The seventh season of Game of Thrones saw Jon Snow and his motley band of corpse slayers venture beyond The Wall. And that land of ice, blizzards and White Walkers is surprisingly easy to visit – because it's actually Iceland.

The country, a favoured filming location in previous years, is once again playing a key role (because winter's here, obviously). Tourist bosses will no doubt be delighted. Ever since it first featured in season two, glimpses of the country’s frozen landscapes have lured fans from around the world to the little island in the north Atlantic. The “Game of Thrones effect” has been cited as a key factor behind the remarkable growth in annual visitors to Iceland, from 566,000 in 2011, the year it premiered, to more than 1.3 million in 2015, and 1.8 million last year.

Dimmuborgir Credit: Fyle - Fotolia

With all that falling snow, it's hard to pinpoint exact locations, but the film crew have tended to gravitate around Lake Mývatn and the otherworldly lava fields of Dimmuborgir in the north, the Höfðabrekkuheiði hiking area near Vik, on the island’s south coast, the Svínafellsjökull glacier near Skaftafell, and Thingvellir National Park.

Thingvellir National Park Credit: Anna Berkut

One place is unmistakable, however. The black sand beach near Vik, with its sea stacks, appears in the penultimate episode.

It's the land beyond The Wall (Iceland to you and me) Credit: Credit: David Noton Photography / Alamy Stock Photo/David Noton Photography / Alamy Stock Photo

Telegraph Travel's Hugh Morris, who visited in 2015, says: "The crisp, white, near-Arctic waves washing over the black basalt beaches of Iceland's southern coast have to be seen to believed. The most famous of the country's black beaches is perhaps the Reynisfjara stretch just to the west of Vik. Here, the jet-black, unblemished volcanic sand shimmers into the distance as three jagged needles of rock (a troll and two ships turned to stone by the rising sun, according to folklore) shoot out of the sea just off the shoreline. They are best viewed from the cliffs of Dyrhólaey above. This is not the limit of Iceland's black beaches and other remarkably vast expanses can be found elsewhere along the south coast.”

The incredible landscapes near Vik Credit: ©eugenesergeev - stock.adobe.com/Eugene Sergeev

Wow, easyJet and Icelandair all fly non-stop to Reykjavík. Regent Holidays (0203 733 4931; regent-holidays.co.uk) offers five-day Game of Thrones tours, visiting key locations from the series, from £1,245pp, including flights and b&b accommodation.

Take a trip to Highgarden

The fourth episode of season seven introduced us to Highgarden, the ancestral home of House Tyrell, but seized in series seven by Jaime Lannister. The vast pad is really Castillo de Almodóvar del Río in the Andalusian province of Córdoba.

Castillo de Almodóvar del Río in the Andalusian province of Córdoba Credit: ©Calavision - stock.adobe.com

The castle sits of the banks of the Guadalquivir, which can be explored on a river cruise, and dates back to the 8th century, when the Moors ruled this corner of Europe.

Córdoba Credit: Julian Simmonds

And it's open to the public. Visitors can explore its towers, dungeons and battlements - keeping one eye on the horizon for approaching Dothraki hordes - and browse a collection of weapons (whether anything in the armoury will take down a dragon, we're unsure).

The Guadalquivir river Credit: Leonid Andronov - Fotolia/Leonid ANDRONOV

The castle is a short drive from the city of Córdoba, one of the region's gems. "If the great cities of Andalusia were a flamenco troupe, Córdoba would play the cameo, the mysterious beauty appearing all too briefly before showy Seville and Granada take over again," explains Robert Mayes. "That is something of an injustice for a city that was the centre of medieval Europe and which has at its heart the astounding Mezquita (cathedral-mosque). Yet that gives the city on the river Guadalquivir a more intimate feel. Most of the sights are within a walk – surely the best way to take in the scent of orange blossom, strains of Spanish guitar and tempting tapas bars.

"While its historical treasures are ample reason to visit, Córdoba is looking to the future, too, with a mini-revolution in gastronomy and a new food market. Meanwhile, high-speed rail links from Málaga and Madrid have brought it well within reach for weekend breaks."

Where is the real Dragonstone?

Daenerys Targaryen finally returned to the shores of Westeros in season seven - Dragonstone, to be precise - and the real-life location is remarkably easy to visit. That rocky beach seen so frequently in the show is called Itzurun, and it lies beside a Spanish seaside town called Zumaia, in the province of Guipúzcoa.

Dragonstone – or rather Itzurun Beach, beside Zumaia Credit: jon_chica - Fotolia

The best way to take in this Basque beauty is to tackle the Flysch Route, a coastal walking trail – but keep an eye on the tides and consider hiring a guide, says the local tourist board.

The best way to take in this Basque beauty is to tackle the Flysch Route Credit: GETTY

Just up the coast is San Sebastian, perhaps Europe’s finest city for food lovers.

The foodie capital of San Sebastian Credit: S-F

And what of that glorious footbridge we see Jon Snow and Daenerys walking along? That's the islet of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, topped with a hermitage and connected to the mainland by a winding path. It lies to the west of Zumaia, not far from the city of Bilbao, which, despite its charms, still gets far fewer tourists than the likes of Barcelona, Seville and Madrid.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe Credit: mimadeo - Fotolia

Con Coughlin explains: "This confident, bustling little city – small enough to walk around – became an international art hotspot thanks to Frank Gehry’s titanium masterpiece, the Museo Guggenheim. The less striking Museo de Bellas Artes also houses some of the finest art in Spain. The rejuvenated port nestles in the green folds of the Euskadi’s coastal mountains on the Bay of Biscay. Besides the exciting new architecture of Bilbao’s renaissance, there is a beautiful medieval quarter, the Casco Viejo, on the east bank of the Nervión river – the heart of the city.

The Museo Guggenheim Credit: © robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo/robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo

"The food is sensational. Forget tapas – the Basque version, pintxos, are epic in variety and taste, with a strong piscine influence. A ritual bar crawl, known as a txikiteo, involves scoffing pintxos washed down by txakoli, the local white or rosé wine. Bilbainos do the rounds of the pintxos bars at Sunday lunchtime, followed by a stroll around the food market in the Plaza Nueva." BA, easyJet, Vueling and Iberia all fly direct.

Where else has featured in season seven?

Spain

The rock formation of Los Barruecos, on the outskirts of Cáceres, in Extremadura – Spain’s most overlooked region, according to Sally Davies, with good food, even better wine and three cities worth exploring. “Trujillo and Cáceres are stunning, my favourite towns in Spain,” she says. “Mérida less so, but it has a spectacular collection of Roman remains.”

Los Barruecos Credit: © 2011 Javier Castro/Javier Castro Nido

Following a visit in 2012, Anthony Peregrine wrote: “Under a vast sky, the scorched tableland rolled away enormously, interrupted here and there by tough hills, and then Portugal. This was a land to gallop across with a band of desperate brigands. Lacking same, we drove through the dehesa lands of holm oaks whose acorns feed the pigs that feed the world Ibérico hams. Gradually, the countryside grew loftier and greener and we were curving up to Guadalupe, a fine monastery trimmed with a hillside village. We were soon among more beauty than I could readily assimilate. Magnificent mudéjar cloisters gave way to chambers boasting illuminated chant books the size of a pope, exquisitely embroidered cloaks and chasubles, then works by Goya and El Greco.”

That thrilling season 7 finale? The tense meeting with Cersei, where a white walker was released, took place in a huge amphitheatre. According to the mayor of Santiponce, Carolina Casanova, HBO filmed the scenes at the ruins of Italica, an ancient Roman city and birthplace of emperors Trajan and Hadrian, just outside Seville. Seville’s Royal Dockyards have also made an appearance.

Italica dates back to 206BC Credit: pacoparra - Fotolia

Last season, Game of Thrones introduced viewers to the Castle of Zafra in the province of Guadalajara, the badlands of Bardenas Reales in the Navarre region, and Castell de Santa Florentina in the town of Canet de Mar.

The badlands of Bardenas Reales Credit: Iakov Filimonov/Iakov Filimonov

In previous series, the bullring of the Andalusian town of Osuna became the fighting pits of Meereen, the Alcazar of Seville became Sunspear, the capital of Dorne, and its Water Gardens, while Cordoba's Roman Bridge became the Long Bridge of Volantis.

The Castle of Zafra Credit: mtrommer - Fotolia

Northern Ireland

The show’s production base is Titanic Studios in Belfast, and last year the Game of Thrones crew were spotted on a private estate near the village of Saintfield, to the south of the city. It is the same spot where last season’s epic ‘Battle of the Bastards’ was shot.

The Wall itself is in Northern Ireland, though CGI magic has been used to turn Magheramorne Quarry into something far more impressive.

A post shared by Rob Hornby (@hornbyrob) on May 21, 2016 at 2:06am PDT

Among the most notable filming locations from previous series are Downhill Strand, a seven-mile beach overlooked by Mussenden Temple, which is visited by Stannis Baratheon and his frequently disrobed companion Melisandre (“for the night is dark and full of terrors”), the oft-photographed Dark Hedges, a spectacular collection of beech trees that line a road near Stranocum, County Antrim, and the little seaside village of Ballintoy, which becomes Pyke, capital of The Iron Islands, in Game of Thrones.

The Dark Hedges Credit: Alamy

Full-on tours of “Winterfell”, featuring 20 locations, start from Castle Ward, a National Trust property that filled in for the ancestral home of the Stark family in season one. See gameofthrones-winterfelltours.com.

Downhill Strand

Other Game of Thrones locations

Malta, Croatia and Morocco have starred in previous series. Check out our gallery below for the best locations.