Category: Castle tours

The Outlander TV series continues to be a huge hit in the UK and America .  Five Scottish castles in particular feature heavily in the story lines – Midhope Castle ( Lallybroch ) , Doune Castle ( Castle Leoch ) , Linlithgow Palace  (Wentworth Prison ) , Culross Palace and Blackness Castle ( Fort William army headquarters ) . If you haven’t got a trip to Scotland booked or you want a unique preview of the Highlands of Scotland , why not take a virtual tour of Scotland ?

1  Midhope Castle – Lallybroch
Get a glimpse of the ancestral home of Jamie Fraser at Midhope Castle .
Scenes were shot at Midhope Castle on the fringes of the Hopetoun Estate near South Queensferry.
Midhope was built in the 15th Century and was built by John Martyne, laird of Medhope. It was rebuilt in the mid 1600s and remains much the same today.
Visitors are asked to admire Midhope from a distance as the interior remains largely derelict.

Midhope Castle is the external location for fictional Lallybroch, the family home of character Jamie Fraser , and it is located on the Hopetoun Estate .  Midhope Castle dates back to the 15th Century and although the exterior is relatively intact the castle is derelict inside. Midhope Castle tours can be booked on

Toll free number 1-866-233-2644  or online .

2
Doune Castle – Castle Leoch

Originally dating to the 13th Century, Doune Castle near Stirling plays Castle Leoch, home to Colum MacKenzie and his clan.

It also features in the 20th century episode when Claire and Frank Randall visit the castle on a day trip.
Once a Royal residence, Doune Castle was rebuilt by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany in the late 14th Century.

Doune has appeared several times on screen and was widely used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It also represented the castle Winterfell in Game of Thrones.

3  Linlithgow Palace – Wentworth Prison

This royal palace and birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots became the backdrop for some of the most harrowing scenes of the show.
Depicted as Wentworth Prison, the prison corridors and entrance were used in episode 15 of the first series when Jamie Fraser was brutally incarcerated by his adversary, Black Jack Randall.
Built in the 1400s and 1500s, the now-ruined palace is set among the spectacular surrounds of Linlithgow Loch and Peel.

4 Culross Palace

5
Blackness Castle – Fort William army headquarters

One of Scotland’s most impressive strongholds, Blackness Castle near Linlithgow was used as the Fort William headquarters of Black Jack Randall.
The 15th-century ex-artillery fortress overlooks the Firth of Forth and is known as “the ship that never sailed” due to its unusual shape.
It was built in the 15th century by one of Scotland’s most powerful families, the Crichtons.

Outlander tour of five Scottish castles

• up to four  passengers £250
• private castles tour
• Outlander tours

Entrance tickets, food and refreshments are not included . Explorer passes are available from Historic Environment Scotland for Doune ,  Blackness Castle and Linlithgow Palace .

Outlander tours  – Outlander photo gifts

Private tours of Scotland 0131-549-9785 seven days a week

check availability now for our unique tours of Scotland +44131-549-9785 seven days a week

Special offers for December

Visit Outlander’s Lallybroch Castle ( Midhope Castle ) for just £90 . Hourly service from Edinburgh between 10 am and 2 pm . Free pickup and dropoff from Edinburgh. Or add two more Outlander film locations – Fort William and Wentworth prison –  for a unique tour costing just £150 . Phone 07305-294773 for details and availability.

See Jamie Fraser’s ancestral home – Lallybroch .

Need a bit more Outlander ? Listen to Jamie as he guides you around Castle Leoch ( Doune Castle ) on our Jamie Fraser Outlander tour

Game of Thrones castle tour special offer – normal price £180 , now £160 until 31 December . Tours run daily six days a week from 10 am to 1 pm in winter .

Alongside our normal choice of tours , Private Tours Edinburgh also offers bespoke private tours and one day Outlander tours customised to the requirements of each customer .

Tours start at 10 am . Our private group tours take up to four people to three Outlander castle filming locations. We also offer bespoke private tours with the option of choosing your own itinerary . In just 5 hours you can have the perfect Outlander day trip .

Tours start from locations in Edinburgh and cost £150 .

• Normal pickup point is Edinburgh city centre , your hotel or port . Shore excursions – pickup from Rosyth, South Queensferry and Newhaven port. Ideal Day trip from Edinburgh

For more details about availability phone 0131 549 9785 / 07305-294773 . Outlander tours from Edinburgh are available six days a week .

Edinburgh transfers

Your driver /guide gives you the history of each castle , details of the episodes filmed at each location and points of interest on the journey .

Other pickup points can be arranged .

• Lallybroch – Midhope Castle, ancestral home of Jamie Fraser
• Linlithgow Palace – Wentworth Prison
• Blackness Castle – Fort William
• half day Outlander tour
• Take in unique views of three historic castles featured in Outlander
• Small private group tour with up to of four people
• Outlander tours from Edinburgh

Shore excursions Edinburgh – all of our tours are available as shore excursions from the Edinburgh ports South Queensferry, Newhaven and Rosyth . Daytime phone number 0131 549 9785.

Itinerary

On this tour we visit various locations used for filming the hit series Outlander. Based on the best selling novels by Diana Gabaldon, Outlander is filmed in a number of locations in castles and towns in central Scotland.

Lallybroch – Midhope Castle

The first location on this Outlander tour is Lallybroch – Midhope Castle, ancestral home of Jamie Fraser . Outlander scenes were shot at Midhope Castle on the fringes of the Hopetoun Estate near South Queensferry.

Midhope was built in the 15th Century and was built by John Martyne, laird of Medhope. It was rebuilt in the mid 1600s and remains much the same today.

Visitors are asked to admire Midhope from a distance as the interior is inaccessible .

Midhope Castle, a 16th-century tower house, is used as Lallybroch (also known as Broch Tuarach) in Outlander . Left to Jamie by his parents, Brian and Ellen, Lallybroch is also home to Jamie’s sister, Jenny, her husband Ian Murray and their children. With Lallybroch being an important part of the Outlander story, much use is made of Midhope Castle.

Looking for day trips from Edinburgh ? How about taking an Outlander tour from Edinburgh of Outlander’s Lallybroch with Private tours Edinburgh – just one of Scotland’s amazing Outlander castles and film locations ?

Tours start at 10 am . Our private group tours take up to four people to three Outlander castle filming locations. We also offer bespoke private tours with the option of choosing your own itinerary . In just 5 hours you can have the perfect Outlander day trip .

Tours start from locations in Edinburgh and cost £150 .

• Normal pickup point is Edinburgh city centre , your hotel or port . Shore excursions – pickup from Rosyth, South Queensferry and Newhaven port. Ideal Day trip from Edinburgh

For more details about availability phone 0131 549 9785 / 07305-294773 . Outlander tours from Edinburgh are available six days a week .

Edinburgh transfers

Your driver /guide gives you the history of each castle , details of the episodes filmed at each location and points of interest on the journey .

Other pickup points can be arranged .

• Lallybroch – Midhope Castle, ancestral home of Jamie Fraser
• Linlithgow Palace – Wentworth Prison
• Blackness Castle – Fort William
• half day Outlander tour
• Take in unique views of three historic castles featured in Outlander
• Small private group tour with up to of four people
• Outlander tours from Edinburgh

Shore excursions Edinburgh – all of our tours are available as shore excursions from the Edinburgh ports South Queensferry, Newhaven and Rosyth . Daytime phone number 0131 549 9785.

Itinerary

On this tour we visit various locations used for filming the hit series Outlander. Based on the best selling novels by Diana Gabaldon, Outlander is filmed in a number of locations in castles and towns in central Scotland.

Lallybroch – Midhope Castle

The first location on this Outlander tour is Lallybroch – Midhope Castle, ancestral home of Jamie Fraser . Outlander scenes were shot at Midhope Castle on the fringes of the Hopetoun Estate near South Queensferry.

Midhope was built in the 15th Century and was built by John Martyne, laird of Medhope. It was rebuilt in the mid 1600s and remains much the same today.

Visitors are asked to admire Midhope from a distance as the interior is inaccessible .

Midhope Castle, a 16th-century tower house, is used as Lallybroch (also known as Broch Tuarach) in Outlander . Left to Jamie by his parents, Brian and Ellen, Lallybroch is also home to Jamie’s sister, Jenny, her husband Ian Murray and their children. With Lallybroch being an important part of the Outlander story, much use is made of Midhope Castle.

Lallybroch Castle tours can be booked on

Toll free number 1-866-233-2644 or online .

Linlithgow Palace

This royal palace is the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots and it became the backdrop for some of the most harrowing scenes of the TV show Outlander .

Depicted as Wentworth Prison, the prison corridors and entrance were used in episode fifteen of the first series when Jamie Fraser was brutally incarcerated by his adversary, Black Jack Randall.

Built in the 1400s and 1500s, the now-ruined palace is set among the spectacular surrounds of Linlithgow Loch and Peel.

Blackness Castle goes back to 1440 . The castle provides the setting for Fort William, as the original fort no longer exists.

The castle is long and narrow because of the shape of the rock on which it is situated and it is sometimes called ‘ the ship that never sailed ‘ . It guards the bay at Blackness and is only a few miles from Linlithgow Palace . The first castle was built in the middle of the 15th century by Sir George Crichton , Earl of Caithness , a member of one of the most powerful families in Scotland .

This tour from Private tours Edinburgh costs £150 . Souvenir photos, t-shirts , phone cases and gifts can be bought at www.privatetoursedinburgh.com

Our photo tours of Scotland set off from Edinburgh and feature visits to the top scenic locations in the Highlands of Scotland. Perfect for iPhone and DSLR users with a passion for landscape photography .

Shore excursions Edinburgh – all of our tours are available as shore excursions from the Edinburgh ports South Queensferry, Newhaven and Rosyth . Daytime phone number 0131 549 9785.

Find out more about our full range of Outlander tours

Outlander fans are desperate for news about  Outlander Season 5 filming . Filming has taken place in Scotland for the last 2 months. I can reveal that I have posted on Twitter that I can “unofficially confirm” that filming will take place at Midhope Castle in September .Midhope Castle had previously been slated to be closed for a while for filming. The question was whether it would be for our series or something else that’s Scotland based. After all, many TV shows and movies have used some of the Outlander locations, including most recently Mary Queen of Scots and the Outlaw King .

Castle pictures can “unofficially confirm” that it will definitely be Outlander heading to Midhope Castle, which fans know as Lallybroch.

Filming will take place for four weeks. What isn’t clear is who exactly will be there. I think it will be Jamie and Claire Fraser, but it’s difficult to be certain about it . The castle is closed from mid-August .

David Rankin@castlepictures

I can unofficially confirm #outlander filming at #lallybroch next month . I think #jamiefraser and Claire will be there for 4 weekshttp://www.privatetoursedinburgh.com 

This will mean a change to the book storyline. Claire and Jamie don’t go to Lallybroch in Book 5, titled “The Fiery Cross.” However, the former home of Jamie Fraser does come up later in the book series. It’s possible that instead of doing one book per season, the showrunners have decided to combine book storylines.

Lallybroch gifts

In a way, combining the storylines would make sense. It could be easier to focus on one overall storyline for a season, making the series more like a traditional TV series with a story arc. In another sense, it could be easier to manage plot points that fans are disappointed in not getting because of the need to condense for time.

Jamie Fraser Outlander tours

Of course, Midhope Castle may not actually make it to Outlander Season 5. It’s possible that the set is being used for the Outlander Untold storylines, which we know are going to happen for Season 5.

Book your private tour of Lallybroch now on 07305-294773 .

See Jamie Fraser’s ancestral home – Lallybroch .

Hear Jamie as he guides you around Castle Leoch ( Doune Castle ) on our private tours

Aberdour Castle , in Fife, plays the part of the Benedictine monastery, Abbey Ste Anne de Beaupre in Outlander . It is here that Jamie recovers from his injuries at the hands of “Black Jack” Randall. In “Dragonfly in Amber” , the Abbey is located on the north coast of France. However, in the TV series, where this scene is moved to the first series, the Abbey is in Scotland, and Claire tends to Jamie prior to them leaving Scotland.

Aberdour Castle is located in the village of Easter Aberdour in Fife, Scotland. With a hall house dating back to the 12th century, it is arguably the oldest castle in Scotland.

Different parts of the castle were used, including the stables, gallery and kitchen. Book your tour of Aberdour Castle on 07305-294773 .

More castle tours of Scotland .

Eilean Donan Castle

Eilean Donan means Island of Donan (a religious figure from the 12th century). Eilean Donan was Clan MacKenzie’s most important stronghold from the 13th Century until it was destroyed in 1719. Robert the Bruce was given refuge in Eilean Donan Castle by John MacKenzie, Second of Kintail when he was being hunted by the English at the beginning of the fourteenth century.

Above the entrance to the castle there is a Gaelic inscription which translates as: As long as there is a MacRae inside, there will never be a Fraser outside. Inside the courtyard is the famous Murchison Stone with an inscription about John Murchison of Auchtertyre who was killed in the Battle of Sherrifmuir in 1715. In the upper floor inside the castle there are six bedrooms named Loch Alsh,Loch Long, Eilean Donan, Ballimore, Loch Duich and Conchra. There is also a panel with the names of the constables ( guardians ) of the castle carved on it.

Eilean Donan Castle tours

Eilean Donan Castle was originally built in 1220 and owned by the MacKenzies of Kintail. The MacRae Clan who settled in the area came from the Beauly Firth where they had protected the Clan Fraser.They acted as bodyguards to the MacKenzie chiefs. Although there was a number of disputes, the MacKenzies held Eilean Donan right up until until the 16th century. The MacRaes first became Constables of the Castle in 1511 with a lot of control over the surrounding area. A feud between the MacKenzies and the McLeods of Dunvegan, over the disputed claims of Donald Gorm MacDonald to the title of Lord of the Isles, came to a head when he attacked the Castle with 50 galleys. He was shot and killed by Duncan MacRae with a single arrow. The Castle was garrisoned by Government troops but later retaken by the Jacobites before the Battle of Sheriffmuir.

In 1719 it was held by Spanish Jacobites. Three English frigates sailed into Loch Duich and bombarded the castle with cannon fire until it was in ruins. The castle them lay in ruins for nearly 200 years. In 1911 John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the castle and start work to restore the castle over a period of twenty years at a total cost of a quarter of a million pounds. Local materials were used wherever possible.

More recently the castle featured in the film Highlander and a James Bond movie.

Eilean Donan Castle is on an island in the middle of 3 lochs – Loch Alsh, Loch Long and Loch Duich – and surrounded by the mountains of the Highlands. If you climb the hill overlooking the castle you can see the Isle of Skye. The castle is next to the village of Dornie and about 10 miles from the Kyle of Lochalsh and the bridge to the Isle of Skye to the North. The castle is on the west coast of Scotland, about 90 miles north of Glencoe and about 180 miles from Edinburgh. You can take the train from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh and take a taxi to the castle. There is a bus route from Glasgow past the castle once a day. There are many bus tours from Edinburgh to the castle.

Due to a change in Scots law it is now possible to get married in a Scottish castle. The castle is open most of the year and it is run by the Conchra Charitable Trust.

Eilean Donan Castle poster