Amazing Movie and T.V. Sites in the British Isles

Yes, you’ll certainly recognize some of the famous golf courses you’ll play in the British Isles because of the many times you’ve probably watched The Open on television. Chances are, too, you’ll also sense a familiarity with the many spectacular sites and settings that have been used in hugely popular films and television series.

If you’re a fan of series like Game of Thrones and Outlander and the movie Star Wars, hold on to your light sabers, because England, Scotland and Ireland have an unbelievable menu of castles, forests, battlefields and landmarks that have served as backdrops.

Premier Golf client and Outlander fan Peggy Robinson is ecstatic when talking about a recent experience in Scotland.

“The ghost of Jamie Fraser watching Claire was a ‘goosebump’ moment,” Robinson says. ” I couldn’t believe I was standing at the film location where Frank spotted Jamie looking up at Claire’s window.”

Robinson traveled with Premier Golf on its inaugural Outlander + Golf Trip last month (June 2019). The two-day itinerary Outlander program took participants to several major sites, including Clava Cairns, Culloden Battlefield, Culloden House and Ruthven Barracks as well as the Highland Folk Museum and Cawdor Castle with stops for lunch, afternoon tea and shopping.

Scotland is a Mother Lode for Outlander filming sites.

Some other fantastic Outlander filming locations include Kinloch Rannoch and Rannoch Moor (Craig na Dun), Doune Castle (Castle Leoch), Blackness Castle (Fort William) and Midhope Castle (Lallybroch).

For those enthralled by the mystical and spell-binding Game of Thrones series, Northern Ireland, with its magnificent courses like Royal County Down and Royal Portrush, has a stunning collection of sites for the HBO show that debuted in 2010.

Fortunately, many of the otherworldly landscapes in this fictional show can actually be seen in real life. A wide array of castles, mountain ranges and forests in Northern Ireland played in prominent scenes in Game of Thrones.

Some of the more intriguing sites are Dunluce Castle, which served as the House of Greyjoy; Binevenagh Mountain in County Londonderry, which was the peak overlooking the imaginary Dothraki Sea; and Cushendun Caves, where Melisandra gave birth to Shadow near Renly’s encampment.

If you’re a Star Wars fan, err fanatic, you must visit Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, which also has a great line-up of fantastic, well known golf courses. Several spots on this stunningly picturesque coastline were used in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  One of the more popular spots is Skelling Michael, off the coast of County Kerry, where Rey finally tracked down Luke Skywalker.

Southern England, where the 2020 Open will be held at Royal St George’s in Sandwich, Kent, is a wonderful part of the country where a variety of major movies have utilized sites for filming. The impressive list encompasses movies like Star Wars (Puzzlewood Forest), Les Miserables ( Portsmouth Historic Dockyard), Cliveden House Clock Tower (Cinderella), Dunkirk (Custom House in Weymouth),  Alice in Wonderland (Antony House in Cornwall) and War Horse (Dartmoor, Devon).

So, the next time you travel to the British Isles to play golf, don’t forget to find inspiration by visiting some of your favorite movie and T.V. series sites.