Image courtesy of Visit Scotland
What’s there for me? You can ramble around the fourteenth-century castle and gawp at its 100ft-high gatehouse. Doune itself, meanwhile, is a trim wee village with a sprinkling of little cafés and shops, and the city of Stirling is a short drive away. Stirling has an even more impressive castle, ripe for exploration, and is home to the excellent Hermann’s Restaurant, which sits in the heart of the cobbled old town. Screenheads note: scenes from Monty Python and the Game of Thrones pilot were also filmed here.
Culross, Fife
Deeply historic Culross in
Fife is the perfect setting for
Outlander’s fictional village of Cranesmuir. Its Mercat area is transformed on screen into the homes of Geillis Duncan and her husband Arthur. You can wander through the old alleys and discover the herb garden that Claire works at in the grounds of the fictional Castle Leoch behind the impressive Culross Palace.
What’s there for me? The fun in Culross is in simply taking a stroll around this royal burgh’s charming cobbled alleyways and feeling the centuries peel back, though Culross Palace itself is a standout attraction (when you visit, be sure to look out for the Scots Dumpy hens who supply eggs for the Palace’s Bessie Bar Tearoom). Afterwards enjoy a stroll along the banks of the River Forth and dream of the Viking longships who once ploughed this historic waterway.
Highland Folk Museum, Newtonmore
The Highland Folk Museum by Newtonmore houses replicas of eighteenth-century, turf-roofed Highland crofts, which made it an ideal choice for the shoots, serving as
Outlander’s MacKenzie village. It provides the backdrop for the scene where Claire, Jamie and his clansmen shelter in the first episode and appears again later on when Dougal collects the rent.