Game changer

After its Game of Thrones boost, Richard Brown discovers Malta's other scene stealers

- 

Ask random people on the street what they know about Game of Thrones, and you'd probably hear the same three things over and over: dragons, nudity and beautiful locations.

And while I didn't experience much of the first two, I very much enjoyed the third of that golden trio during a trip to Malta.

The ancient walled city of Mdina, once the capital before it was supplanted by Valletta, is known as the “silent city” for its lack of cars and a population of only 250 people. But the residents are anything but silent when it comes to their claim to fame.

Part of a rich Maltese TV and film history, which includes Gladiator, Troy and erm...the 1980 live action version of Popeye, Mdina was used as the filming location for King’s Landing in the first season of Game of Thrones.

The city’s main gate is featured and Mesquita Square even played host to Littlefinger’s brothel where Sean Bean’s Ned Stark is reunited with his wife... among other things. And everyone you meet in Mdina has a story.

Our tour guide Audrey, for instance, was hired as an extra to play one of the Dothraki and rubbed shoulders with Emilia Clarke and Jason Momoa in between educating groups about the history Mdina has to offer.

And it really does have a lot to offer. For a city that's less than half a square mile in size, it has seemingly endless palaces, quaint lace shops on most corners and by all accounts, the best chocolate cake in Malta, found at the Fontanella Tea Garden.

And Mdina is only the tip of the iceberg. With anti-tourist protests sweeping across Europe’s holiday hotspots, it can be hard for Brits to find a new getaway. But with a large British expat presence and supportive attitudes towards tourism, Malta is a country that caters for all tastes.