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I don’t know about you, but I have been dreaming of a friendship with a big black cat-like dragon since 2010 when How to Train Your Dragon first hit my TV and filled my eyes with stars as a child. And now, in 2025, we get to see that same adorably-fierce dragon back on screen, but in real life! Or, at least as close to real life as CGI gets…
With the arrival of the live action film, we thought we’d explore the Vikings’ home of Berk again and all those mystical isles by checking out the How to Train Your Dragon filming locations. It probably won’t give you quite the same feeling as stroking Toothless’s smooth scales, but you’ll feel a sense of awe nonetheless.
Where was How to Train Your Dragon filmed?
The bulk of How to Train Your Dragon was filmed in Northern Ireland – a very popular filming destination for productions, such as Game of Thrones. The country just has that perfect rugged and dramatic vibe with the jutting cliffs, stormy oceans, and sprawling fields of green. Perfect to play home to Hiccup and Toothless’s home of Berk.
Image source:Contiki
How to Train Your Dragon filming locations
But where in Northern Ireland? Well, here are a few specifics.
1. Tollymore Forest Park
Also featured in Game of Thrones, Tollymore Forest Park is a state forest at the foot of the Mourne mountains. It’s home to some truly outstanding beauty and it has the rare quality of looking even better when the weather is dark and moody. Mist creeping through winding woods blanketed in squishy moss, rain dripping from the leaves – it’s serving all the drama.
Tollymore is a favourite local area as well as they have plenty of activities on offer including walks (duh), camping, horse riding, and orienteering. There are bridges and rivers throughout and the woods are so thick I think you honestly could meet a dragon somewhere in the depths.
Image source:KaLisa Veer / unsplash
2. Dunseverick Castle
So, the castle isn’t really a castle anymore – more like the ruins of a tower, but it’s easy to fill in the rest and imagine where a stone fortress may one day have stood. The surroundings are made up of sloping cliffs with the ocean at their feet; basically the perfect setting for the island of Berk where the vikings have settled.
3. Murlough Bay
With a few caves and rock formations, gorgeous coasts and sprawling hills of the most vibrant green, Murlough Bay is the perfect How to Train Your Dragon filming location for some CGI dragon flying scenes, and some tension between Hiccup and his father – or even Hiccup and Astrid.
The Bay is located in County Antrim, just like Dunseverick Castle, so you can feasibly head to both in the same day for a Dreamworks inspired road trip.
Image source:Chandler Aitchison / unsplash
4. Giant’s Causeway
Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site (can you believe it?!), Giant’s Causeway is an incredibly unique and mind-blowing bit of landscape. The rocky formation is made up of dark hexagonal basalt stones which jut up out of the ocean. Flanked by lush hills, this is also a perfect spot for Hiccup and Toothless to test drive (iykyk) their flying.
Studios
With any live action adaptation of an animation classic, CGI is going to have to come into play at some point – especially when the film’s topic is a (sadly) non-existent Night Fury. So, outside of the IRL How to Train Your Dragon filming locations, a few studios in Northern Ireland were used as well, including:
- Titanic Studios: one of Europe’s largest film studios
- Belfast Harbour Studios: a fairly recent and incredibly modern studio
