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Scottish Castles Private Tour: Exploration of Four Historic Castles from Edinburgh

3.3

7 Ratings

Stirling

Embark on a private tour of four historic Scottish castles from Edinburgh. Explore Drummond Castle Gardens, Stirling Castle, Doune Castle, and Blackness Castle. Discover hidden treasures and iconic filming locations.

Duration: 6 hours

Cancellation: 1 day learn more

Highlights

Stirling Castle - Stirling Castle is an ancient Scottish castle built by the Stewart kings of Scotland. Mary was crowned Queen of Scots in the Chapel Royal, Stirling Castle, aged just nine months.
Drummond Gardens - Drummond Castle and Gardens , a private castle and amazing formal gardens. Used in Outlander as the Palace of Versailles
Blackness Castle - Blackness features in Outlander and the Outlaw King
Doune Castle - Doune Castle was heavily featured as Winterfell in Game of Thrones , also Castle Leoch In Outlander and featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Originally dating to the 13th Century, Doune Castle near Stirling was a favourite place for Mary Queen of Scots.

Doune Castle has five claims to movie fame

Outlander
Game of Thrones
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Outlaw King
Mary Queen of Scots
Once a Royal residence, Doune Castle was rebuilt by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany in the late 14th Century.

What's Included

Private tour
Driver/guide
Live commentary on board
In-car phone charging

What's Not Included

Food and drinks
Souvenir travel mugs, phone cases and prints (available to purchase online, details from guide)
Escort
entrance tickets

Additional Information

Our exclusive excursion takes you to four distinctive ancient Scottish castles. During this journey, you will explore Drummond Castle & Gardens , Stirling Castle , Doune Castle, and Blackness Castle. Exclusive small group expedition.

Drummond Castle Gardens appeared as the royal Palace of Versailles in the TV series Outlander. The formal gardens are assigned as a Category A listed building and are one of Scotland’s hidden gems. Visitors frequently inquire whether they can enter Drummond Castle. The castle is the private residence of the owner and hence not open to the public.

Stirling Castle is one of Scotland’s most magnificent castles due to its commanding position over the Forth Valley and its grand Renaissance architecture developed by the Stewart kings of Scotland

Blackness Castle was a filming location in Outlander and Outlaw King.

Set back in the 13th Century, Doune Castle near Stirling was a beloved location for Mary Queen of Scots.
In Outlander, Doune was represented as Castle Leoch, the base of Colum Mackenzie. Doune stood as Winterfell in Game of Thrones.

This is a private tour for up to 4 people
Dress code is smart casual
a maximum of four people per booking

Location

Stirling Castle

Castle Esplanade, Upper Castle Hill, Old Town

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

3.3

(7 Ratings)

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Rodrigo_f

Jul 25, 2019

Amazing castles - Four incredible places to know. Totally worth it, we would love to visit again! Scotland has amazing castles and palaces!

Review provided by Viator

Matthew_w

Jul 31, 2023

Sights were amazing - Guide was pleasant enough but fell short compared to other guides we've had on vacation. He was more of just a driver, which he did just fine. This selection of castles was truly amazing to see. We took SO MANY pictures. Even the teens were impressed.

Review provided by Viator

Jody_c

Jul 20, 2023

Lovely private tour - David is an informative and safe driver. We enjoyed a great day exploring castles near Edinburgh. I would suggest (for the price) bottles of water in the car and a slightly larger vehicle, but all in all we had a great experience!

Review provided by Viator

Karen_m

Jun 25, 2023

Castle Day - see 3 to 4 in a sprint across Scotland - If you are an Outlander Fan, this is the four for you as David the driver is knowledgeable about the sites related to the TV show. Personally, we are history buffs and more interested in the ancient Royals and battles. I would highly recommend that you re-order and adjust the schedule for the most pleasant day and more time at each castle. We did Stirling then Doune then Blackness Castle. We skipped Drummond Castle and this gave the day a more relaxed pace and was more enjoyable for us a family.

Review provided by Viator

John_r

Oct 6, 2023

3 out of 4 - We enjoyed most of the trip, despite the rain, with our driver David but were duked out of the fourth castle as they had closed at 3pm and we arrived just after. The driver should've known about this and got us there ahead of time. Waiting to see if the company will give us some money back...

Review provided by Viator

Sarita_k

May 8, 2024

Disappointed - This is NOT a tour of the castles. This is a person driving you from place to place. Unfortunately our driver didn’t seem to have much knowledge of the area or the castles and was not very engaging. 😫 For the price we expected more.

Review provided by Viator

Lbb70

Jun 13, 2019

Would give 0 review for this operator if possible - Had this tour booked months in advance and the tour operator contacted us and said they were overbooked and cancelled. Not a good way to introduce a new tour on TripAdvisor or Viator.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

From $573 (Per Group)

Select Date and Tickets

up to 4 guests