
Instead of Danerys’ birthplace castle, there is only a very small church at the peak, called San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, which has been there in various forms since the 9th century. While the location does have some of the amazing tilted rock formations you see on the show, they filmed more dramatic rocks about a hour and a half away in Zumaia. So from the beach, steps and castle, we have only the steps to enjoy. And by enjoy I mean be tortured by them.
Since we don’t have a car, the best way to get there is to take the A3518 bus from the center of Bilbao to its last stop in Bakio. There is a connecting bus that can take you a little further, but it’s rumoured to have a hit and miss schedule on a 2 hour loop, so we just started walking from the town up a narrow road towards the car park at the top of the peak, then down the irregular stone trail to the bridge and then up the steps. Now when I say walking, I mean walking up a freaking massive hill. This is no Sunday walk in the park, this is hard hiking up and up and up for over 2 km. You’re figuratively dead by the time you arrive. Happy I didn’t say literally? I am. Anyway, we got a glimpse of the island and church through the trees as we approached the peak, and got some good pictures. From the car park, it’s a kilometer downhill to nearly sea level at the bridge, then up 241 steps to the top. By this point, we went up, down and up but only laterally by about 3 km. It’s soul crushing. You just want it to end. It was cool and breezy and we’re both pouring off sweat. Be sure you’re in proper shape for a hard hike and have comfortable shoes with great traction.
We saw a crew drilling into the sheer rock face near the peak, working to add anchors and strength to the hillside to prevent the rocks breaking loose someday.
It’s tradition to ring the bell of the church 3 times for good luck, so we both did it. My wish was that I didn’t snap an ankle on the way down, up and down back to the bus.
We headed down, across the bridge and back up the brutal climb up to the carpark. Man, having a dragon to get to the top is a way better idea than this walking business. There is a cafe at the carpark of course so we stopped for a beer and an apple and stop sweating. We considered trying to find an accommodating driver to give us a lift back to the bus stop, but we decided to make the return journey the same way we came in, but it’s so much easier going down. We passed an elderly couple about halfway up the road, the woman was dragging behind the man and had a look in her eye like she wanted her dragons to burn him alive.
We got lucky with the bus ride home, he showed up 6 minutes after we got to the bus stop. The thin padding on the bus seat was the best thing I think I’ve felt in years.
So, we made it to Dragonstone and back, barely alive. I’m thinking about a bucket list of all of the Game Of Thrones filming sites. I especially want to visit Croatia and Ireland so those would fit in nicely.
