Castles form iconic landmarks in Scotland’s rich history. Every castle has its own unique story to tell and many of them are splendidly designed. If you take a road trip around any part of this country, I bet you will come across so many stunning castles to visit in Scotland. Here are a few best castles to visit in Scotland. I have also added pointers to entry details of these castles. Enjoy!
Planning a Trip to Scotland ?
You can find the itinerary I followed for a two week road trip that covered all the stunning castles to visit in Scotland introduced below in my blogpost two week road trip in Scotland exploring the NC500 route and nearby islands
This iconic castle is located in one of my favorite scenic towns, Inveraray in Argyll. The Inveraray Castle exterior is amazing and I love the greenish colour that blends well with the garden. We visited during Covid19 time, so we did not go inside the castle due to restrictions. The Entry fee is £12.50 for an adult if you buy ticket on the spot, but you can save a pound if you book online.
Inveraray Castle gardens is sometimes mentioned as the best garden in Scotland. I do wish to go back again and see the garden and interiors for myself. For now, I managed to get a shot climbing upon the gate of the castle 😉
Edinburgh Castle is one of the most visited castles in Scotland and is famous for its strength as it survived many attacks. It has a remarkable place in Scotland’s history which you can find out in this amazing Netflix documentary which I found very interesting. Find details about visiting the castle here. While I was visiting I did not go inside the castle, I only admired it from the outside.
The castle square is pretty amazing with this spectacular view of old architecture. My friends and I thoroughly enjoyed our time here and did some fun yoga photo shoots not paying attention to the crowds staring at us.
One of the major highlights of the NC500 East coast route is Dunrobin Castle and its garden, it is just spectacular and is known as a jewel of the highlands. Pictures will definitely speak for the jewel reference. Entry to the castle costs £11 for adults, but note that they they open the garden free for public at 5 pm.
Dunrobin Castle Garden is definitely one of the prettiest I have been to with amazing layouts, flowers and berries. The back gate of the garden opens to the sea.
This castle, garden and their pictures deserve a blog on its own. I am sharing only a few. here and I feel like a spring visit here would be outstanding.
Yet another famous castle in the west coast of Scotland, Eilean Donan Castle, it is an half an hour drive from Kyle of Lochalsh, in a village called Dornie. There is an amazing view point here. I was lucky to see the castle both during the day time and night time. The Scottish flag flies high here and I loved the ambiance during my visit. I did not go inside, but you can plan your visit and find information here.
Balloch Castle in Loch Lomond is in a free country park and has an amazing walk here. There is a walled garden in the castle which is stunning.
Inverness Castle is located just in the city overlooking the River Ness. The building is distinctive, pretty and built out of red sandstone. The Inverness Castle Viewpoint offers amazing 360° views of Inverness and the Scottish Highlands.
Strome Castle is a ruined little castle overlooking the Loch Carron and I came across this castle as it popped upon my map while I was navigating to the accommodation in this area during my road trip but was a pleasant surprise.
Watching the sun setting upon Isle of Skye from here is one of the best sunsets I have seen in my life. I would totally recommend going here for sunset if you stay somewhere around Loch Carron.
The Isle of Kerrera, a tiny island near Oban, hosts Gylen castle in its south end from which you can see across to the Isle of Mull. You can take a 5 minutes Ferry from Oban to this island and it is a one and a half hour walk to the castle. Walking to this castle is a relaxing peaceful experience with just the noises of wildlife as a sound track.
Urquhart Castle is a famous castle along the banks of Loch Ness. You can see it from the opposite side when you drive southwards from Inverness towards Fort Augustus, another scenic town in Scotland. Unfortunately we could not see the castle up close as it was closed due to the Covid19 restrictions, during our visit.
In the north of Isle of Skye, Duntulm has this ruined castle. The coast here is very pretty, but due to Covid19 restrictions we could not enter the castle. This region has some amazing wildlife and we were fortunate to see Golden Eagle flying over the castle during the trip.
If you want to plan a getaway to Scotland including these castles to visit in Scotland, here is the itinerary I followed pinned on a downloadable map. Don’t forget to pin for future references. Find pinnable images below.
62 comments
Great list – Dunrobin and Inveraray are two of my favourites! And Eilean Donan, of course. There are a ton of great castles over in Aberdeenshire which I only got around to checking out recently, but I highly recommend that area for castles if you get the chance!
Thank you Clazz. Yeh seems like my favourites go in that order too, but Strome Castle is a bit too special in my mind after watching sunset there. You are right I need to do an East only trip some time and crack the castles in that region too. Thanks for the recommendations, really appreciate it. I think Northumberland in England is another region to chase castles as well. There is always so much to see 🙂
I love castles! My list for Scotland is just getting longer every day, so much to see and do! Thank you for all the valuable tips!
Thanks Bernd! Scotland is like Arctic, you might eventually settle here for a while who knows. Maybe we can build a castle here and church in the Arctic ♥️
A great account of castles in Scotland. You’ve found some really great ones. Love the photos. Yes, Northumberland has a few impressive castles too. Look forward to your blog on them too sometime. 😁
Thanks Pen. Castles in Scotland are amazing but yes so many more to see and explore.
This is amazing Jumana. These castles look epic, it’s like you are following an saga like Game of Thrones.
Very nicely written and pictures are awesome.
Keep it up!!
Thanks Harshit, so many more castles to chase.