welcome...
The BBC television show Merlin films in a variety of beautiful and intriguing locations. This site aims to share information about and images of those locations.
We started visiting these sites simply because we’re fans of the show – but we soon became a fan of these places for their own sake. Locations such as Chateau de Pierrefonds, Puzzlewood and Dunraven Bay are well worth a visit, whether you find pretty boys and unicorns there or not. This site can help you visit them virtually, and also provide information if you plan to visit them actually.
Please feel free to comment with your own knowledge or experience of the locations, or suggest links to other information on the net. If appropriate, we will update the main entries to reflect your input.
So, on with our virtual tour… We trust you’ll have fun!
recently added entries
The following are the three most recently added (or significantly updated) entries.
25 February | anatomy of a scene | The Gates of Avalon
As we all know by now, our heroic cast and crew film the Merlin episodes in blocks of three (give or take) along with any pick-ups that are needed for earlier episodes, along with moving the filming from Wales to France and back again three times each season. This creates complications and presents challenges to everyone involved. One full scene might be filmed in segments spread over a number of weeks and in different countries.
28 January | Arthurian locations | gallery
This gallery will be added to over time, but currently contains photos of the Roman amphitheatre at Caerleon, as visited by Colin and Bradley during the BBC Wales tv show The Real Merlin and Arthur.
28 January | Porth yr Ogof | gallery
This amazing cave was used as the makeshift home of the penultimate dragonlord Balinor in the final episode of the second season. The photos were taken on two different trips – one after a fall of snow!
a random entry
2 December | Raglan Castle | gallery
A striking ruin provided the location for a showdown between our young warlock and the evil sorceress in episode 113 Le Morte d’Arthur. Raglan Castle stood in for the Isle of the Blessed.
caveat emptor
I’m sure you’re all sensible people! And I’m sure you realise that all information presented on this site is as correct as we can get it at the time – however, things change. Also, some ‘commercial’ locations close over winter (e.g. Puzzlewood, National Trust properties) while others operate on reduced hours (e.g. English Heritage properties). Other locations can actually be dangerous (e.g. Dunraven Bay, Porth yr Ogof). So, it is always worth checking the official site for the location (or indeed the tides in Porthcawl) before making firm travel plans.
If you find any info on this website that is wrong or misleading, please let us know. Or if you have anything useful to add, please make a comment about it.
Thank you very kindly for your understanding!