Scotland is truly a dream destination for castle lovers, with an estimated 1,500 castles scattered across the country (though it’s been estimated that at one time there may have been as many as 3000 castles). The oldest structures date from the early 12 century, many of which are mostly in ruins, but many have also been restored or renovated. Some are still lived in, while others are living museums, and some have large manicured gardens. Some are built up on hilltops, some are built up coastal cliffs, and some are straight up on an island by a scenic loch. No matter where you find yourself in Scotland, a castle is never far away and there’s a castle type for everyone. Below we present our 7 of the Best Castles to Visit In Scotland Guide to help you discover some of the country’s most beautiful castles. We will primarily focus on those in and around Edinburgh and the western highlands, areas that we are more familiar with.
Disclosure: This page (7 of the Best Castles to Visit In Scotland) may contain product affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, we may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. More details can be found on our disclosure and policies page.
You might also be interested in these pages:
Best Day Trips From Edinburgh
Best Things to See and Do in Edinburgh
Best Things to See in the Scottish Highlands
Best Things to See and Do in St Andrews
For advice and tips on how to drive in Scotland, check out our Scotland Roadtrip Driving Guide.
If you haven’t booked your rental vehicle yet, we highly recommend using Discover Cars to get the best rates on your rental in Scotland.
You should know that most of the Castles listed below (Edinburgh, St Andrews, Doune, Stirling and Blackness) can be visited with the Scotland Explorer Pass, which will make visiting several castles much less expensive.
You can visit this historic building with Scotland’s Explorer Pass
If you plan on visiting multiple Castles and Historic Buildings in Scotland, you might want to consider getting the Explorer Pass from Historic Environment Scotland.
The Explorer Pass costs £35 for adults and £21 for children. You can purchase your Explorer pass online here.
The pass is valid for 14 consecutive days.
The pass includes entry to all Historic Environment Scotland properties, which include Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle, Doune Castle, Urquhart Castle, St Andrews Castle, St Andrews Cathedral, Iona Abbey, Melrose Abbey, Fort George, and many more.
Important: To guarantee site entry, you should still pre-book your desired property visits (dates and timeslots).
Exclusions: Explorer passes do not include access to properties in the care of The National Trust for Scotland, The Palace of Holyroodhouse and Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, or properties in the care of private trusts.
Very occasionally a property may have to close at short notice due to adverse weather conditions or other reasons such as planned renovations. Please check the Historic Scotland closures page for any unexpected site closures.
Edinburgh Castle
We’ll start with Scotland’s most famous and most visited castle, Edinburgh Castle, which is stunning to see in person and a must-see while you are in Edinburgh. It’s huge and can be seen perched high on Castle Rock from almost anywhere in the city. It also provides fantastic panoramic city views from its numerous ramparts and high walls.
The Edinburgh Castle has a rich and fascinating history as a royal residence, military garrison, prison and fortress, and is one of the oldest fortified places in Europe. Edinburgh Castle has been besieged more than any other castle in Europe, with the Scots and English struggling over its control during the Wars of Independence. Not very much remains from the medieval version of the Castle. Most of the buildings you see today were built during or after the 15th century, by the various Kings and Queens who called Edinburgh Castle home.
The Castle has an impressive 450-year-old arch gateway, the photogenic Lainge staircase, the impressive 6-gun Argyle Battery, and the 800-year-old St Margarets chapel.
Also, be sure to walk around the castle walls to enjoy beautiful panoramic views of the city.
Nearby attractions: there are tons, as the castle is located in the center of Edinburgh Old Town. Of note, there’s the Royal Mile, Holyroodhouse Palace and St Giles Cathedral. For more information on visiting Edinburgh and its castle, check out our Guide on the Best Things to See and Do in Edinburgh.
Stirling Castle
Located just 65 km west of Edinburgh, Sterling Castle was our favorite castle to visit in Scotland, is one of the most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The architecture is stunning, the history fascinating, the surrounding scenery enchanting, the guided tour captivating, and the castle receives nowhere near the crowds seen at Edinburgh Castle.
Sitting atop a rocky volcanic outcrop in Stirling and surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs gave the castle a strong defensive and strategic position, from which it was able to control traffic along the River Forth below. Before the union with England, Stirling Castle was also one of the most used of the many Scottish royal residences, very much a palace as well as a fortress. There have been at least eight sieges of Stirling Castle, including several during the Wars of Scottish Independence, and most of the present-day castle buildings date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
We really enjoyed the free guided tours of Sterling Castle, which we found to be both very entertaining and informative. The Great Hall, Great Kitchens and the Royal Palace were very impressive areas of the castle to visit.
Some fun facts about Sterling Castle:
-The very first record of an attempted flight (using feathered wings) took place on the walls of Sterling Castle in 1507 (spoiler: it wasn’t a success).
-the oldest surviving football in the world was discovered Behind the panelling in the Queen’s chamber, and it is believed to be about 400 years ago.
-Mary Queen of Scots spent most of her early life here.
-During the Wars of Scottish Independence, William Wallace (aka Braveheart) took back the castle for Scotland in the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
Nearby attractions: The most famous nearby attractions are the Kelpies in Falkirk. Unveiled in 2014, standing just under 100 feet tall, the Kelpies are located within a community park known as The Helix.
Blackness Castle
Blackness Castle is an impressive 15th-century castle beautifully positioned along the shores of the Firth of Forth, in Scotland, not far from Edinburgh. In fact, it’s the closest castle to Edinburgh on this list (other than Edinburgh Castle, of course). Although initially built as a royal fortress, Blackness Castle has spent most of its history as either a prison or a military ammunition depot.
Some of the castle’s distinctive visual features, such as its long and narrow shape and because it appears to jut out into the Firth of Forth (the estuary next to which it was built) have earned it the nickname, “the ship that never sailed”. In fact, the north and south towers are often referred to as “stem” and “stern”, with the central tower referred to as the “main mast”.
Although not a particularly large castle, it was one of our favourite castles to explore in Scotland, as it still has a medieval feel about it, at least compared to other castles that had been lived in or renovated more recently. Another pleasant aspect of touring the castle is that there are far fewer tourists allowed on the site at any given time compared to other castles we visited. For those among you who are Outlander fans, you might find it interesting to know that this castle provides the setting for the Fort William headquarters of Black Jack Randall.
For more information on visiting this castle, check out our Blackness Castle Visiting Guide.
Doune Castle
An imposing 14th-century courtyard castle in Doune, with a striking 100-foot high gatehouse and one of the best preserved great halls in Scotland. You are very likely to have seen Doune Castle in film or on TV, as it has been heavily featured in Month Python, was used as the Winterfell castle in the Game of Thrones pilot episode and has served as Castle Leoch in Outlander.
Recent research has shown that Doune Castle was originally built in the thirteenth century, then probably damaged in the Scottish Wars of Independence, before being rebuilt in its present form in the late 14th century. Doune Castle is just a 15-minute drive from Sterling Castle.
Nearby attractions: Trossachs Woollen Mill. A great spot to observe and take pictures of the famous Highland Cows (or the Hairy Coos as they are often referred to) This lovely gift shop is also home to three lovely hairy coos that you can visit and even feed if you would like! There’s also a small café on site.
St Andrews Castle
St Andrews Castle is an impressive castle ruin that sits on a rocky promontory overlooking a small beach and the adjoining North Sea, and is another casualty of the Scottish Reformation. The castle served as the main residence of the bishops and archbishops of St Andrews and was first built in the 13th century. In addition to being a Bishop’s palace, the castle has also served as a fortress and a state prison. During the Wars of Scottish Independence, the castle was destroyed and rebuilt several times as it changed hands between the Scots and the English.
During the Scottish Reformation, several violent events led to a siege that resulted in one of the castle’s most remarkable features that can be seen today: tunnels that were dug in 1546 by attackers trying to breach the castle defences and the tunnels dug by castle defenders to intercept the attackers’ tunnel. Another interesting and creepy feature of the castle is the ‘bottle dungeon’, one of the most infamous castle prisons in medieval Britain, which was a dank and airless pit cut out of solid rock, where prisoners were simply dropped, never to be seen again.
Nearby attractions: The Castle is located in the beautiful coastal town of St Andrews, where there are many sites and attractions. Most notably, there are the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral and the historic Old Golf Course.
For more information on visiting this charming seaside town, check out our Best Things to See and Do in St Andrews Guide.
Eilean Donan Castle
Eilean Donan Castle is without a doubt one of the most recognizable castles in Scotland and is one of the most popular attractions in the Scottish Highlands. The Castle makes a great and memorable stop when travelling either to or from Skye, can be easily reached within 90 minutes from either Inverness or Fort William, and 15 km from the Skye bridge, which connects the Isle of Skye to the Scottish mainland.
Eilean Donan Island was first discovered and settled on by Bishop Donan, who chose the site to create a monastic cell in the 7th century. Today’s version of the Castle is roughly the fourth iteration, with the first being built in the 13th century by Alexander II to help protect the area from Viking incursions. After spending the better part of two centuries in ruins, the current incarnation of the Castle stems from a reconstruction that took place between 1912 and 1932.
For more information on when and how to visit this stunning castle, check out our Eilean Castle Visiting Guide.
Nearby attractions: Most of the noteworthy attractions are on the Isle of Skye. Here you’ll find stunning waterfalls, otherworldly landscapes, and beautiful coastal towns. For more information on this stunning area of Scotland, you can check our guide on the Best Things to See and Do on Skye.
Dunvegan Castle
The ancestral seat of the MacLeods on Skye is the isle’s most stunning castle, and it is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland: over 800 years and counting. It’s also the only castle in Skye where you can tour the interior and learn about the rich history of the Clan Macleod.
The castle is built on an elevated rock overlooking an inlet on the eastern shore of Loch Dunvegan. It was first built in the 13th century and developed piecemeal over the centuries. In the 19th century, the whole castle was remodelled in a medieval style – its current appearance dates from about 1840. As impressive as the castle are the beautiful and expansive gardens that surround it, where you can easily get lost for an hour or more by strolling through its different sections.
For more information on this impressive Castle, check out our Dunvegan Castle Visit Guide.
Nearby attractions: The closest popular attractions to the castle are the Talisker Distillery and the Neist Point Lighthouse.
Bonus: Some of our favorite under the radar Castle Ruins
Since this is a page on some of our favorite Castles in Scotland, we also wanted to highlight a few under-the-radar castle ruins that caught our eye during our time in Scotland.
Gylen Castle (Isle of Kerrera)
Unlike most of the castles listed above, this is one you cannot drive to (although technically you can’t drive up to Edinburgh or St Andrews Castles either, but you can still find car parks nearby). To reach Gylen Castle, you have to take a short ferry from Oban to the Isle of Kerrera, from which you have to hike a beautiful trail along the isle’s coast and through farmland to reach this castle ruin perched on a headland in a beautiful natural setting.
It’s definitely not a difficult hike and we can almost guarantee that you will encounter significantly more sheep than people on the island. If that wasn’t enough to convince you, there’s a delightful teahouse along the trail serving warm beverages and delicious treats.
For more information on visiting Kerrara, check out our Isle of Kerrera guide.
Kilchurn Castle (Loch Awe)
This is another castle ruin set in an idyllic environment, along the shores of beautiful Loch Awe. Here you can drive up close to Kilchurn Castle, but you will need to walk along a short 5-minute flat trail between the car park and the castle.
Kilkurn Castle is a shell of its former self, lying partially in ruin at the northeastern end of Loch Awe. It was first built in the mid-1400s as the base of the Campbells of Glenorchy, who extended both the castle and their territory over the next 150 years. After the Campbells became Earls of Breadalbane and moved to Taymouth Castle, Kilchurn slowly fell out of use and, although it was converted into a garrison stronghold for a time, it was completely abandoned and in ruins by 1770. It nonetheless today contains the oldest surviving barracks on the British mainland.
A short drive away, also along the shores of Loch Awe, you will find the beautiful St Conan’s Kirk. The Kirk is unique in having an example of almost every style of church architecture. Highlights include the Norman doorway, ten Gothic flying buttresses, a Celtic cross, the Arts and Crafts carvings, the Saxon tower and even a Stone circle. It was first completed in 1886 and subsequently substantially expanded in 1914.
To learn more about this Castle and Kirk, you can check out our Guide on an Oban-Glen Coe Roadtrip Itinerary.
Preparing a trip to Scotland?
You might be interested in these Scotland pages:
10-Day Scotland Roadtrip Itinerary (Edinburgh and Highlands)
Scotland Driving Guide and Tips
7 of the Best Castles to Visit in Scotland
Best Things to See in the Scottish Highlands
Best Hikes to do in the Scottish Highlands
We also highly recommend these guidebooks:
Rick Steves Scotland
Lonely Planet Scotland’s Highlands
Photography Gear
If you like our photography, you might be interested in some of the gear we use to shoot our travel and hiking destinations.
Camera Body – Nikon Z 6ii Fx-series Mirrorless Body
Main Lens – NIKON 24-120mm F/4G ED VR AF-S
Zoom Lens – Sigma 745-306 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Polarizing filters – Urth Circular Polarizing (CPL)
Camera Tripod – K&F Concept 64-inch Camera Tripod
Mini-tripod – Lammcou Flexible Camera Tripod
Camera/hiking backpack – Vanguard Alta Rise 48 Backpack
Universal Travel Adapter – VYLEE Universal International Power Travel Plug
Other Travel Essentials
Travel Insurance
SafetyWing is a travel insurance company that offers comprehensive coverage for travellers. Includes Medical Insurance and Travel Insurance. Primarily geared towards long-term travellers, digital nomads, and expats.
e-Sim cards
Airalo is the world’s first and largest eSIM store with eSIM plans for 200+ countries and regions worldwide. With Airalo eSIMs, travellers can get connected the moment they land at their destination and avoid nasty data roaming charges
eSIMS are a sustainable alternative to single-use SIM cards – they are 100% digital, require less energy to produce and be re-used rather than disposed of.
Car Rentals
Discover Cars is our go-to website for car rentals. We almost always find our preferred rate there.
Transfer from Airport
Welcome Pickups is our favourite private transfer service, which you can pre-book at a fixed price. Currently available in 220 cities all over the world (mostly in Europe, but with several major cities in Asia, the Middle East and the US).
Kiwitaxi is another private transfer service – we haven’t tried it yet, but it’s currently available in a few more countries (102 as of 2024).
Hotels and Accommodations (coming soon)
Photography Prints
If you found this blog useful, you can help support our blog by purchasing low-cost digital prints. Printed physical prints are also available for purchase.
—–
Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our 7 of the Best Castles to Visit In Scotland Guide and that it will prove useful for planning your trip to the beautiful Scottish Highlands.
—–
You might also be interested in these related pages:
