Skip to content
A long-haired man in a belted plaid stands side-on in the wind in front of film lights and crew
Mel Gibson on the set, 1995 · Scott Neeson · CC BY-SA 3.0
A river pool among rocks and bare trees, a snow-capped mountain behind
Scotland: Glen Nevis · Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0

Scotland, filmed on two shores · 1995

Braveheart

Half of the film’s Scotland is in Ireland.

A great square stone keep with corner towers above green trees
Ireland: Trim Castle · N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0
A smiling dark-haired woman in a bronze dress and a feathered wrap
Sophie Marceau, 1996 · Georges Biard · CC BY-SA 3.0

The Highlands

The glens

A green ridge path leading to pointed mountain summits under a pale sky
The Ring of Steall, the ridge of the Mamores between Glen Nevis and Kinlochleven, in May 2022. Kztwyman · CC BY-SA 4.0

Between Glen Nevis and Kinlochleven

The Mamores

Wallace’s journey across the Mamores, the range between Glencoe and Glen Nevis. The Ring of Steall is a horseshoe of four Munros, hills over 3,000 feet, joined by narrow rocky ridges.

A serious hill day: the Ring of Steall links four Munros by narrow, rocky ridges. Go equipped, or look up at the ridge from Glen Nevis.

Sources
A river pool among rocks and bare trees, a snow-capped mountain behind
The River Nevis in Glen Nevis, below Fort William, in March 2014. Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0

Glen Nevis Road, below Ben Nevis, Fort William

Glen Nevis

The film builds Lanark, young Wallace’s village, by the River Nevis, and shoots its village scenes down the glen. The set was dismantled after filming, but the car park built to serve it remains, and it is named after the film.

Take Glen Nevis Road up from Fort William. The car park built for the film is beside the road; the village set was taken down after filming.

Sources
Glen Nevis Holidays

Glen Nevis caravan, camping and cottages

Glen Nevis, Fort William

A camping park and self-catering cottages in the glen where the film built Wallace’s village, at the foot of Ben Nevis.

See the park
Steep green and brown mountains on either side of a wide glen, cloud on the tops
The Three Sisters of Glencoe in May 2024. rboed* · CC BY 2.0

The A82 through Glen Coe, Highland

Glencoe

Glencoe’s peaks and broad glens give the film its Highland country. The Glencoe Folk Museum is closed for redevelopment and plans to reopen in 2027.

The A82 runs down the glen under the Three Sisters, with lay-bys to stop in. The Glencoe Folk Museum in the village is closed for redevelopment until 2027.

Sources
Viator · Ad / affiliate

Glencoe and Highlands day tours

Glencoe and Fort William

Live marketplace results for coach and small-group tours from Edinburgh or Glasgow through Glencoe to Fort William. Check each itinerary for Glen Nevis.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

Which shore?

Six landscapes from the film’s country. Say where each one really is.

Pick a shore for each photograph.

Across the water

Blow the thistle

Four of the film’s places sit on the thistle, one to a seed. Blow, and the wind carries each one west over the sea to the Irish ground where it was filmed.

Scotland, as the story tells it

Four seeds on the head.

A great square stone keep with corner towers above green trees
The keep of Trim Castle above the trees by the River Boyne, August 2018. N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0

County Meath

York, built in Trim

The Office of Public Works says its keep, gatehouse and curtain wall made Trim the perfect stand-in for the city of York in Braveheart. About 80 local carpenters and labourers built a medieval streetscape; filming began in August and hundreds came to Trim each day to watch.

Built by Hugh de Lacy and his successors over 30 years, it is the largest Anglo-Norman fortification in Ireland, with a 20-sided, cruciform keep.

Sources
Trim Castle Hotel

Trim Castle Hotel

Castle Street, Trim, County Meath

A 68-room hotel on Castle Street, overlooking the keep that played York.

Check rooms
Grey stone ruins with tall chimneys and a row of pointed cloister arches
Bective Abbey above the River Boyne in June 2022. Olliebailie · CC BY-SA 4.0

7 km down the Boyne from Trim

Bective Abbey

The Office of Public Works says Bective was a film set for Braveheart, the 1995 film, and its film guide prints a photograph of Sophie Marceau filming there. IrishCentral says the film’s London scenes were shot at Bective.

Founded in 1147 for the Cistercians by the King of Meath; its cloister has pointed Gothic arches.

An unguided ruin, open to walk round, less than a kilometre south-east of the R161 near Connell’s Cross. Mind the uneven ground.

Sources
A smiling dark-haired woman in a bronze dress and a feathered wrap
Sophie Marceau at the César awards in Paris in 1996, the year after Braveheart. Georges Biard · CC BY-SA 3.0

Stirling

No bridge

A flat grassy plain under a pale sky, stretching to the horizon
The open grass of the Curragh, County Kildare, in 2007. Sarah777 (English Wikipedia) · Public domain
A four-arched stone bridge over a river on a bright day
Stirling Old Bridge over the River Forth in October 2019. Iain Cameron · CC BY 2.0

Stirling Old Bridge, over the Forth

The battle of 1297 takes its name from a bridge over the Forth at Stirling. The film’s version has none.

A timber bridge crosses the Forth here in the 1290s. In 1297 Wallace and Andrew Moray win the Battle of Stirling Bridge; the stone bridge comes later, in the 1400s or 1500s.

Open all year. Walk across from Riverside; the Wallace Monument is in view up the valley.

Sources
Viator · Ad / affiliate

Stirling and Wallace tours

Stirling

Live marketplace results for tours of Stirling that take in the castle, the Old Bridge and the Wallace Monument.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

Stirling, 1995

Ten minutes in the dark

A man in Highland dress walks towards the camera among people in dark suits
Mel Gibson in a kilt arriving at the MacRobert, University of Stirling, for the European premiere of Braveheart on 3 September 1995. University of Stirling Archives · CC BY-SA 2.0

The Macrobert at the University of Stirling hosts the European premiere, below the Wallace Monument. Mel Gibson, Catherine McCormack and Angus MacFadyen attend; the film runs at the same time in the Logie Lecture Theatre for staff and students.

Sunday 3 September 1995, the Macrobert. The house lights go down.

UniversityCastle
Sources
A black-and-white photograph of a modern foyer with a box-office counter
Inside the MacRobert at the University of Stirling: the box office, from the university's archive. University of Stirling Archives · CC BY-SA 2.0

It is still an arts centre and cinema on the University of Stirling campus. A working arts centre and cinema on the university campus, below the Wallace Monument. Check its what’s on page and book a film.

The man

The real Wallace

The film sent people looking for him. These are the places that remember him, from where tradition says he was born to a wall in London.

A tall granite memorial on a lawn beside a fenced, broken old tree
The Wallace Monument at Elderslie, with the railed-off Wallace Yew beside it, in October 2010. wfmillar · CC BY-SA 2.0

Elderslie, Renfrewshire · c. 1270

The Wallace Monument, Elderslie

Elderslie is traditionally held to be Wallace’s birthplace, around 1270, and his childhood home. A tall granite Gothic memorial to Wallace, built in 1912 to designs by J. C. T. Murray and J. A. Minty of London.

Beside Main Road in Elderslie, with the railed-off Wallace Yew next to it. A short walk from Johnstone.

Sources
A tall stone tower with a crown-shaped top rises from trees in front of a rocky hillside
The National Wallace Monument on the Abbey Craig, seen from Stirling Castle in 2011. dun_deagh · CC BY-SA 2.0

The National Wallace Monument

Each year before the film
about 80,000
1998, the record
184,265
Steps to the crown
246

The tower is 220 feet tall, climbed by a 246-step spiral stair; the Hall of Arms holds the Wallace Sword. It has stood on the Abbey Craig since 1869.

Open all year. October 9.30am to 5pm; November to February 10am to 4pm; last entry an hour before closing. Adults £12.20, children £7.70. The 246 steps have no handrail.

Sources
National Wallace Monument

Climb the Wallace Monument

Abbey Craig, Stirling · Adults £12.20 · over-60s £10 · children £7.70

Up 246 steps past the Wallace Sword to the crown, with the Forth and Stirling Bridge below. Book a time slot online.

Book tickets
A carved stone tablet with a crest and saltire shields set into a stone wall
The William Wallace memorial on the wall of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, West Smithfield, in 2016. The wub · CC BY-SA 4.0

West Smithfield, London · 1956

The Wallace memorial, Smithfield

A stone tablet on the wall of St Bartholomew’s Hospital remembers Wallace near the place he died in London in 1305. It was unveiled on 8 April 1956, placed by Scots and friends at home and abroad.

On the outside wall of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, facing the West Smithfield garden. Barbican and Farringdon stations are a short walk.

Sources

Where it is now

The places today

Where it is now

11 places on the map: 3 in the Highlands, 5 in Wallace country and 3 in Ireland. Dunsoghly Castle stands in private farmland with no public access, so it is named but not pinned.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Take Glen Nevis Road up from Fort William. The car park built for the film is beside the road; the village set was taken down after filming.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A serious hill day: the Ring of Steall links four Munros by narrow, rocky ridges. Go equipped, or look up at the ridge from Glen Nevis.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The A82 runs down the glen under the Three Sisters, with lay-bys to stop in. The Glencoe Folk Museum in the village is closed for redevelopment until 2027.

  1. A river pool among rocks and bare trees, a snow-capped mountain behind
    The River Nevis in Glen Nevis, below Fort William, in March 2014. Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0

    Glen Nevis Road, below Ben Nevis, Fort William

    Glen Nevis

    The Glencoe Folk Museum says Lanark, young Wallace’s village in the film, was built by the River Nevis, and village scenes were filmed down the glen.

    Take Glen Nevis Road up from Fort William. The car park built for the film is beside the road; the village set was taken down after filming.

    Sources
  2. A green ridge path leading to pointed mountain summits under a pale sky
    The Ring of Steall, the ridge of the Mamores between Glen Nevis and Kinlochleven, in May 2022. Kztwyman · CC BY-SA 4.0

    The ridge between Glen Nevis and Kinlochleven

    The Mamores

    In the film Wallace crosses the Mamores, the range between Glencoe and Glen Nevis.

    A serious hill day: the Ring of Steall links four Munros by narrow, rocky ridges. Go equipped, or look up at the ridge from Glen Nevis.

    Sources
  3. Steep green and brown mountains on either side of a wide glen, cloud on the tops
    The Three Sisters of Glencoe in May 2024. rboed* · CC BY 2.0

    The A82 through Glen Coe, Highland

    Glencoe

    VisitScotland says Glencoe’s peaks and wide glens appeared in Braveheart, as well as Skyfall and Outlaw King.

    The A82 runs down the glen under the Three Sisters, with lay-bys to stop in. The Glencoe Folk Museum in the village is closed for redevelopment until 2027.

    Sources

Stay

Under the keep, or in the glen.

A hotel facing Trim Castle and a camping park in Glen Nevis.

Trim Castle Hotel

Trim Castle Hotel

Castle Street, Trim, County Meath

A 68-room hotel on Castle Street, overlooking the keep that played York.

Check rooms
Glen Nevis Holidays

Glen Nevis caravan, camping and cottages

Glen Nevis, Fort William

A camping park and self-catering cottages in the glen where the film built Wallace’s village, at the foot of Ben Nevis.

See the park

Go there

Climb the keep and the tower.

Trim’s keep, the Wallace Monument, and tours through Glencoe and Stirling.

Office of Public Works

Guided tour of Trim’s keep

Trim, County Meath · Adults €5 · children €3 · families €13

Climb inside the 20-sided keep of the castle that played York. The grounds are free. The castle closes for works from 1 November 2026 to 1 April 2027.

Plan a visit
National Wallace Monument

Climb the Wallace Monument

Abbey Craig, Stirling · Adults £12.20 · over-60s £10 · children £7.70

Up 246 steps past the Wallace Sword to the crown, with the Forth and Stirling Bridge below. Book a time slot online.

Book tickets
Viator · Ad / affiliate

Glencoe and Highlands day tours

Glencoe and Fort William

Live marketplace results for coach and small-group tours from Edinburgh or Glasgow through Glencoe to Fort William. Check each itinerary for Glen Nevis.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours
Viator · Ad / affiliate

Stirling and Wallace tours

Stirling

Live marketplace results for tours of Stirling that take in the castle, the Old Bridge and the Wallace Monument.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

What’s on

Nothing dated yet.

Check the Wallace Monument and the Macrobert for new dates.

No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.

Take it home

The score and two books.

James Horner’s soundtrack, the screenwriter’s novel and a life of the real Wallace. We have no original Braveheart posters in our store.

eBay · Ad / affiliate

Braveheart: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

James Horner, London Symphony Orchestra · CD, Decca, 1995

James Horner’s score for the film, released on CD in 1995.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

Find a copy
Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

Braveheart

Randall Wallace

The screenwriter’s own novel of the story, in the 1995 Pocket Books edition.

Find the book
Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

William Wallace

Andrew Fisher

A historian’s life of the real Wallace, from Birlinn.

Find the book

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

Sources

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

12 of 12 places · 14 of 14 Moments

  • Glen Nevis

    Glen Nevis Road, below Ben Nevis, Fort William

    • Lanark by the Nevis

      The film builds Lanark, young Wallace’s village, by the River Nevis, and shoots its village scenes down the glen.

  • The Mamores

    The ridge between Glen Nevis and Kinlochleven

    • Across the Mamores

      Wallace’s journey across the Mamores, the range between Glencoe and Glen Nevis.

  • Glencoe

    The A82 through Glen Coe, Highland

    • The wide glens

      Glencoe’s peaks and broad glens give the film its Highland country.

  • The National Wallace Monument

    Abbey Craig, Hillfoots Road, Causewayhead, Stirling

    • The Braveheart effect

      Before the film about 80,000 people a year visit the Wallace Monument. In 1998 a record 184,265 come, and from 1996 to 2005 the average is 135,000. The film wins five Academy Awards in 1996.

  • Stirling Old Bridge

    On the River Forth, Stirling

    • The real bridge

      A timber bridge crosses the Forth here in the 1290s. In 1297 Wallace and Andrew Moray win the Battle of Stirling Bridge; the stone bridge comes later, in the 1400s or 1500s.

  • The Macrobert

    University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA

    • The European premiere

      The Macrobert at the University of Stirling hosts the European premiere, below the Wallace Monument. Mel Gibson, Catherine McCormack and Angus MacFadyen attend; the film runs at the same time in the Logie Lecture Theatre for staff and students.

    • Ten minutes in the dark

      The projector breaks down and the audience sits in the dark for about ten minutes. Mel Gibson gets up, dances a quick Highland fling and asks if anyone knows any good jokes.

    • Up to the Castle

      About 700 guests leave for the party at Stirling Castle; thousands line the route under fireworks.

  • The Wallace Monument, Elderslie

    243 Main Road, Elderslie, Renfrewshire

    • Where he began

      Elderslie is traditionally Wallace’s birthplace, around 1270; a granite memorial goes up on the site in 1912.

  • The Wallace memorial, Smithfield

    St Bartholomew’s Hospital wall, West Smithfield, City of London

    • A tablet in London

      Scots and friends at home and abroad put up a memorial to Wallace at Smithfield, near where he died in 1305.

  • Trim Castle

    Castle Street, Trim, County Meath

    • York, in Meath

      Trim Castle’s keep, gatehouse and curtain wall stand in for the walled city of York; about 80 local carpenters and labourers build a medieval street, and filming starts in August.

  • Bective Abbey

    Above the River Boyne, between Navan and Trim, County Meath

    • London, on the Boyne

      Bective Abbey is a set for the film, and Sophie Marceau films there; IrishCentral says the film’s London was shot here.

  • The Curragh

    The Curragh plain, near Kildare town, County Kildare

    • Stirling, with no bridge

      The film’s Stirling Bridge is shot on the open grass of the Curragh, with hundreds of extras from the Irish Defence Forces and local people.

  • Dunsoghly Castle

    Dunsoghly, north County Dublin

    • Edinburgh, near Dublin

      Dunsoghly Castle, a 15th-century tower in north County Dublin, doubles as Edinburgh Castle.

Privacy