Edinburgh: Outlander Film Locations Day Trip & Castles

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(1717 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“That’s Lallybroch, right there,” our guide said, pointing through the mist to Midhope Castle. I’d seen it on TV a hundred times but standing in front of those weathered stones, it felt different—like you could almost hear boots on gravel or catch the smell of peat smoke if you waited long enough. We all shuffled closer for photos, nobody really talking much yet. I think we were still waking up, honestly.

The drive out of Edinburgh was quick—maybe 40 minutes?—and then suddenly we were winding through little roads that looked like they hadn’t changed in centuries. Our guide, Fiona (she wore a scarf with thistles on it), started telling stories about the Frasers and MacKenzies, but also about her own gran who used to sneak into Doune Castle as a kid. When we got to Doune itself (Castle Leoch in Outlander), the stone felt cold under my hand. There was this echo inside the halls that made me whisper without meaning to. I tried to say “Slàinte mhath” at one point—Li laughed when I tried the Gaelic.

Culross was next—the “Cranesmuir” village where Claire got accused of witchcraft. It’s tiny but every corner looks like a painting. Someone had just baked bread; you could actually smell yeast and woodsmoke drifting down the lane. We stopped for lunch in Falkland after that (it’s where they filmed 1940s Inverness). The pub had these battered wooden tables and soup that tasted like someone’s mum made it. Honestly, I didn’t expect to care so much about the old shopfronts but now I keep thinking about them.

Blackness Castle came last—big and brooding over the water, used as Fort William in the show. The wind picked up there; my scarf nearly blew off and Fiona just grinned at us all shivering by the ramparts. She said something about how Scottish weather keeps you honest. By then everyone was swapping theories about time travel or which character they’d want to meet if they could step through a stone circle themselves… So yeah, not sure what I expected from an Outlander film locations day trip from Edinburgh, but it turned out more real than TV ever did.