Larrybane Quarry sits right beside the car park for the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, on the coast road outside Ballintoy in County Antrim. Almost everyone who parks here walks straight past it, eyes fixed on the queue for the bridge or the view out to Rathlin Island. That's a shame, because this stretch of exposed white chalk and old quarry workings is where Game of Thrones filmed Renly Baratheon's camp in the Stormlands, including Brienne of Tarth's duel with Ser Loras Tyrell. It costs nothing to stop and look, takes about ten minutes to appreciate properly, and barely anyone does.

Why Larrybane Quarry matters

Disused chalk quarries aren't unusual along this part of the Antrim coast, but the combination at Larrybane is specific. The white rock face drops toward a narrow sea inlet, with Rathlin Island visible most days and, on a clear one, the Scottish coast beyond it. Production designers used that chalk backdrop and the flat grassy plateau above it to build Renly's war camp in the show's second season, a sprawl of tents meant to suggest the largest army in Westeros gathered ahead of the push on King's Landing.

It's also the ground where Brienne wins her place in Renly's service by defeating Loras in single combat, a fight that plays small on screen but does a lot of work for her character arc in the early seasons. The site was reused later for Iron Islands material, which tracks given how stark and treeless the headland looks, especially outside summer.

None of this is signposted in any serious way. There's no recreated camp, no standing set, nothing built for visitors to photograph in front of. What you get instead is the actual landscape, left more or less as it was when filming wrapped, which for a certain kind of visitor is more interesting than a staged attraction would ever be.

Quick facts

• Location: beside the Carrick-a-Rede car park, Ballintoy, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland
• Postcode: Ballycastle BT54 6LS
• What it is: a disused chalk quarry on the coast, former Game of Thrones filming location
• Scenes filmed here: Renly Baratheon's Stormlands camp, the Brienne vs. Ser Loras duel, later Iron Islands scenes
• Admission: no charge to view the quarry itself, which sits on open coastal ground near the National Trust car park
• Typical visit length: 10 to 20 minutes, usually combined with Carrick-a-Rede

Getting there

Larrybane is reached via the same car park used for the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, off the B15 coast road between Ballintoy and Ballycastle. If you're driving the Causeway Coastal Route, it's roughly 10 to 15 minutes east of the Giant's Causeway and a similar distance west of Ballycastle itself. There's a National Trust car park on site, which fills up in summer and around midday, so arriving early or late in the day helps with parking as much as it helps with light for photos.

From the car park, a short walk along the cliff path brings you to the quarry edge and the old headland where the camp scenes were shot. You don't need to buy a rope bridge ticket to see it, since the quarry sits on open ground before you even reach the bridge entrance.

The layout and experience

The quarry isn't fenced off as its own attraction. It's simply part of the open headland between the car park and the approach to the rope bridge, so most visitors walk straight through it without realising what they're looking at. The chalk face is the obvious landmark, rising pale and almost bleached-looking against the darker basalt that dominates most of this coastline.

Below it, the ground slopes toward Larrybane Head, a promontory that was once connected to a small tidal island by a path. The old quarry loading jetty is still visible in the rock if the tide is out, a quiet reminder that this was industrial ground long before any film crew arrived.

Because everyone around you tends to be focused on the rope bridge queue or the view out to Rathlin, you can usually have the quarry face more or less to yourself for a few minutes, even in peak season. There are no information boards about the filming anywhere on site. If you don't already know what happened here, there's nothing to tell you.

History and background

Larrybane was a working limestone and chalk quarry for much of the 20th century, feeding local lime kilns before it fell out of use. The National Trust later took on the headland as part of its wider Carrick-a-Rede holdings, and the old quarry floor and rock face were left largely untouched rather than landscaped over.

When Game of Thrones location scouts were working this stretch of the Antrim coast in the early 2010s, the flat ground on top of the quarry and the dramatic chalk backdrop made it a practical stand-in for a military encampment. The production needed room for tents, horses, and several hundred extras, and Larrybane offered that without the complications of a populated site. The same openness and lack of modern intrusion that made it useful for filming is exactly what makes it feel a little forgotten today.

Best time to visit

Early morning or early evening tends to work best, both for the light on the chalk face and for avoiding the thickest part of the Carrick-a-Rede crowd. Midsummer days can get busy here, with the car park filling and timed tickets for the bridge pushing a steady stream of foot traffic through the same cliff path.

Outside the main season, from autumn through spring, the headland is quieter and the sea is often rougher, which suits the Iron Islands associations better than the softer, grassy look of Renly's camp scenes.

Combining with nearby attractions

Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge is the obvious pairing, since you're already parked at the same site and the bridge is a short walk further along the cliff path. Ballintoy Harbour, used in its own right as a Game of Thrones location for Pyke and the Iron Islands, is a few minutes' drive away and worth adding if you're building out a fuller Thrones-themed stop on this part of the coast.

The Giant's Causeway and Dunluce Castle both sit within a 20 to 25 minute drive, which makes it easy to fold Larrybane into a half-day loop along the Causeway Coastal Route without much extra driving.

Practical tips

• Don't expect any signage about the filming. Knowing the Renly's camp and Brienne vs. Loras connection in advance is the only way to appreciate what you're looking at.
• Wear shoes with grip. The cliff path and quarry edges can be exposed and slippery after rain.
• Visit before or after your Carrick-a-Rede slot rather than instead of it. The two sites share the same car park and path, so there's little reason to skip one for the other.
• Bring a wide lens if you're photographing the chalk face. The scale of the rock is part of what made it work on screen.
• Check wind conditions if you plan to linger near the quarry edge, since this headland catches weather coming straight off the Atlantic.

FAQ

Is there an entry fee for Larrybane Quarry? No. It sits on open coastal ground near the National Trust car park, and you can walk through it without paying anything, separate from any Carrick-a-Rede bridge ticket.

Do I need to book anything in advance? No booking is needed for the quarry itself. Only the rope bridge crossing requires a timed ticket.

Is there anything built or staged to look at? No. There's no recreated camp or film set. What remains is the natural chalk face and quarry floor, unchanged since filming wrapped.

How long should I plan for? Most people spend 10 to 20 minutes here, usually as a short stop on the way to or from Carrick-a-Rede.

Is it suitable for kids or anyone unsteady on their feet? The path is manageable but uneven in places, with some exposed edges near the quarry and headland, so supervision is worth it for younger children.