Best Castles in Scotland

Scotland has more castles per square mile than almost anywhere in the world. Most guides list dozens. This one focuses on the castles we actually take clients to – the ones that deliver when you arrive. We’ve driven thousands of private tours across the Highlands and these are the castles that consistently impress.

Each entry includes current admission prices and opening times for 2026, plus honest notes on what to expect. For the ruins, allow an hour. For the inhabited castles with gardens, allow two to three.

Eilean Donan Castle

The most photographed castle in Scotland, and it earns every frame. Eilean Donan sits on a small island where Loch Duich, Loch Long, and Loch Alsh meet, with the mountains of Kintail rising behind it. The approach along the A87 from Invergarry is one of the great Scottish drives.

The castle dates to the 13th century and is likely named after the 6th-century Bishop Donan. During the 1719 Jacobite Rebellion, Spanish soldiers garrisoned here were bombarded by the Royal Navy, reducing the castle to rubble. It lay in ruins for 200 years before Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap purchased and rebuilt it between 1911 and 1932. The reconstruction is remarkably faithful.

Eilean Donan is a staple on every Isle of Skye tour from Inverness and West Coast tour we run. See our dedicated Eilean Donan Castle tour page or our full Eilean Donan visitor guide.

Adults £13.00, seniors £12.00, children £6.50, family £38.00. Tickets on the door only. Open Feb–Dec with seasonal hours (9am–6pm in peak summer). Closed 12–16 April. Dornie, Kyle of Lochalsh.

Urquhart Castle

Urquhart Castle sits on a rocky promontory jutting into Loch Ness. The views from the Grant Tower – across the darkest, deepest part of the loch – are exceptional. This is a castle that tells the story of Scotland’s wars: it changed hands repeatedly during the Wars of Independence and was deliberately blown up in 1692 to deny it to Jacobite forces.

The visitor centre is excellent, with exhibitions, a short film, and a café. The full-sized trebuchet in the grounds gives a sense of the castle at its most formidable. Allow 1.5–2 hours. See our full Loch Ness visitor guide or Urquhart Castle visitor guide for what else to combine it with.

Adults £14.00 online / £16.00 walk-up. Open daily year-round. Near Drumnadrochit, 30 minutes from Inverness.

Dunrobin Castle

Dunrobin is a beautiful building. The fairytale French château silhouette is unexpected this far north – all spires, turrets, and honey-coloured stone – and the formal gardens sweeping down to the sea are among the finest in Scotland. It looks more Loire Valley than Sutherland.

The castle has been home to the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland since the 13th century, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in Scotland. Inside, 189 rooms hold fine furniture, paintings, and clan history. Outside, the daily falconry display with golden eagles is superb.

Dunrobin is one of our favourite stops on day tours heading north from Inverness. It pairs perfectly with Dornoch and Royal Dornoch Golf Club.

Adults £16.00, children £10.00, family £47.00. Open Apr–Oct, daily 10am–5:30pm. Falconry at 11:30am & 2:30pm. Golspie, about 1 hour north of Inverness.

Cawdor Castle

Cawdor is an interesting one. The Shakespeare connection gives it fame – “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promised” – though the historical Macbeth had no real link to this castle. What you get is a genuinely atmospheric 14th-century tower house, still inhabited by the Campbell Earls of Cawdor, with a drawbridge, turrets, a dungeon, and three beautiful gardens.

The castle gardens are particularly good: a walled garden, a wild garden, and a flower garden, plus marked woodland trails through the estate. Open-air theatre performances run in summer, including Macbeth in August 2026 – which feels appropriate.

After visiting, the Cawdor Tavern in the village is the place for a proper pub lunch. It’s a favourite stop of ours.

Adults £17.00, children £8.50, family £40.00. Gardens only £10.00. Open 25 Apr–4 Oct, daily 10am–5pm. 15 minutes east of Inverness.

Dunnottar Castle

Dunnottar is a super cool castle. It sits on a 160-foot sea cliff south of Stonehaven on the Aberdeenshire coast, connected to the mainland by a narrow path – dramatically isolated, surrounded by the North Sea on three sides. The approach walk, with the ruins looming above crashing waves, is one of Scotland’s great visual moments.

This is where the Scottish Crown Jewels were hidden from Cromwell’s army. The castle has been used extensively in film, including Franco Zeffirelli’s Hamlet with Mel Gibson, Victor Frankenstein, and was an inspiration for Disney’s Brave.

Open year-round (weather permitting). Summer: daily 9am–6pm. Winter: daily from 10am. About 20 miles south of Aberdeen, near Stonehaven.

Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle is fantastic, and it requires time. This was the seat of Scottish royal power – the childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots, the site of James V’s Renaissance palace, and a fortress that controlled the strategic crossing point between Lowlands and Highlands.

The Royal Palace, with its recreated Renaissance interiors and costumed interpreters, is exceptional. The Great Hall (Scotland’s largest medieval banqueting hall, built 1503) has been beautifully restored. The Stirling Tapestries – seven hand-woven recreations of a 16th-century unicorn series – took twelve years and £2 million to complete. The Stirling Heads Gallery displays original carved oak medallions from the palace ceiling. Allow at least 2–3 hours to do it justice.

Adults £18.50 online / £20.50 walk-up. Open daily year-round (Apr–Sep: 9:30am–6pm; Oct–Mar: 9:30am–5pm). 25% discount for car-free arrivals. Stirling.

Craigievar Castle

Craigievar is the castle that inspired Walt Disney. Seven storeys of pink-harled turrets rising from the Aberdeenshire countryside – it looks more Bavarian fairy tale than Scottish baronial. The resemblance to Cinderella’s castle is unmistakable.

Built around 1626 by William Forbes – a merchant nicknamed “Danzig Willy” for his Baltic trading fortune – the castle stayed in Forbes hands for 350 years. The plasterwork ceilings inside are among the finest in Scotland, and the Great Hall has a secret staircase. The National Trust for Scotland now cares for it.

National Trust for Scotland. Typically open Apr–Sep (check NTS website for 2026 dates). Near Alford, Aberdeenshire.

Balmoral Estate

Balmoral is set in beautiful grounds on Royal Deeside. The estate has been the Scottish home of the British Royal Family since Queen Victoria and Prince Albert purchased it in 1852. You can’t tour the castle interior when the Royal Family is in residence (typically August–October), but the grounds, gardens, and estate walks are open at other times.

The grounds include formal gardens, the walled garden, woodland walks, and wildlife – red squirrels, red deer, and golden eagles are all present on the 50,000-acre estate. A gift shop and restaurant are on site. It’s a worthwhile stop when touring Royal Deeside.

Free admission to grounds during winter opening (Jan–Mar, selected dates). Summer season prices vary. Parking £5. Between Braemar and Ballater on Royal Deeside.

Blair Castle

Blair Castle is a great stop heading north to Inverness. Sitting at the gateway to the Highlands near Pitlochry, it’s the ancestral home of Clan Murray and the seat of the Duke of Atholl – the only person in Britain permitted to maintain a private army (the Atholl Highlanders).

The white-walled castle contrasts beautifully with the forested hills behind it. Inside, 30 rooms display arms and armour, fine furniture, and clan history spanning seven centuries. The Hercules Garden and estate grounds are excellent for walking. Blair Castle also hosts the annual Atholl Gathering and Highland Games.

Adults £18.75 (online), children £12.00, family £55.00. Open Apr–Oct, daily 10am–5pm. Blair Atholl, near Pitlochry.

Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Castle is the seat of Clan Campbell and home to the Duke of Argyll. If you’re touring down the West Coast or have connections to the Campbell clan, it’s worth building in. The neo-Gothic architecture is distinctive – conical turrets and a grand facade overlooking Loch Fyne.

Inside, the Armoury Hall is remarkable: one of the finest collections of weapons in Europe, with pikes, muskets, and swords arranged in elaborate patterns on the walls. The castle also features Beauvais tapestries, fine porcelain, and portraits spanning the Campbell dynasty. The grounds and woodland walks are beautiful.

Adults £18.50, children £12.00, family £60.00. Open 26 Mar–26 Oct, Thu–Mon 10am–5pm (closed Tue–Wed). Inveraray, Argyll.

Aldourie Castle – exclusive use on Loch Ness

Aldourie is different from every other castle on this list. It’s not a visitor attraction – it’s a private-hire estate available on an exclusive-use basis through Wildland. And it’s one of our favourites in the area.

The restoration is superb. The 300-year-old baronial castle sits on 500 acres of gardens, woodland, and wildflower meadows on the southern shore of Loch Ness. Twelve individually designed suites sleep up to 24 guests, with interiors by London antique dealers Jamb and landscape design by Tom Stuart-Smith. Biomass heating, produce from the walled gardens, and a team of private chefs complete the picture.

Activities include 4×4 estate tours, wild swimming, fishing, foraging, and whisky tastings. Seven self-catering cottages on the estate can accommodate larger parties. We provide chauffeur transfers to and from Aldourie.

Exclusive use only – contact Wildland (hello@wildland.scot). Loch Ness shore, near Dores.

For individual visitor guides – history, opening times and how to get there – see our full Scottish castles directory.

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