Overview
Lan Exeter is the winter capital of Kovir and Poviss, the northern kingdom where The Witcher IV is set. In Andrzej Sapkowski's novels, Lan Exeter is a wealthy port city built on the wide estuary of the River Targo, sitting on a bay in the Gulf of Praxeda along the North Sea coast.
The city draws heavy inspiration from Venice. A Great Canal runs from the harbour all the way to the royal residence, and houses line its banks with narrow, ornately decorated facades. The reason for the narrow frontage is practical: property tax in Lan Exeter is calculated based on the width of a building's street-facing wall. Homeowners kept their facades slim and built deep into their lots instead.
Role in The Witcher IV
CDPR has not confirmed Lan Exeter as a visitable location by name, but the State of Unreal 2025 tech demo showed a large coastal area in Kovir. The nearby town of Valdrest was the specific location in the demo. Given that the game is set across Kovir and Poviss, and that Lan Exeter is the kingdom's winter capital, it is widely expected to appear.
Fans have compared Lan Exeter's potential role to Novigrad in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Novigrad was the largest city hub in that game, a sprawling port with dozens of merchants, quest-givers, and hidden areas. If Lan Exeter receives similar treatment, it could be one of the game's densest locations.
Novel background
King Tankred Thyssen rules Kovir and Poviss. He splits his court between two capitals: Lan Exeter in winter and Pont Vanis in summer. The kingdom is the wealthiest in the Northern Realms thanks to its mineral deposits (including rare dimeritium) and neutrality during the wars between the North and Nilfgaard.
Lan Exeter appears briefly in the novels but is never explored in depth. Most of what readers know comes from passing descriptions and world-building asides. The game could flesh out the city far beyond what the books describe.
Venice parallels
Several details from the novels reinforce the Venice comparison:
A Great Canal as the central waterway
Property taxes based on building frontage width (similar to historical European tax systems)
A harbour-to-palace canal route
Richly decorated but narrow house facades
A coastal trading economy
How much of this architectural detail CDPR will translate into the game world is not yet clear. The studio's track record with cities like Novigrad and Night City suggests they will put considerable effort into making Lan Exeter feel lived-in.