Outlander, Palaces and Jacobites Experience - Winter Edition

Outlander is brilliant, and we think that we should be able to celebrate it and take you to some of your favourite locations from the show all year round. That's why we are introducing our new winter Outlander tour from Edinburgh.

We begin our day by departing Edinburgh from the Royal Mile, taking in some of the sites of the city as we make our way towards the first stop of the day, the Royal Burgh of Culross, a small village situated on the coast of Fife on the other side of the Forth. Culross is arguably the best example of a 17th Century village in Scotland. The gardens here feature as Claire’s herb garden, and the Mercat Cross in Outlanders’ Cranesmuir Village.

From there, we travel further west towards Doune Castle, which featured as Castle Leoch in the show, the seat of Clan MacKenzie. You might also recognise this medieval stronghold from many other different films and tv programmes such as Game of Thrones and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. On our way, we will pass the historic and imposing Stirling Castle which sits proudly over the city of Stirling, high on volcanic rock.

We continue south, back to the other side of the Forth to Callendar House near Falkirk, the kitchen here was used as part of the Duke of Sandringham’s home in Season 2 of the show. This beautiful mansion has traditional Scottish architecture with elements resembling a French Renaissance chateau. We will also stop here for lunch.

Our winter Outlander tour travels east, to the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow, where you will the opportunity to visit Linlithgow Palace, Outlander’s Wentworth Prison. The palace, with its impressive grounds overlooking stunning scenery, was originally used as a relaxing retreat for the Royal Family on journeys between Edinburgh and Stirling Castle.

Our final stop of the day before we return to Edinburgh will be at Blackness, home to Blackness Castle. In Outlander, Blackness Castle is used as the set for Fort William, the headquarters of Black Jack Randall. It has also appeared in Hamlet and is known as “the ship that never sailed” due to its distinctive boat-like shape that protrudes into the Forth. Look down the Forth towards Edinburgh and see all 3 Forth Bridges, representing three centuries of Scottish engineering and connecting the Lothians with the Kingdom of Fife. As it’s winter, it might be getting dark, but assuming it’s a clear day, you should be able to see the bridges illuminated in all their glory. Our tour will then return to Edinburgh in the evening.