Spain's Itzurun Beach: Unique Rock Formations Where Jon Snow Stood International

Standing on Itzurun Beach in Zumaia, Spain, is an experience impossible to have anywhere else. As the tide pulls away from the sandy beach, Mother Nature begins to reveal a phenomenon seen nowhere else in the world. Breaking the surface of the sand are jagged grey and black granite slats. As they move closer to the shore they increase in size and definition until finally they flow into jagged cliffs surrounding the beach. The effect is absolutely phenomenal.

The formations of jagged rocks are called “flysch.” Layer upon layer they form a linear pattern which is unimaginable without seeing it. The massive cliffs create an intimate setting for the surfers perched on their colorful boards waiting for the perfect waves. People lay along the small beach watching as each moment changes the landscape as the water comes back in, hiding almost all of the flysch on the beach.

Last year as I stood in complete awe of the shoreline I was suddenly aware of the fact that the actors from the Game of Thrones had walked this very beach only months before me. While it wasn’t my motivation to visit the beach now famous for being the location of Dragonstone in “Game of Thrones,” realizing it was possible my bare feet were in the same sand as Jon Snow’s was pretty fantastic.

As the water flowed between the jagged slabs, the sun glistening on each, it was easy to understand why the producers picked this incredible location. It was also a reminder to me that it is worth getting off the beaten path to stand in such amazing places.

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