20 Outlander Filming Locations You Can Actually Visit

Outlander has captured the hearts of thousands of fans across the world, both of the books and the show. After all, who can resist the captivating love story and adventures of Claire and the handsome Scotsman Jamie? The TV and book series takes place in a host of countries, locations, and time periods. With so many time periods and locations, fans may be wondering where Outlander was filmed? Unlike the whirlwind adventures of our favorite characters, fans looking to visit Outlander filming locations will find a majority of the filming was done in Scotland, South Africa, and England. We here at Road Affair want to help you relive the magic of this TV series in person, which is why we have put together this ultimate guide to visiting filming locations for Outlander. 

Doune Castle, Scotland

Doune Castle was used as the filming location for Castle Leoch, the home of Clan MacKenzie. Fans are first introduced to the castle when Claire and Frank visit the ruins in the very first episode of the series. One of the most recognizable parts of the castle is the courtyard. This is where Claire first enters the MacKenzie fortress with Dougal and an injured Jamie. 

Today, the castle has seen a massive increase in visitors due to its role in the Outlander series. Visitors can roam the 13th-century castle with an Outlander audio guide voiced by Jamie (Sam Heughan), giving fans insight into behind-the-scenes filming at the castle and what scenes were filmed where. Those visiting the castle might also recognize it from Monty Python and The Holy Grail, Game of Thrones (as Winterfell), and Outlaw King.

Falkland, Scotland

At the beginning of the series, we see Claire and Frank make their way to Inverness for their second honeymoon (as Frank calls it). But instead of filming in Inverness, the series instead used the town of Falkland to recreate Inverness in the 1940s (season one) and the 1960s (seasons two and four). This quiet town features several notable locations, such as The Covenanter Hotel, which was used as Mrs. Baird’s Guesthouse where Frank and Claire stayed, Fayre Earth Gift Shop which was transformed into Farrell’s Hardware and Furniture store where we see Claire ponder about the vase, the Bruce Fountain where we see the ghost of Jamie staring up at claire in her hotel window, and Campbell’s Coffee House and Eatery portrayed as itself. Several of the Falkland streets will be familiar as well, especially Brunton Street, Rotten Row, and Sharps Close, which were all featured in season two. Keep an eye out on Brunton Street for the house used as McGilvrey’s Boarding House, where an ill Alex Randall stayed. 

Blackness Castle, Scotland 

Blackness Castle was used as the filming location for Fort William in the series. Fans will remember the gut-wrenching scene of Jamie being flogged by Captain ‘Black Jack’ Randall on display for all to watch in the fortress’s courtyard. It’s also the location where Randall holds Claire hostage and Jamie has to climb in and save her in the latter half of the first season. Today, you can visit the castle on a self-guided tour but don’t hesitate to ask the staff to point you in the direction of the specific filming locations in the castle. They get this question a lot and are happy to help!

Hopetoun House and Estate

This gorgeous 17th-century stately home and estate was the filming location for several notable scenes throughout the Outlander TV series, but it’s most known for Midhope Castle which was featured as Lallybroch, Jamie’s ancestral home. It’s also where we get to meet Jamie’s sister Jenny and her family. The castle is exactly how it’s depicted in the show, but unfortunately, the interior is in need of much repair so visitors are not allowed to enter inside. Regardless, it’s such an iconic and meaningful location during the series that fans should make a point of visiting. There is a small fee for a ticket which can be paid upon arrival at the castle. 

For the rest of the estate, you’ll find several familiar locations on the grounds and in Hopetoun House from seasons one through four. Inside, the home’s Red Drawing Room was used as the Duke of Sandringham’s home in season one, while two bedrooms upstairs were used as Claire and Jamie’s guestroom while in Paris. The outside of the house and grounds were used for several scenes across the series, like the duel between the head of the McDonald clan and the Duke, Jamie training Willie to ride a horse, and the courtyard entrance to Maison Elise, the Paris brothel. That same courtyard has an alleyway that was used to portray several Paris streets, including the one where Mary Hawkins was raped. The front of the house was used to depict Ellesmere, while the back depicted the house of the Duke of Sandringham. 

Visitors can explore the grounds and home on a self-guided tour. Occasionally, the estate does offer guided tours but you’ll need to call ahead to inquire when the next scheduled tour is. 

Glencoe, Scotland

Glencoe is used as the landscape scene for the opening credits of every single Outlander episode. The area is located in the Scottish Highlands and offers a beautiful rugged terrain that is steeped in a rich history. While there aren’t any Outlander attractions in Glencoe, visitors can still snap a picture with the recognizable landscape and then head down to the Glencoe Folk Museum to see period pieces, weapons, and other artifacts from the time of the Jacobites. Glencoe and Fort William are also home to several Harry Potter filming locations.

Linlithgow Palace, Scotland

Linlithgow Palace is recognized by fans as the filming location of one of the most traumatizing scenes in the entire series. It is here where production created Wentworth Prison where one of the most brutal scenes  was shot, the rape of Jamie by Captain ‘Jack Black’ Randall. This 15th-century castle is now a ruin but was once a grand palace and the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots. It is now a fantastic tourist attraction owned by Historic Scotland and can be visited year-round. 

Drummond Castle Garden, Scotland

Another outstanding Outlander location in Scotland is Drummond Castle Gardens, located an hour and a half drive north of Edinburgh. Here, visitors will find a stunning Renaissance-style garden that was used as the Gardens of Versaille in season two of the series. Fans will remember this is where Claire and Jamie were shocked to run into Captain Randall after they arrived in France. This is a great Outlander attraction if you’re traveling with someone who isn’t a fan of the show as the gardens on their own are quite spectacular. In fact, they are often regarded as one of the most beautiful formal gardens in Europe.

Hunterston House, Scotland

The Hunterson House was used for several scenes throughout the series and can be most recognized as Reverend Wakefield’s home. In the home’s sitting room, fans will remember in episode one when Claire, Frank, and the Reverend sat down to discuss and research Frank’s family tree, specifically the history of Captain ‘Black Jack’ Randall. This is also where we meet wee Roger and, in season two, we see Reverend Wakefield’s funeral held. Also recognizable in the house is the kitchen, where we see Mrs. Graham read Claire’s tea leaves and palm in episode one. Other recognizable filming spots in the house include an upstairs bedroom that was used as Frank and Claire’s room in Mrs. Baird’s Guesthouse and the library that was used when Claire, Roger, and Bree researched Jamie. 

It used to be that only invited guests could come and tour the home, but thankfully that has changed! The Hunterson Clan has officially opened its doors to the public with guided tours available year-round for those who request appointments in advance. 

Devil’s Pulpit, Scotland

In season one episode six, Dougal MacKenzie brings Claire to Liar’s Spring, also known as St. Ninian’s Spring, to test whether he and the clan can trust her. Once she drinks from the waters and passes the test, Dougal knows he can trust her. This 100-foot-deep gorge is an actual place known as Devil’s Pulpit and there are several folklores surrounding the ancient site. It’s rumored Devil’s Pulpit was the site for Druid secret meetings while others believe it’s where witch sacrifices and meetings with the Devil himself took place. Regardless, this is a beautiful natural area where the creek runs between towering rocks, making it a familiar landmark for fans. 

Visitors will find the Devil’s Pulpit just off the A809, about a 40-minute drive north of Glasgow. It takes about 10-15 minutes to walk to the gorge where visitors will come across a 200-year-old stone staircase that descends between the rocks. The hike is not well-marked and hikers should bring water-resistant shoes as the creek waters are extremely cold and the path can get quite mucky. 

The Reaper at the Scottish Fisheries Museum, Scotland

At the end of season one, fans see Murtagh, Claire, and Jamie row themselves out to the Cristabel, a boat en route to France. The boat they sailed on was a real boat, a restored Fifie Sailing Herring Drifter, known as the Reaper. The boat was built in 1902 and was a popular style of fishing boat during the 19th and 20th centuries on the East coast of the country. Today, fans can tour the museum’s flagship boat, the Reaper, at the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther. The museum is located roughly an hour and a half’s drive from Edinburgh. 

Kinloch Rannoch, Scotland

Ask any fan of the show to pick one Outlander filming location to visit, and a majority will say Craigh na Dun (we want to try our luck at traveling back in time through the stones, of course)! Sadly, Craigh na Dun is not a real place, nor is the iconic stone circle. However, the hill and surrounding area from Craigh na Dun can be visited. Kinloch Rannoch, more specifically a site on the edge of Tay Forest Park, was the site where Craigh na Dun was created. Fans can find the exact location on Google Maps.

Dunmore Park House, Scotland

Between the towns of Stirling and Falkirk sits the ruins of Dunmore Park House, but Outlander fans will recognize these ruins as the field hospital where Claire is a nurse during the war in the very first episode. It’s also here in the first episode that Claire hears the war is over and the streets erupt into a victory party. The house was originally built in 1822 as the home of the fifth Earl of Dunsmore, and it briefly became a girl’s school in the early 1960s. Since then, it has been abandoned, making it completely free to visit. 

Pollok Country Park, Scotland

Pollok Country Park in Glasgow is a large green space with woodland walking trails and beautiful gardens. It was also the location for several scenes in seasons one, two, and four of Outlander. Most notably used are the gardens beside Pollok House, which was used to portray the gardens outside Castle Leoch where Claire gathers herbs for her medicines. Beside the Pollok Stable along the river is where the infamous duel between Jamie and Captain ‘Black Jack’ Randall. In season four, one of the park fields was used for the Carolina Scottish Festival. Several more of the woodland trails were used for scenes throughout the series as well, like when Murtagh ambushes the Comte for his wine shipment. Exploring the park as a fan is kind of an iSpy activity for Outlander fans, so keep your eyes peeled when you stroll around! 

Culross, Scotland

Culross, located across the inlet from Blackness Castle (Wentworth Prison) and Dunmore Park House (Claire’s Field Hospital), is another fantastic place to visit where Outlander was filmed. The town is filled with gorgeous 18th-century homes that have been kept in excellent condition, mostly thanks to the National Trust as the organization owns the town and has been instrumental in preserving the older buildings. Fans will recognize the quaint village as Cranesmuir from season one. However, the homes were painted black for these scenes, but they are actually white in real life. Mercat Cross is one of the most recognizable landmarks from Outlander as the square it sits on acted as the center of Cranesmuir and is where we see Geillis burned for being accused of witchcraft. The same square is where we meet Tammas, the young thief whose ear was pinned to a post for his crimes. On the square, fans will also find Geillis’s house. In season four, a house on the square was also used to shoot the scene when Laoghaire rescues Bree only to find out she is Jamie’s daughter. Laoghaire’s home in the show is actually Balriggan Cottage, which can be found down the street from Mercat Cross. 

Culross Palace was used for numerous Outlander scenes throughout seasons one, two, and four. The gardens outside the palace were also used to portray some of the grounds and gardens at Castle Leoch. Several of the rooms in the palace were used throughout the series, including the Withdrawing Room which fans will recognize as Geillis Duncan’s parlor room, and the Palace High Hall was used as the hall where the Jacobites met and Jamie swore fealty to Prince Charles in season two. 

Not far from Culross Abbey sits the ruins known as West Kirk, but fans will know this site as the Black Kirk from season one. In the episode titled “The Way Out,” Claire goes for a walk with Geillis and she relays the town gossip, including that Tammas Baxter is about to have an exorcism performed on him as a result of visiting the Black Kirk. Claire investigated the Black Kirk herself and found that the boy was not possessed by demons but actually had ingested a plant known as Lily of the Valley. 

Preston Mill, Scotland

Preston Mill was used by Outlander film producers twice in season one. The most recognizable scene from the mill is when it is presented as the mill at Lallybroch. Jamie is fixing the family mill when redcoats begin to walk up the path. Seeing as Jamie was a man on the run, he jumped into the waters to hide and waited until Jenny and Claire had satisfied the two officers’ questions. The second scene shot at Preston Mill was the preliminary hearing of Claire and Geillis when they were accused of being witches. This was shot in the mill’s exhibition room. Preston Mill is closed from November to March, but open to the public the rest of the year. Tickets should be purchased in advance online. 

Aberdour Castle, Scotland

Aberdour Castle and Gardens is one of Scotland’s oldest castles and the location of many Outlander scenes. Most notably it was used to depict Abbey Ste Anne de Beaupre, the place where Jamie is taken in season one to recover after being raped and tortured by Captain ‘Black Jack’ Randall. Today, tourists can explore the home on a self-guided tour and find plaques that explain what Outlander scenes were shot where. 

Glasgow Cathedral, Scotland

In season two, Claire and Jamie head off to France where Claire then volunteers with the nuns at L’Hopital des Anges. Glasgow Cathedral’s crypt was used to depict the hospital, and as fans will remember, it’s also where Claire finds out she has lost her baby in pregnancy. Fans can tour Glasgow Cathedral on a guided tour or visit on their own. 

University of Glasgow, Scotland

A few of the buildings at the University of Glasgow were used for filming in the series. The Main Building on campus was used to depict Harvard University in season three, where Frank gets a job as a professor. The Joseph Black Building was also used in season three episode five as the classroom of Brianna when she hears her lecturer speak of Paul Revere. The University of Glasgow is one of the world’s oldest universities and quite beautiful to tour on your own, regardless if you’re a fan of the show. 

Dysart Harbour, Scotland

At the beginning of season two, Jamie, Murtagh, and Claire arrive in Le Havre, France, after their sailing journey from Scotland. It’s here that we first meet the season’s new villain, Comte St. Germain. The French harbor is actually Dysart Harbour, located just under an hour’s drive from Edinburgh. 

Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Fans looking to visit Outlander filming locations in South Africa will be elated to know that this filming location is actually open to the public, unlike many other filming locations in the country. Stellenbosch University’s Theology Building was transformed into the Governor’s mansion, where Claire and Jamie attend a party in season three. It is a public university, so anyone is welcome to come explore the grounds. 

There you go sassenachs, many fantastic Outlander locations to visit on your travels. We hope you enjoy all of the magic and memories these sites offer to fans, just remember to always have your camera charged!