Outlander Locations

Follow Jamie and Claire's footsteps through Scotland, visiting some Outlander filming locations such as Midhope Castle, the real-life Lallybroch, Doune Castle, the seat of Clan MacKenzie, and Blackness Castle, the setting for Fort William. And no, you don't have to have seen the show to enjoy visiting castles and quaint villages!

Midhope Castle

Midhope Castle aka Lallybroch, is the ancestral castle home of Jamie Fraser. It's about 30 minutes from Edinburgh.

Midhope is pretty small, and it's in ruin so you can't go inside. All the interior shots from the series were filmed in a studio. The greater Hopetoun Estate has over 20 Outlander film spots.

This is one castle that's definitely more fun for fans of Outlander to visit. Otherwise you can be done taking your photos in about 5 minutes. On to the next stop!

Doune Castle

Doune Castle was used as the location of Castle Leoch in Outlander. The castle is seen throughout the series as the seat of Clan MacKenzie.

Doune Castle has a special Outlander Audio Tour that you can take which is narrated by Sam Heughan, who plays Jamie Fraser. The regular commentary is voiced by actor and director Terry Jones, from Monty Python, which was also filmed here.

I took two different organized tours that stopped here. One was called Outlander Explorer. On my first visit, I explored the inside the castle. On the second, I opted not to pay the admission fee again and instead explored the outer grounds and walked along the River Tieth.

Culross

Culross (pronounced Coo-Riss) is a lovely picturesque little village with very narrow cobbled streets and a must see 3-tiered flower garden at the palace.

In the first season, Culross served as the fictional village of Cranesmuir, it's where Claire was accused of witchcraft.

Similarly, to how the witch trial panned out in Outlander, many innocent people in and around Culross were accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death. There were times that there were so many people awaiting trial that the town didn’t know where to hold them. So, they were held in the attic of the Culross Town Hall.

To this day there are many exhibitions and events that take place around Culross related to the witch trials.

In the second season, it was an encampment during the Jacobite rebellion. Culross also has a small feature in season 4.

The National Trust for Scotland shop has a map marking various filming locations.

One of the first scenes of Culross in Outlander is the row of houses leading down to Geillis Duncans’ House.

Like in Outlander, miscreants were dragged to the Mercat Cross to have their ears nailed to the town stocks.

Many scenes of Outland were filmed inside the palace but the highlight for me was the gardens out back. They go up all the way to that wall you see through the yellow buildings. The gardens were used as the herb garden of Cattle Leoch, where Claire first meets Geillis.

To the gardens.

There are three lovely tiers to explore outside.

Somehow there is a way to view the gardens from above the palace property but I couldn't find the path. It was more fun walking through the garden anyway.

Culross Town Hall, once used as a prison and courthouse, is now used as the visitor center, an art gallery and souvenir shop.

Falkland Village

Falkland Village was used to film Inverness as it looked in 1945.

The Covenanter Hotel in Falkland Square was used as Mrs. Baird’s B&B. Claire and Frank check in here on there honeymoon and discuss arriving on the Eve of Samhain. You can actually stay in the bedroom that Claire and Frank did.

The Bruce Fountain is where the ghost of Jamie is staring up at Claire brushing her hair while Frank is watching Jamie doing so, in the rain.

Falkland Palace was said to be one of Mary Queen of Scots favorite residences, acts as the apothecary in the episode “The Hail Mary” in 1745 Inverness.

Blackness Castle

Blackness Castle is a ruined fortress that sits on the banks of the Firth and Forth. Outlander fans will recognize this place as Fort William. It's where Jamie is flogged.