Can you do a Game of Thrones filming location tour in Morocco?

Game of Thrones fans are some of my most enthusiastic guests, and Morocco gives them two genuinely iconic locations from the show. The first is Ait Ben Haddou and the wider Ouarzazate area in the south, which doubled for the Essos slaver city of Yunkai and for exterior shots around Pentos. Standing below the ksar's tiered kasbahs, it is easy to picture Daenerys and her army arrayed across the approach — the production barely had to alter the place, which tells you everything about how cinematic it already is.

The second, and for many the most exciting, is Essaouira on the Atlantic coast, which became Astapor — the city of the Unsullied, where Daenerys makes her famous "Dracarys" turn. The honey-coloured Skala ramparts with their row of bronze cannons, the working fishing harbour and the Portuguese-era sea walls are all instantly recognisable once you know to look. Essaouira is a delight to visit in its own right, with breezy weather, fresh grilled sardines on the quay and a relaxed medina, so the Thrones connection is the bonus rather than the whole reason to go.

I am careful to set expectations honestly: Morocco does not have purpose-built Game of Thrones attractions, signage or sets preserved for visitors the way some destinations do. What you get instead is the real architecture and landscape the show used, which I think is far more rewarding — you are standing in Astapor, not a recreation of it. Bringing a still from the relevant scene on your phone and matching it to the view is part of the fun, and a guide who knows the exact camera positions makes the locations click into place.

The two sites are nowhere near each other — Essaouira is on the coast west of Marrakech, Ait Ben Haddou is over the Atlas to the south-east — so a Thrones-themed trip is really a Morocco loop with these as anchor points. A natural plan runs Marrakech, out to Essaouira for the Astapor coast, back through Marrakech, then over the mountains to Ait Ben Haddou and Ouarzazate, which conveniently also lets fans visit the working film studios there. It makes for a trip that satisfies the fandom and shows off the best of the country at the same time.