The ‘Droughtlander’ is nearly over. The second part of season seven of Outlander has finally dropped, arriving with the news that the series is nearing its end. Season eight will be Claire and Co’s final visit to 18th-century Scotland. However, fans of tartan-flavoured, time-travelling romance won’t be the only ones misty-eyed at the news.
Visit Scotland estimated that the show’s impact raised pre-pandemic tourist numbers to sites featured in the series by 67%. And it continues to provide new destinations for fans. Even after the story’s focus switched to America, production carried on shooting mostly in Scotland, using locations in the country’s middle and lower regions.
Let’s start at the magical stone circle at Craigh na Dun, which propels our heroine back in time. In reality, this was filmed at a magic-rock-free farm in the village of Kinloch Rannoch in Perthshire, which allows entry to fans so long as they don’t disturb the livestock. Set amid the Great Moor of Rannoch, this epic slab of wilderness is around two hours’ drive from Edinburgh and has magical views over the loch.
Fans can find key locations at two well-preserved towns in Fife. Owned by the National Trust for Scotland, the historic 18th-century burgh of Culross, on the Firth of Forth, doubles for fictional Cranesmuir in season one. Falkland, meanwhile, stands in for 1940s Inverness, with the exterior of the town’s Covenanters Hotel used for the B&B that Claire and Frank Randall arrive at in the first episode. Also worth a visit is the 16th-century Falkland Palace (a favourite of the Stuart monarchs), whose cellars were used in season two.
Classic Scottish country piles provide plenty to chew on for fans of the show. The sprawling Hopetoun estate on the outskirts of Edinburgh has lent a number of locations to the series, with its focal point of Hopetoun House doubling as the Duke of Sandringham’s estate, Bellhurst, while its derelict 15th-century Midhope Castle will be instantly recognisable as Jamie Fraser’s ancestral home.
Elsewhere, Stirlingshire’s Doune Castle stands in for Castle Leoch, and it is worth a visit if only to gaze out over the River Teith and Ben Lomond from the battlements. West Lothian is also a hotbed of Outlander locations, with Blackness Castle doubling as Fort William, and Linlithgow Palace – birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots – providing the shoot for the ominous Wentworth Prison.
Of course, the early seasons of the show lead up to the Jacobite defeat at the 1746 Battle of Culloden, in which 1,500 Highlanders were slaughtered. Visitors to the real Inverness battlefield site will find an excellent visitors’ centre detailing the brutalities that followed. The chance to take in this history provides more than enough real-life drama to satisfy even the biggest Outlander devotee.