- Author: Luxrah
- Date: March 28, 2023
- Updated: February 26, 2025
- Expansion: World of Warcraft
Stormwind is the human capital city and the main hub of the Alliance. Located in Elwynn Forest on the continent of Eastern Kingdoms, it will be the jumping off point for most of your adventures if you’re playing an Alliance character. In a sense, all roads lead to Stormwind: there are dozens of ways to get to and from the city, making travel between zones, continents, and even worlds a lot easier once you know where to go.
For this guide, we will focus on the four main transit centers in Stormwind. We’ll cover where to find them and where they go. These areas are:
- The Stormwind Portal Room
- The docks in the Stormwind Harbor
- The Deeprun Tram
- The Cataclysm portals
The Stormwind Portal Room
The Stormwind Portal Room is also called the Wizard’s Sanctum. It is the tallest tower in the southern corner of The Mage Quarter.
To ascend the tower without flying, you will have to climb the winding stone path around the building. When you reach the top, go through the large portal gate to enter the Wizard’s Sanctum.
If none of the portals are active, you may need to complete the Dragonflight introductory quests. Check out our Dragon Isles Guide for a detailed walkthrough.
Some individual portals will not be available until your Warband has completed certain quests.
This portal leads to Paw’don Village in the Jade Forest zone of Pandaria.
To unlock this portal, you must complete the quest The Right Tool For The Job. For a detailed walkthrough, check out our How to Get to Pandaria guide.
This portal leads to Shattrath in the Terokkar Forest zone of Outland.
After you go through this portal, the portal to the Isle of Quel’Danas will be directly across from you.
For help with navigating Outland, check out our How to Get to Outland guide.
This portal leads to Caverns of Time in the Tanaris zone of Kalimdor.
When you go through this portal, there will be a Steward of Time hovering nearby. If you speak to him, he can fly you down into the caverns.
This portal leads to The Exodar in the Azuremyst Isle zone of Kalimdor.
This portal leads to Dalaran in the Crystalsong Forest zone of Northrend.
For help with navigating Northrend, check out our How to Get to Northrend guide.
This portal leads to Crumbled Palace in the Azsuna zone of Broken Isles.
If you can fly, you can use this portal to quickly get to Dalaran, which is nearby.
To unlock this portal, you must complete the quest In the Blink of an Eye. For a detailed walkthrough, check out our Legion Intro Guide. For help navigating the Broken Isles, there’s also our How to Get to the Broken Isles guide.
This portal leads to the city of Oribos in Shadowlands.
To unlock this portal, you must complete the quest A Doorway Through the Veil. To start this questline, pick up Shadowlands: A Chilling Summons from Highlord Darion Mograine in front of Stormwind Keep. For help navigating the Shadowlands, check out our How to Get to the Shadowlands guide.
This portal leads to Boralus in the Tiragarde Sound zone of Kul Tiras.
After you go through this portal, you will be right next to portals to Ironforge, The Exodar, and Silithus, as well as a portal to Nazjatar if you have unlocked it.
To unlock this portal, you must complete the quest Sanctum of the Sages. For a detailed walkthrough, check out our BFA Intro Guide and How to Get to Kul Tiras.
There is also a boat to Boralus at the Stormwind docks.
This portal leads to Valdrakken in the Thaldraszus zone of Dragon Isles.
Within Valdrakken you will also find portals to New Dalaran, Jade Forest, and Shadowmoon Valley.
To unlock this portal, you must complete the quest To Valdrakken. For help navigating the Dragon Isles, check out our How to Get to the Dragon Isles guide.
There is also a boat to the Dragon Isles at the Stormwind docks.
This portal leads to Stormshield in the Ashran zone of Draenor.
For help navigating Draenor, check out our How to Get to Draenor guide.
Speaking to this NPC will teleport you to The Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands zone of Eastern Kingdoms.
Note that there is no return portal from this location.
For help with navigating Outland, check out our How to Get to Outland guide.
Cataclysm Portals in Stormwind
The Cataclysm portals are located in the Eastern Earthshrine, which is in the center of the lake between the Stormwind Embassy and Stormwind Keep. All of these portals require level 30 to use, as that is the minimum level for the zones they connect to.
This portal leads to Nordrassil in the Mount Hyjal zone of Kalimdor.
To unlock this portal, you must complete the quest As Hyjal Burns. To start this questline, pick up Hero’s Call: Mount Hyjal! from the Hero’s Call Board.
This portal leads to the Temple of Earth in the Deepholm zone of The Maelstrom.
This portal leads to Smugglar’s Scar in the Kelp’thar Forest zone of Vashj’ir, an underwater region that is connected to Eastern Kingdoms.
To unlock this portal, you must complete the quest The Eye of the Storm, which is offered by Naraat the Earthspeaker in the Eastern Earthshrine.
Note that there is no return portal from this location.
This portal leads to Highbank, an island off the coast of the Twilight Highlands zone in Eastern Kingdoms.
To unlock the return portal, you must complete the quest Any Portal in a Storm. To start this questline, pick up Hero’s Call: Twilight Highlands! from the Hero’s Call Board.
This portal leads to Ramkahen in the Uldum zone of Kalimdor.
When you arrive, you will be in the Uldum of the current timeline. To travel to the zone at the time of Cataclysm, you can talk to Zidormi, who is nearby and marked on the map.
Note that there is no return portal from this location.
This portal leads to Baradin Base Camp in the Tol Barad Peninsula zone of Eastern Kingdoms.
This portal is different from the others in the Eastern Earthshrine and looks more like a typical mage portal.
The Deeprun Tram
The Deeprun Tram is a train station located in the Dwarven District. Inside are two platforms where trains stop to carry you to Ironforge.
Riding the trains will take you through a long tunnel that goes underwater, giving you a view of the seafloor.
The trains run to Tinker Town in the dwarf capital city of Ironforge, in the Dun Morogh zone of Eastern Kingdoms.
There are two alternating trains that each take about five minutes to travel back and forth.
The Stormwind Boats
A few different boats dock in Stormwind Harbor on a regular schedule. You may also board some of the stationary boats for one-time quest transportation.
The regular boats dock at the southern and northern platforms.
On the southernmost dock, you’ll find a lone portal to Darnassus. Where this portal actually leads depends upon your current timeline. By default your timeline is based on your level.
Cataclsym Timeline (Below Level 50)
This portal leads to Rutheran Village at the base of the Teldrassil zone in Kalimdor.
Walking up the hill you will see a small structure with a pink glow inside. Stepping through will take you to the city of Darnassus high above.
There is a return portal nearby, but it is not the one that you spawn beside – that one leads to The Exodar. The portal back to Stormwind is at the end of the southern dock of the village.
Current Timeline (Above Level 50)
This portal will put you on the beach of the Darkshore zone, close to the town of Lor’danel, which is a Horde area in the current timeline.
When you arrive, you will be in the Darkshore of the current timeline. To travel to the zone before it was altered in the Shadowlands expansion, you can talk to Zidormi, who is nearby and marked on the map. This will transform Lor’danel into a friendly town from which you can take a flight path to the city of Darnassus in the Teldrassil zone.
Note that there is no return portal from this location.
A boat named The Kraken docks at the northernmost dock. This boat leads to Valiance Keep in the Borean Tundra zone of Northrend.
The boat docks about every five minutes.
For help navigating Northrend, check out our How to Get to Northrend guide.
A boat named The Relentless docks at the southernmost dock. This boat leads to Boralus Harbor in the Tiragarde Sound zone of Kul Tiras.
The boat docks about every five minutes. It docks in the same place as the boat to the Dragon Isles. The Boralus boat is crewed entirely by kul tiran humans, whereas the Dragon Isles boat has dracthyr on board.
There is also a portal to Boralus in the Stormwind portal room.
For help navigating Kul Tiras, check out our How to Get to Kul Tiras guide.
A boat named The Rugged Dragonscale docks at the southernmost dock. This boat leads to Wingrest Embassy in the Waking Shores zone of Dragon Isles. Speak to Chrovo at the end of the dock to find out how long the wait will be.
The boat docks about every five minutes. It docks in the same place as the boat to Boralus. The Dragon Isles boat has dracthyr on board, whereas the Boralus boat is crewed entirely by kul tiran humans.
There is also a portal to Valdrakken in the Stormwind portal room.
For help navigating the Dragon Isles, check out our How to Get to the Dragon Isles guide.
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About the Author
I think the portal to Darnassus is broken. When you travelled by boat any level could get on it. Now I can’t even see the portal if my character is under 30.