A guide to traveling to Northrend in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic
The World of Warcraft is massive, and things are always changing. With the re-release of WotLK comes another huge geographical addition to the Classic world — the continent of Northrend. Whether you are returning to Northrend or visiting for the first time, I want to make sure your trip is as smooth as possible. In this guide, I’ll dig into the details you need, answer some common questions, and talk about a few addons that can help you navigate Northrend easier. Before we dive in, here a quick answer for you:
Horde players can get to Northrend by taking a zeppelin from the western tower outside Orgrimmar or from the tower near Undercity. In contrast, Alliance players can travel to Northrend by taking the boat from the northernmost dock in Stormwind Harbor or via the boat that picks up in Menethil Harbor, Wetlands.
How to get to Northrend from Stormwind [Alliance]
The fastest way to get to Northrend from Stormwind is to take the boat from the north dock of Stormwind Harbor. This will take you to Borean Tundra — one of the two possible starting zones for WotLK Classic.
The other possible starting zone choice is Howling Fjord.
You can travel directly to Howling Fjord by taking the boat from Menethil Harbor in the Wetlands. If you are frantically searching your world map for the Wetlands, you can find it in central Eastern Kingdoms — just north of Ironforge and Dun Morogh.
As another option, you can also get to Howling Fjord from Borean Tundra. To do this, you’ll need to make your way up the east coast of Borean Tundra until you reach the Tuskarr village called Unu’pe. From there, you can take a boat (turtle) to Dragonblight and then on towards Howling Fjord.
How to get to Northrend from Orgrimmar [Horde]
The fastest way to get to Northrend from Orgrimmar is to take the zeppelin from the western tower just outside the southern city gates. This will take you directly to Warsong Hold in the Borean Tundra. Just make sure you don’t take the zeppelin to Thunder Bluff, which also leaves from the west tower.
If you want to go to Howling Fjord instead, you can take the zeppelin from the tower located just outside Brill and the Undercity in Tirisfall Glades.
Once you make it to Northrend, you can also travel between Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra by taking the turtle transports found at the Tuskarr villages of Kamagua and Unu’pe.
Kamagua is found on the west coast of Howling Fjord. Unu’pe is found on the east coast of Borean Tundra.
Helpful addons for getting around WotLK
There are a few addons I would recommend to help you navigate the world a little easier — Atlas and Atlas Transportation. As you might guess, Atlas is an addon for in-game maps. Atlas Transportation is a separate addon that depends on Atlas.
Atlas Transportation is amazing because it gives you a numbered map that shows all the portals, boats, zeppelins, and other forms of transportation available.
If you’ve been to my site before, you know I’m something of an addon junkie (or is it an addonaholic). As such, I put together a list of the best addons for WotLK Classic that you should check out.
FAQ
Northrend is located in the northern reaches of Azeroth between the continents of Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms.
Yes, level 74+ mages can unlock a portal spell that will take you to Dalaran — the sanctuary city located on Northrend.
Players need to be level 68 or higher to travel to Northrend.
There are 10 locations (zones) in Northrend including:
Howling Fjord (In-game level recommendation: 68 – 72)
Borean Tundra (70 – 72)
Dragonblight (71 – 80)
Grizzly Hills (73 – 75)
Zul’Drak (73 – 77)
The Storm Peaks (73 – 77)
Sholazar Basin (75 – 80)
Icecrown (77 – 80)
Crystalsong Forest (80)
Wintergrasp (80, PvP – 75+ to participate, 78+ for weekly quests)
To get off Northrend, all you need to do is reverse the order you used to get there. You can take the boat/zeppelin from Borean Tundra to get to Stormwind or Orgrimmar. The boat/zeppelin in Howling Fjord will take you to the Wetlands or Undercity, respectively.
There is no direct route from Northrend to Kalimdor for the Alliance (Stormwind and Wetlands are located in the Eastern Kingdoms)
Yes, but you will need to purchase cold weather flying for 1,000 gold and be level 77 first. Check out my full guide to Unlocking Northrend Flying for all the details.
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