16 Beloved Television Shows Entirely Filmed Abroad
American television has always had a knack for transporting viewers to different worlds, but some shows took that mission quite literally. While many series rely on Hollywood backlots and green screens to fake exotic locations, a handful of productions packed up their entire crews and headed overseas.
These shows didn’t just visit foreign countries for a few episodes—they set up shop and stayed there, turning distant lands into their permanent home base. Let’s take a look at some shows that made the bold choice to film every single episode on foreign soil.
Game Of Thrones
HBO’s fantasy epic became a global phenomenon partly because it looked absolutely real. The production filmed across Northern Ireland, Croatia, Iceland, Spain, and Morocco, treating each location like a character in its own right.
Dubrovnik’s ancient walls became King’s Landing, while Iceland’s frozen landscapes provided the perfect backdrop for scenes beyond the Wall. The decision to film in actual castles and real medieval cities gave the show a texture that computer effects could never match.
The Crown
Netflix spared no expense recreating the British monarchy’s story, and that meant filming all over the United Kingdom and beyond. The production used actual palaces, country estates, and historic buildings throughout England and Scotland.
When the story called for international trips, the crew followed, shooting in South Africa, Spain, and Australia. The show’s commitment to authentic locations helped viewers believe they were watching real history unfold, even when the royal family’s private moments were entirely imagined.
Outlander
This time-traveling romance found its home in the Scottish Highlands, where the rugged landscape became inseparable from the story itself. The production films primarily in Scotland, using real castles, glens, and historic sites to bring 18th-century Scotland to life.
Later seasons expanded to South Africa and Croatia to represent the American colonies and the Caribbean. The show’s dedication to location shooting means every cliff, castle, and cobblestone street feels earned rather than manufactured.
Black Sails
This pirate drama set up shop in Cape Town, South Africa, and never looked back. The production built an entire working harbor and period ships in a massive water tank facility.
South Africa’s diverse landscapes allowed the show to create the Caribbean, tropical islands, and colonial settlements without ever leaving the country. The decision proved both practical and visually stunning, giving viewers a pirate world that felt lived-in and authentic.
Vikings
Canada stood in for medieval Scandinavia throughout this historical drama’s run. The production filmed primarily in Ireland for the first season before moving to various locations across Ireland and later adding Iceland and Norway.
Wicklow, Ireland became the show’s primary filming base, with its forests and coastlines transforming into Viking settlements and battlefields. The authentic Nordic locations helped ground a show that could have easily felt like pure fantasy.
The Terror
This horror drama about a doomed Arctic expedition filmed its icy nightmare in Croatia and Hungary, proving that Eastern Europe can convincingly play the frozen North. The production built elaborate ship sets and used practical effects to create the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in the ice.
Later seasons moved to different locations entirely, but that first season’s commitment to making viewers feel the bone-deep cold of the Arctic succeeded thanks to creative location choices.
The White Lotus
HBO’s social satire found perfect settings in Hawaii for season one and Sicily for season two. Each season plants itself firmly in a luxury resort and explores the location as thoroughly as it examines its wealthy characters.
The production uses real hotels and local landscapes, making the setting feel like a character that silently judges everyone staying there. The choice to film in actual resorts rather than sets adds an uncomfortable realism to the show’s skewering of vacation culture.
Penny Dreadful
Victorian London came to life in Dublin, Ireland, where this gothic horror series filmed its entire run. The production used Irish locations and studio facilities to recreate the fog-shrouded streets and dark corners of 19th-century England.
Dublin’s architecture and Ireland’s overcast skies provided the perfect atmosphere for a show swimming in supernatural dread. The Irish Film Board’s incentives made the move financially smart, but the results looked purely artistic.
The Last Kingdom
This Viking-era drama filmed across Hungary, using the country’s castles, forests, and plains to represent Anglo-Saxon England. The production found that Hungarian locations could convincingly double for early medieval Britain while offering significant cost savings.
Budapest’s studio facilities and the surrounding countryside became the show’s home for its entire run. The Hungarian locations provided such variety that viewers never suspected they weren’t actually watching England.
Hunters
Amazon’s controversial Nazi-hunting drama set in 1970s New York actually filmed almost entirely in Prague, Czech Republic. The production transformed Czech streets into American neighborhoods and used local architecture to recreate period-accurate New York settings.
Prague’s diverse building styles and well-preserved historical areas made it possible to build multiple American locations without crossing an ocean. The European filming location remained one of the show’s best-kept production secrets.
Berlin Station
A spy thriller actually set in Berlin had the advantage of filming right where its story takes place. The production used real Berlin locations, embedding the show in the city’s actual intelligence community landmarks and neighborhoods.
Filming in the German capital gave the series an authenticity that shows faking European espionage on California soundstages could never achieve. The city’s mix of Cold War history and modern infrastructure became essential to the show’s identity.
The Borgias
Showtime’s Renaissance drama filmed primarily in Hungary, where Budapest and surrounding areas stood in for 15th-century Rome and Italy. Hungarian craftsmen built elaborate sets recreating the Vatican and Italian palaces, while local castles and estates provided ready-made period locations.
The production found that Hungary offered both the historical architecture and skilled crews needed for a lavish period piece. The country’s film incentives didn’t hurt either, making the overseas production financially viable for all three seasons.
Jack Ryan
Across the seasons, Tom Clancy’s sharp-eyed CIA operative moves through global hotspots while cameras follow close behind. Shooting took place not in studios but on streets of Morocco, Colombia, the UK, Canada, and more – each chosen with purpose.
Instead of postcard views, scenes unfold where tension feels earned, grounded in places that mirror real-world stakes. Authenticity drives the look, pulling viewers into environments shaped by research, not convenience.
Ground-level detail builds a steady sense of immediacy, like footage aired minutes after capture.
Taboo
Dark skies hung low during Tom Hardy’s brooding historical drama, shot across the UK with most scenes near London. Old dockyards, crumbling warehouses, and forgotten industrial zones stood in for the filthy streets of 1814.
Rain-soaked days and grey light shaped the mood, drawn straight from Britain’s climate. Real spots along the river brought a raw texture that built sets could never copy.
Authenticity came from being where history actually unfolded.
Das Boot
A German-made series on WWII submarine combat was shot in several European nations, such as France, Croatia, and the Czech Republic. Inside a studio, they built tight U-boat cabins to feel cramped and closed-in.
For scenes above deck, actual harbors and city streets were used instead of sets. Shooting in different countries helped show how wide the war reached.
The viewpoint stays rooted in Europe, not filtered through an American lens. Real places gave weight to where events unfolded.
This story sees history from another angle entirely.
The Terror: Infamy
Far from the first season’s icy dread, this chapter rooted itself in soil soaked with history. Instead of continuing past events, it stepped into new ground – a quiet yet heavy tale set in wartime.
Shooting took place across Vancouver and nearby spots in British Columbia, where land still holds old echoes. Woods stretched wide, standing in for the Pacific Northwest’s hush during uneasy years.
Old-style structures helped shape what once was: a Japanese-American detention site, built not far from dense trees and misty clearings.
With terrain so close together, filmmakers found variety without traveling too far. Distance folded neatly here, offering mountains, thickets, and forgotten roads just a short way apart.
Where Old Times Blend With Now
Right where they are needed, cameras capture what matters most. Though moving gear halfway around the globe tests patience, the effort shows in every shot.
Whole teams live far from home, setting up camp in distant cities for long stretches. Still, each scene carries weight because it was filmed exactly where it should be.
Not everywhere shoots on location like this – many split scenes between studios and foreign spots. Now, with streaming demand rising and tax breaks helping costs, filming overseas happens more often.
These productions go all in, choosing authenticity by staying put wherever the story belongs.
More from Go2Tutors!
- The Romanov Crown Jewels and Their Tragic Fate
- 13 Historical Mysteries That Science Still Can’t Solve
- Famous Hoaxes That Fooled the World for Years
- 15 Child Stars with Tragic Adult Lives
- 16 Famous Jewelry Pieces in History
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
