Where was The Last Kingdom filmed? England, Wales and Hungary filming locations for Netflix viking series

Netflix series The Last Kingdom, just released its fifth and final season, although a later movie will tie up any loose ends.

The violent, loosely historical drama series follows Uhtred, a Saxon taken by Danes as a youngster, who embarks on an epic quest to reclaim his birthright.

At the same time Mediaeval rulers attempt to unite warring kingdoms in defence against Danish raids.

The series is set both in Denmark and the north of England, primarily Northumberland, as this is where the historical events the series covers took place more than a millennium ago.

But where was the series actually filmed? Here is everything you need to know.

One overarching storyline in The Last Kingdom is Uhtred’s desire to reclaim his place as ruler of Bamburgh (referred to in the series as Bebbanburg) castle, in Northumberland from where he was taken by Vikings in the first season.

A bloody battle scene was filmed on the Bamburgh coast, although Uhtred actor Alexander Dreymon was not involved, and scenes supposedly set at Bamburgh castle were actually filmed elsewhere.

This was one of only a few scenes of the show that were shot in England, and it made up only about two minutes of used footage.

In fact, most scenes of The Last Kingdom were filmed in Hungary, with the central European country standing in for mediaeval England.

Production company Korda Studios owns about eight acres of land near Budapest, where most scenes were filmed.

For instance, whilst season five opens in Iceland, where Brida is forming an army, the filming actually took place in an old quarry outside Budapest.

When characters are supposedly exploring the Wessex countryside, these scenes too were shot in Hungary.

The country has a great range of vast, open landscape, which made it a perfect choice for shooting most of the rural scenes which dominate the show.

However, when it came to shooting coastal scenes, a different location was needed - with Hungary being landlocked it’s not hard to see why.

The Whistling Sands in Llŷn Peninsula, north Wales was used in the first season of the show for coastal shoots.

But then, rather confusingly, the crew found themselves back in Hungary to film scenes that are set in… Wales.

A battle which in the show takes place near a Welsh village was filmed at Göböljárás, about 50km out from Budapest.

Additionally, large sets had to be constructed on location in Hungary to replicate the epic Saxon castles and halls to which Uhtred and the great Viking and Saxon rulers lay their claim.

This included remaking the imposing Bebbanburg castle set. This featured in season four when Uhtred launches an assault there in an attempt to reclaim the castle for himself.

All five seasons of The Last Kingdom are available to watch now on Netflix.

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