26 historic sites
Castles in Scotland
Perched on volcanic rock, rising from misty lochs, or clinging to sea cliffs, Scotland's castles are among the world's most dramatically situated. With over 3,000 castle ruins and 2,000 still standing, Scotland has more castles per square mile than almost anywhere on earth.
scotland · Edinburgh
Palace of Holyroodhouse
Scotland's royal palace at the foot of the Royal Mile — Mary, Queen of Scots, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and a murder marked on the floor
scotland · Highlands
Cawdor Castle
Shakespeare's Macbeth borrowed its name; the holly tree legend at its core turned out to be true
scotland · Scottish Borders
Floors Castle
Scotland's largest inhabited house, a Georgian mansion wrapped in Victorian Baronial fantasy
scotland · Sutherland
Dunrobin Castle
Scotland's most northerly great house, rising like a French château above the North Sea
scotland · Fife
Falkland Palace
The Stuart dynasty's private country retreat in Fife — where James V died at thirty, Mary Queen of Scots rode freely, and one of Britain's oldest real tennis courts has been in use since 1539
scotland · Highland
Inverness Castle
Scotland's newest castle experience — a 19th-century red sandstone courthouse transformed into an immersive Highland history attraction, with panoramic views over Inverness and the mountains from the Great Glen Roof Terrace
scotland · Scottish Borders
Abbotsford
Sir Walter Scott's romance in stone — the house that invented Scottish Baronial architecture
scotland · Argyll
Dunstaffnage Castle
The MacDougall rock above Loch Etive — one of Scotland's oldest curtain-wall castles, where Robert the Bruce defeated the lords who opposed him, where Flora MacDonald was imprisoned after sheltering Bonnie Prince Charlie, and where the ghost of the Ell Maid still walks before a Campbell dies
scotland · Argyll and Bute
Kilchurn Castle
The Campbell tower house on Loch Awe — a free-access ruin on a former island, surrounded by still water and Argyll mountains, and the most-photographed misty morning subject in Scotland
scotland · Perth and Kinross
The Black Watch Castle and Museum
Scotland's oldest Highland regiment, 280 years of battle honours under one roof — Balhousie Castle in Perth houses the Black Watch museum with Victoria Crosses, regimental silver, and the full story of the regiment founded to police the post-Jacobite Highlands
scotland · West Lothian
Blackness Castle
The ship that never sailed — a stone fortress shaped like a vessel on the Firth of Forth, one of Scotland's most formidable state prisons, and a film location that Outlander fans will recognise instantly
scotland · South Ayrshire
Dundonald Castle
The ancestral seat of the Stewart dynasty — where Robert II held court after becoming Scotland's first Stewart king in 1371, before a single Stuart would ever rule England
scotland · Aberdeenshire, Royal Deeside
Balmoral Castle
The Royal Family's Scottish retreat since Queen Victoria fell in love with the Highlands in 1848
scotland · Aberdeenshire
Dunnottar Castle
The most dramatically positioned ruined castle in Britain — a clifftop fortress above the North Sea
scotland · Central Scotland
Edinburgh Castle
Scotland's most iconic fortress, perched on an ancient volcano above the Old Town
scotland · Linlithgow, West Lothian — Forth Valley
Linlithgow Palace
Birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots — a roofless royal palace on the shores of Linlithgow Loch
scotland · Fife
St Andrews Castle
A ruined bishop's castle on the North Sea cliffs, with a famous siege tunnel beneath
scotland · Highlands
Urquhart Castle
The most dramatic ruin in Scotland — a medieval fortress on the shores of Loch Ness
scotland · South Ayrshire
Culzean Castle
Robert Adam's clifftop masterpiece above the Firth of Clyde — Scotland's most dramatic coastal castle
scotland · Isle of Skye
Dunvegan Castle
The oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland — home of the MacLeod chiefs for 800 years
scotland · Scottish Highlands
Eilean Donan Castle
Scotland's most photographed castle — three lochs, one island, one arched bridge
scotland · Angus
Glamis Castle
Shakespeare's Macbeth, the Queen Mother's childhood home — Scotland's most legendary castle
scotland · Argyll and Bute
Inveraray Castle
The ancestral seat of the Dukes of Argyll — a Gothic turreted palace above Loch Fyne
scotland · East Lothian
Tantallon Castle
A shattered red-sandstone citadel on North Sea cliffs — one of the most dramatic castle ruins in Scotland
scotland · Central Scotland
Doune Castle
Monty Python's castle, Game of Thrones' Winterfell — medieval Scotland's most filmed fortress
scotland · Central Scotland
Stirling Castle
Where Scottish kings were crowned and history pivoted — the key to Scotland