Outlander Tour Scotland

Award-winning guided tours

"Ye are Blood of my Blood, and Bone of my Bone." Diana Gabaldon wrote a love story between Claire and Jamie, but she also wrote a love letter to Scotland. Our Outlander tours take you beyond the screen to the actual locations where those passionate scenes unfolded, from medieval castles to mysterious standing stones. Join us as your guide shares both the fiction and the fascinating real history that inspired it.

Sixty million people watched Outlander and fell in love with Scotland. If you're one of them, you already know the feeling, and you already know that at some point you're going to have to come and see it for yourself. Our small-group Outlander tours of Scotland take you to the real castles, standing stones, and Highland glens behind the story, with a driver-guide who knows how to get you to the filming locations and can tell you about the history behind them. The real thing, as it turns out, is even better.

H2 - What locations do Outlander tours in Scotland visit?

Scotland's Outlander locations aren't sets or recreations. They're the actual places, medieval castles that have stood for 700 years, a 16th-century village the production team barely had to touch, and a battlefield where the Jacobite cause died in 1746 and where that weight still sits in the air today.

Depending on which of our Outlander tours in Scotland you choose, you might walk into Doune Castle's Great Hall, which you'll recognize immediately as Castle Leoch, or stand in the courtyard of Midhope Castle, Lallybroch to every fan who's watched the show, or wander the cobbled streets of Culross, a village so perfectly preserved it barely needed a set designer.

Culloden may not be a filming location, but it's impossible to understand Outlander without it. This is where the Jacobite cause died, and where the Fraser clan memorial stands as a reminder of everything Jamie's world was built around. Several of our tours include it, and it tends to be the stop that stays with people longest.

For the full picture, read our guide to the best Outlander locations in Scotland.

H2 - What real history inspired Outlander?

Claire and Jamie are fictional, but the history they move through is not, and it's more dramatic than most people realize. The 1745 Jacobite Rising was the last serious attempt to restore the Stuart monarchy to the British throne, and it ended at Culloden in a defeat so complete that the British government responded by banning tartan, dismantling the clan system, and clearing Highland communities from their land. The places you'll visit on an Outlander tour in Scotland carry that history in every stone, from the clan strongholds that once housed hundreds of loyal families to the battlefields where it all fell apart. Your driver-guide will bring it to life in a way no guidebook manages.

H2 - Can you visit real standing stones in Scotland?

You can, and they're worth every bit of the journey. Near Inverness, Clava Cairns directly inspired Diana Gabaldon's fictional Craigh na Dun, a Bronze Age burial site 4,000 years old and atmospheric enough that you'll understand immediately why she chose it. On the Isle of Lewis, the Callanish Stones are around 5,000 years old and still puzzling archaeologists. In Orkney, the Ring of Brodgar sits in a landscape so otherworldly that time travel starts to feel less far-fetched than it should. We can't guarantee it, but we can take you to the places that made it feel possible. Our Orkney tours go further if you want them to.

H2 - How long do I need for an Outlander day tour?

A day gets you further than you'd think, with several key filming locations sitting within easy reach of Edinburgh and Glasgow. If you want the Highlands, the later seasons, and the kind of scenery that made the show famous around the world, a four-day Outlander tour gives you the room to do it properly. Some guests combine their Outlander sites with a broader Scotland tour, taking in the wider country at the same time, which is never a bad idea.

H2 - What about Outlander filming in the Highlands?

The Highland landscapes in Outlander are among the most dramatic in the world, and they look just as extraordinary in person as they do on screen. Glencoe appears in the opening credits, and is also the site of the real Massacre of Glencoe in 1692, which gives it a history that goes well beyond anything a scriptwriter could invent. Our Glencoe tours take you into the valley and tell the full story, and if the loch scenes have stayed with you, too, our Scotland loch tours cover those waters properly as well.

H2 - Are Outlander tours suitable for non-fans?

Outlander fans tend to get the most out of these tours, but they're far from the only ones who enjoy them. The castles, the battlefields, and the Jacobite history are fascinating regardless of the show, and Scotland has a way of getting under the skin of anyone who spends time in it properly. Plenty of guests have joined because a partner or family member insisted, and ended up planning their next trip before the mini-coach has pulled back into Edinburgh.

H2 - Where do Outlander tours depart from?

Most of the show's key locations sit within an hour or two of Edinburgh and Glasgow, which is good news if you're basing yourself in either city. Head further north, and Inverness puts you right on the doorstep of Culloden, as well as the Highland landscapes that define the later seasons. Wherever you're starting from, the Departure Points page has the information you need to plan your departure.

Why tour Outlander locations with Rabbie's?

You could hire a car and find some of these places yourself. But you'd miss the back roads, the context, and the stories that make the difference between ticking off a location and actually understanding it. With 16 passengers and a driver-guide who knows real history that inspired the show, you get both. Have questions? Take a look at our FAQs or get in touch.