There are as many as 1,500 castles scattered throughout Scotland’s vast landscapes, from those that look as though they have fallen out of the pages of a fairy-tale book, to craggy ruins that cling precariously to clifftops and wear their scars from past battles well. Be they the former stronghold of a fierce clan, the scene of illicit entanglements or the lavish home of historic royals, every castle in Scotland has a story to tell. Sally Coffey, author of guidebook Moon Scotland, highlights some of the best castles can visit yourself.
If you are travelling to Skye via the Skye Bridge, the chances are you will pass this castle, which is one of the most atmospheric in all of Scotland, making it the country's most photographed. The setting helps – sitting at the confluence of three lochs with the hills of Kintail as a backdrop, it's the perfect shortbread-tin view of Scotland, and looks as though it has stood just like this for centuries.
However, all is not as it seems and much of the castle you see today was built in the early 20th century after it fell into ruin (though it follows much of its 15th-century footprint). From this angle it may look familiar as the Highlander castle, after its medieval appearance won it a starring role in the 1986 film. If you get a chance, step inside where you can see actual cannon balls fired against the castle during the Jacobite risings, which is more exciting than any film plot.
Hidden away in the Aberdeenshire countryside, where castles are almost as common as people, this flushed pink fortress is a beautiful example of Scottish Baronial architecture. Fyvie comes with five towers and numerous turrets, where you can almost imagine Rapunzel hidden away waiting for her prince, but if she's as unlucky as one former resident, her rescue won't be forthcoming.
Though Fyvie's interiors are extravagant and speak of great wealth (like this concert hall suggests), it's fair to say that not all former inhabitants enjoyed their time here. The Green Lady is Fyvie's resident ghost, said to be the spirit of Lilias Drummond, wife of Alexander Seton, who was locked away in one of the rooms for failing to produce a male heir. She eventually starved to death. Yikes.
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This Renaissance 'pink palace' set amid the rolling hills of Dumfries and Galloway is a genuine treasure trove. While the beautiful architecture and bucolic setting is evident at first sight, what isn't instantly revealed is that Drumlanrig Castle is home to one of the most incredible art collections in Britain, the Buccleuch Collection. Highlights include Rembrandt’s 'An Old Woman Reading' and family portraits by the likes of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Allan Ramsay.
Outside, there are acres of Victorian gardens to explore, but if you can, book onto the Bedrooms and Beyond tour, an extension of the usual house tour, which runs each July and August and takes you to parts of the castle that most guests don't get to see. On these tours you'll see an extra five ostentatious rooms, which help tell the castle's 600-year history.
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Edinburgh Castle is like the capital's very own queen – sat upon her volcanic throne, surveying her subjects at all times. She can be seen from virtually all points of the city and is both an icon of Scotland and a reassuring presence, having guarded over Edinburgh for centuries. For many visitors, admiring her from afar or simply listening out for the firing of the One O'Clock Gun is enough, but to see some of Scotland's most treasured items, you must step behind the castle walls.
Within the castle lies Edinburgh's oldest building, St Margaret's Chapel, and you can also see the Honours of Scotland (Scotland's Crown Jewels), which are older than England's, as the Scots were able to keep them hidden from Oliver Cromwell. You will also want to see The Stone of Destiny on which Scotland's monarchs were crowned for centuries. After a back-and-forth tussle with the English, the Scots finally secured the stone and brought it back to its rightful place, Edinburgh.
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This beautiful clifftop castle on the Ayrshire coast is pronounced 'Cullain', and though it was designed by one of Scotland's most revered architects, Robert Adam, it is probably best known for its ghostly tale. The story goes that a piper and his dog were tasked with entering the cave below the castle to put to rest fears that locals had regarding a ghost, but were never seen again. There have been occasional reports of the faint sound of pipes coming from the cave ever since.
Ghost stories aside, the castle, which was built to an L-shaped design by Adam in the late 18th century for the 10th Earl of Cassilis, has been extended several times and yet still retains many beautiful original Georgian features, including delicate plasterwork on some of the ceilings. Guided tours will reveal many more secrets of the castle, and Culzean is well placed for anyone wishing to visit the hometown of famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns.
Aberdeenshire is known as castle country – they are seemingly everywhere – which is why fortresses such as this often get overlooked. In the heart of Scotland's single malt whisky region of Speyside, Ballindalloch, whose oldest part dates from the 16th century, is still a family home and has been developed by successive members of the Macpherson-Grant family over the years to become a bona fide Scottish Baronial palace.
Tours of the castle are available, but you may have to drag yourself away from the stunningly beautiful gardens that are bursting with colour most of the year. Amid the expansive grounds is a walled garden, a rockery and walkways vibrant with the pinks and reds of rhododendrons and the yellows of the lemon-drop laburnums. Fountains and statues are dotted throughout and you could spend a happy hour or two here before even setting foot in the historic castle.
This castle, located between the Highlands and the Lowlands, was once so integral to the swing of power in the country that it was said ‘he who holds Stirling, holds Scotland’. For this reason, it’s one of the most besieged castles, and though it fell into disrepair for many years, careful restoration has returned some of the interiors to their Renaissance glory.
There's plenty to do inside the castle, including a visit to the Great Hall – the largest banqueting hall in Scotland, the Royal Palace – where costumed interpreters set the scene of what was Mary Queen of Scots' childhood home – and the Great Kitchens, where you can see how feasts were prepared for royalty. Outside the castle stands a statue of Robert the Bruce, who looks out towards the site of the Battle of Bannockburn, the scene of one of Scotland's most celebrated victories over the English.
If there was a prize for most symmetrical Scottish castle, it may well go to this magnificent fortress, which was built shortly after the final defeat of the Jacobites in 1746, hence it remains in remarkable condition. The seat of Clan Campbell, and home to the Duke of Argyll, Inveraray was built in a Neo-Gothic style and commands respect from all who set eyes on her. Don't miss the impressive Armoury Hall, which boasts the highest ceiling in Scotland, and the opulent State Dining Room. Brave the first floor if you dare – this is where the ghostly MacArthur Room is.
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The castle is sited on the edge of Loch Fyne, near the Georgian town of Inveraray, which was built up around it. There's an award-winning museum and a Neoclassical church, plus a couple of good places to lunch, making Inveraray a lovely stop-off for people travelling from Glasgow through to Oban.
It's no secret that Queen Victoria fell head over heels (or should that be head over hills?) for the Scottish Highlands, and so her husband Albert had Balmoral built for her. Today, Balmoral is still a holiday home for the British royal family, who spend every summer here, and it is without a doubt the best located of all the royal palaces in terms of scenery.
As you can see, the setting for Balmoral is pretty hard to beat and although you can't see much of the inside of the castle (except the ballroom), it doesn't really matter. Audio guides will explain the architecture of the building and reveal anecdotes about the royal family, but really, a visit to Balmoral should all be about breathing in its spectacular setting and following the woodland walks and trails. Make sure your camera is fully charged.
If Aberdeenshire is home to Scotland's highest concentration of castles, then the Borders must be home to its 'big houses' or stately homes. The family seat of the Duke of Roxburghe and his family, Floors Castle was built in the 1720s by William Adam and includes symmetrical wings, with William Playfair adding to them in the 19th century with battlements and turrets.
Like many of Scotland's stately homes and castles, Floors is still inhabited, but it is also geared up to visitors. There are exquisite walled gardens and glasshouses to explore in the grounds, while guided tours of the house itself are illuminating. If you've ever wanted to peep behind the velvet curtains of a grand house with Downton Abbey levels of luxury, this is it.
Glamis Castle, the setting for Shakespeare's Macbeth, has long been associated with the Bard, and the castle has even created a Shakespeare trail in the grounds, inspired by the 'Thane of Glamis' in the play. The playwright aside, with a redbrick exterior and Scottish Baronial architecture, Glamis, which was also the childhood home of The Queen Mother, is about as close to the epitome of a Scottish castle as you can get.
This once formidable fortress is one of the first things you see as you arrive by ferry from Oban to Mull. It has guarded this entry to Mull for centuries and its thick curtain walls are proof of how seriously its owners took matters. Open from April to September, many visitors to Duart Castle come to learn more about its Clan Maclean connections, but its beautiful Banqueting Hall and Edwardian state rooms inside are the highlights.
Today, you are more likely to see wandering Highland coos here that clan warriors or Viking invaders, but Duart was once the scene of much turbulence and unrest and played a key part in the old Lordship of the Isles. In fact, if its curtain walls could talk, there would be many tales to be told.
Slains Castle, near Cruden Bay, is worth a visit for any fans of Gothic fiction as it is widely believed that it provided inspiration for the castle in Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's certainly true that Stoker would have known it – he holidayed nearby regularly before writing the book, and the castle, which would have been in a much better state of repair back then, also has an octagonal hall, much like Dracula's castle.
Today, the castle is brooding and sinister looking – a literal shell of its former self. Its roof was removed in the 1920s by a former owner who wanted to avoid paying taxes, and so its decline began. The best way to reach it is to take the coastal path from Cruden Bay, but go by car as the coast here is exposed and the term windswept may be something of an understatement.
This pretty-in-pink castle is like the realisation of a Disney fantasy. Built in the Scottish Baronial style around 1576, it is said that Craigievar's towered fortress with its numerous turrets, provided some inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle (although this is hotly disputed with Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany). It certainly looks the part, and remarkably the exterior or the property remains virtually unchanged since it was completed in 1626.
The castle’s position on top of a hill adds to the romance of her appeal and, if you take a closer look, you can see the heraldic beasts, intricately carved gargoyles and ogee-shaped spires that adorn her façade. Inside, you can admire Jacobean oak panelling and ornate plasterwork, while the Forbes tartan draped around the place is a reminder that, like so many other Scottish castles, this was a family home until the 1960s.
Dunrobin will always be associated with George Granville Leveson-Gower, the first Duke of Sutherland, and his wife Elizabeth, the Duchess of Sutherland, who carried out some of the most brutal of the Highland Clearances – the forced eviction of inhabitants of the Highlands – here in the early 19th century. Though Sir Charles Barry (who famously rebuilt the Houses of Parliament) transformed the house and stunning gardens (pictured) into what you see today, no amount of gloss has been able to hide that tainted blemish.
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