Castles in Scotland
31 real castles, fortresses and walled cities in Scotland — each mapped, dated and ready to explore.
Edinburgh Castle
Scotland's clifftop royal fortress, grown on a volcanic crag since the 1100s
St Andrews Castle
Coastal bishops' castle with a notorious bottle dungeon and siege mine
Dunstaffnage Castle
One of Scotland's oldest stone castles, a MacDougall stronghold
Eilean Donan
Scotland's most photographed castle, on a tidal island where three lochs meet
Urquhart Castle
Ruined lochside stronghold on the banks of Loch Ness
Dirleton Castle
13th-century cluster-tower castle with celebrated gardens
Kildrummy Castle
Ruined 13th-century stronghold of the Earls of Mar
Blair Castle
White-walled Highland castle, home of the only legal private army in Europe
Bothwell Castle
Scotland's largest 13th-century stone castle, in red sandstone above the Clyde
Caerlaverock Castle
Britain's only triangular castle, a famous siege target in 1300
Dunvegan Castle
Skye's Clan MacLeod seat, the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland
Drum Castle
One of Scotland's oldest tower houses, granted by Robert the Bruce
Dunnottar Castle
Dramatic clifftop fortress that hid the Honours of Scotland from Cromwell
Dunrobin Castle
Fairytale French-château castle of the Dukes of Sutherland, by the sea
Lochleven Castle
Island castle where Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned and escaped
Tantallon Castle
Mighty red curtain-wall fortress on a cliff facing the Bass Rock
Hermitage Castle
Grim border fortress, the 'guardhouse of the bloodiest valley in Britain'
Glamis Castle
Turreted fairytale castle, childhood home of the Queen Mother and the setting of Macbeth
Craigmillar Castle
Well-preserved tower castle near Edinburgh tied to Mary, Queen of Scots
Cawdor Castle
Turreted Highland castle linked by legend to Shakespeare's Macbeth
Doune Castle
Well-preserved medieval castle famous from Monty Python, Outlander and Game of Thrones
Fyvie Castle
Grand baronial castle rich in ghost legends and a famous curse
Linlithgow Palace
Ruined Stewart royal palace, birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots
Castle Stalker
Four-storey tower house on a tiny tidal islet, seen in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Kilchurn Castle
Picturesque ruined tower castle on the misty waters of Loch Awe
Stirling Castle
Great hilltop royal fortress of the Stewart kings, above the River Forth
Crathes Castle
Fairytale tower house famous for painted ceilings and ancient yew hedges
Floors Castle
Largest inhabited castle in Scotland, seat of the Dukes of Roxburghe
Inveraray Castle
Gothic Revival fairytale seat of the Dukes of Argyll, featured in Downton Abbey
Culzean Castle
Clifftop Robert Adam mansion above the Firth of Clyde
Balmoral Castle
Royal Highland retreat of the British monarchy, built for Queen Victoria