At the beginning of this summer, I visited Scotland with a short layover in London. During this short layover, I explored the Harry Potter castle and set. I visited so many cool places in Scotland that I figured I would give a little bit of a guide on where to go and what these castles have to offer. Castle buffs (like my mother; she built our house to look like a castle), take note.
Helpful tip: If you're planning a trip to see all of these castles, buy an "Explorer Pass". It will save you a ton of money in the long run, since most of these castles are pretty expensive to get in.
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1. Culzean Castle
This castle was awesome. It is located on the west side of Scotland, right near the water. It has a beautiful landscape and so many great views. The best part was that this is where Eisenhower used to come stay. There is a whole suite that he used to occupy and live in when he visited. You are able to stay in the suite for a night with your own personal butler. I would definitely recommend.
2. DunDonald Castle
This castle was not as intact, but do not let it fool you! There is still three stories inside of it, as well as a dungeon that you practically have to jump into to get around. The staff here was so helpful and informative; we pretty much got our own guided tour. Plus, there is a lot of history on this rock. You can see where the castle evolved in each century.
3. Doune Castle
I'm so glad I was able to visit this castle. It was really intact and almost everything was accessible. This place was actually really famous because Outlander, Game of Thrones, and Monty Python's Holy Grail were all filmed here. There was also a really cool nature walk along the stream that used to supply the castle and villages around it with fresh water.
4. Stirling Castle
This is probably one of the most known castles (besides Edinburgh). There were so many famous people that have come and lived in this castle. Names like Robert the Bruce and William Wallace all walked along these halls. This definitely is not a place that you can skip over, especially with all of the great restaurants and shopping that surround it.
5. Blackness Castle
This castle was one of my favorites. It was right on the water and has maintained a great strong hold for a long time. The tower in the middle housed important prisoners and war criminals. It is well fortified and was a military threat for many years. Not to mention, it was awesome to be able to walk across the bridge and look at the water.
6. Linlithgow Palace
This palace was HUGE. Huge doesn't even begin to describe it. There we over 100 rooms and a great hall that could fit an entire football field in it. This place was definitely a palace fit for royalty. I climbed up all the way to the top of one of the towers (which was 160 steps), but was definitely worth it with the views and pictures that I was able to get.
Here is a picture of how high up I was:
7. Elcho Castle
The funny thing about this castle was that it was so far out of the way that we had to drive through someone's farm property to get to it. The bedrooms and the private bathroom one had across the way on the roof. Ships used to come through the river to stop at this castle. This was a wealthy residence so it was modeled and customized to the way the family liked it.
8. St. Serf's Cathedral
This was a really cool piece of history. Inside the cathedral was a pict stone commemorated to Constantine. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the stone. it was left out in a field for many years and that is why it is in this state. It is a really cool artifact to go see and learn about. It is free to see, and admission to the Cathedral is as well.
9. Dumbarton Castle
I do not know whether to call this a castle or a giant rock with many places on it. All together, this place was 1,500 steps. A workout if you ask me, but definitely worth it. You can literally see the land from both sides. Plus there are some really cool buildings on it dating back to World War II.
10. Newark Castle
This castle was in a really weird place as well. It was right next to a few boat yards and a busy highway. It was unbelievable how intact the whole place was. The tour guide told us the secret to keeping it looking amazing – dove poop. They literally put poop from a bird into the building of this castle. The owner of the castle was friends with the king so nobody would mess with him. His reputation also kept most people away from the castle because he was a known murderer. He was never got put on trial for it of his ties with the king.
This was a great trip, and I can't complain! It's my hopes that this article will help anyone aspiring to travel to Scotland. Castles were a huge contributing factor to my trip being amazing, but the food was unbelievable too. You will never see a country as green as it is in Scotland, and that is definitely saying something. Oh yeah, I almost forgot... I hope you like sheep. They are everywhere!
