The top 10 Outlander Locations to visit in Scotland

1) Doune Castle

Situated in the foothills of The Trossachs, Doune castle is a fine wee 13th centre tower house that was extended late in the 1500’s. It is used as the location for Castle Leoch in Outlander and whilst there was defiantly some CGI used to ‘restore’ the castle back to a working fort, Doune is almost as complete as it was when the Jacobites occupied it in 1745.

The courtyard of Doune was used for filming, however Claire’s herb garden was actually filmed within Culross Palace gardens.

2) Royal Burgh of Culross

Culross is a sleepy village on the shore of the river Forth. Many of the indoor scenes were filmed in Studios near Cumbernauld but the interior of Culross Palace (which isn’t actually a palace) were used in filming of interior scenes. The gardens to the rear of Culross were used for Claire’s herb garden.

A stones throw from the Palace is the Mercat Cross which was used in the famous scene where Jamie frees a young boy from the stocks in Crainsmuir. On the same square sits ’The Study’, a 17th century house used as the exterior for Gillies Duncan’s home.

3) Midhope Castle

Undoubtedly the most famous building in Outlander’s long list of now-famous buildings, Midhope is the fictional ‘Lallybroch’, home of Jamie Fraser. The towerhouse is actually a ruin (although there are plans to turn it into a hotel) and a fair amount of creative license was used to recreate the working building, but visitors are in for a treat when visiting. It’s even possible to stand inside the archway where Jamie was flogged for is allegiances to the Jacobite movement.

4) Drummond Castle Gardens

Situated in the rolling Perthshire hills is a grand castle with equally grand gardens. But Drummond Gardens isn’t used as any scene in Scotland, it’s actually the stand-in for the gardens of The Palace of Versailles near Paris. Luckily Scotland’s weather isn’t so dreich as to allow for this ornate rose garden to flourish every summer and, with a bit of creative imagination, you too can be strolling through the French countryside with Bonnie Prince Charlie at your side.

5) Falkland

Another ’stand in’ is the quaint picture-postcard town of Falkland in Fife, which is used as Inverness in Outlander. The centrepiece of the village is the Bruce fountain which is first seen in the very first scene when Claire and Frank arrive in Inverness on Honeymoon in 1945. We return to this location a number of times, most famously when Frank brushes past Jamie (who is leaning on the same fountain) as he is watching Claire in the window of her hotel.

Falkland also has a Palace which was used by the Stuart Monarchy as a hunting retreat in the 15th & 16th century. Whilst not connected to Outlander, it’s well worth the visit (you can even see where Mary Queen of Scots played tennis).

6) Hopetoun House

The grand stately mansion at Hopetoun is Scotland’s largest mansion and a symbol of Georgian wealth and prosperity. Hopetoun was used as the home of The Duke of Sandringham and there are many scenes filmed both inside and outside Hopetoun including the red drawing room where Claire and Jamie meet the Duke in season 1. Outside you can see where the dual with the McDonalds on the lawn and at the rear of the house is the courtyard that is used as the entrance to the Paris brothel ‘Maison Elise’.

8) Preston Mill

Often overlooked on Outlander itineraries because it is ’the wrong way’ from Edinburgh, historic Preston Mill is used in the famous scene where Jamie is repairing the water mill at Leoch. Red Coats arrive on horseback and Jamie hides underwater, almost drowning, until they are satisfied he isn’t there. To film this scene the water table had to be artificially raised. Preston Mill is in itself a great place to visit, just Outside East Linton.

9) Glasgow City Chambers

At the back of the Grand marble chambers on George Square in Glasgow is John Street. The pedestrianised section of the street directly behind the government building is used in a number of scenes as the stand in for London street scenes, including the location that Frank proposes to Claire. 45 John Street is the real-life address for the register of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Glasgow.

10) Blackness Castle

Known as ‘The ship that never sailed’ Blackness is an imposing fort that juts out into the River Forth near Linlithgow. The courtyard of Blackness is the stand-in for Fort William, the redcoat stronghold where Black Jack Randall and his Red Coat army is based. There are many scenes filmed here including the lashing of Jamie and Claire’s daring escape with Jamie jumping out of a window into the sea.