Starz · 2014–2026 · Scotland
Claire touches a stone on a hill near Inverness and falls from 1946 to 1743, and into Jamie’s century. The hill was invented. The stones around it are real, and so is every place she lands.
It is 1946. Claire is in the stone, and the mist is down.
Touch a stone
Each stone carries a name from the story. Touch one and the year falls from 1946 to where it lands; then bring the place back to today.
Nobody has touched a stone. It is 1946, and the hill is quiet.
0 of 14 stones touched · 0 years fallen
The stones on the hill are fiction.
The places they carry you to are not. Every stone here lands somewhere you can buy a ticket, walk a street or stand in a courtyard. Where is Craigh na Dun? ↓
From Edinburgh
Live marketplace results for coach tours to Midhope, Blackness, Linlithgow and Doune. Check what each includes, especially entry to Midhope’s grounds.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursAcross Scotland · Adults £48
Fourteen consecutive days’ entry to Historic Scotland’s ticketed sites, among them Doune, Blackness, Linlithgow, Aberdour and Craigmillar. Book visits ahead online.
See the passInverness, 1946 · Falkland, Fife
Falkland became 1940s Inverness for season 1, and 1960s Inverness for seasons 2 and 4. The Covenanter Hotel became Mrs Baird’s guesthouse.
The curtain is drawn.
At the Bruce Fountain, the ghost of Jamie looks up at Claire’s room. Several of the hotel’s rooms look across Falkland Square towards the Bruce Fountain.
A village: the square, the fountain and the hotel front are on the High Street, KY15 7BU. The Covenanter’s lease is on the market, so check it is trading before you plan a meal or a room.
1746 Inverness · Season 2
In season 2 one of the palace cellars was used as an apothecary in 1746 Inverness. After filming the palace kept the cellar as an apothecary, inspired by the real 17th-century apothecary of the palace.
National Trust for Scotland. Palace daily 11am–5pm until 31 October (last entry 4.15pm), then closed until March; garden and shop Thursday to Monday in winter. Adults £19. KY15 7BY.
The honeymoon
The country round Loch Rannoch and Kinloch Rannoch is seen behind Claire and Frank on their second honeymoon, in the first episode.
A village at the east end of Loch Rannoch, PH16; the loch roads and paths are free to walk.
Castle Leoch · Doune, Stirlingshire
Doune Castle plays Castle Leoch, home to Colum MacKenzie and his clan in the 18th century.
It also appears in the 20th-century story, when Claire and Frank visit the castle in ruins on a day trip. It was built as the home of Regent Albany, “Scotland’s uncrowned king”. The castle’s audio guide has Sam Heughan on the Outlander filming, and Terry Jones of Monty Python.
Historic Environment Scotland. Daily 10am–4pm October to March, 9.30am–5.30pm April to September; last entry 45 minutes before closing. Adults £10 online, £11 at the door. FK16 6EA.
Cranesmuir · Culross, Fife
The Royal Burgh plays Cranesmuir, the village where Geillis Duncan lives, in season 1. The Palace garden is the herb garden of Castle Leoch, where Claire collects plants for medicine, in season 1, episode 3.
The show’s herbal consultant wrote the recipe down. Weigh it out: a pinch at a time, and not a grain over.
The scale is empty. Geillis is watching.
The herb garden
Geillis Duncan’s dress is on display in the Palace.
National Trust for Scotland. Palace and garden daily 10am–4pm until 31 October (last entry 3pm), then closed until April 2027; adults £14. The streets are open at any time. KY12 8JH.
The Mercat Cross
For filming, the buildings round the Mercat Cross were painted from white to grey and brown. The Mercat Cross appears again in episode 11, “The Devil’s Mark”, when Claire and Geillis are tried as witches.
The witch trial
The church plays Cranesmuir Church for the witch trial.
A historic church west of Perth, PH1 1QJ. There is no parking at the church: park considerately nearby, and check access before you go.
Craigh na Dun
Nine stones on a hill near Inverness.
The fictional stones of Craigh na Dun are inspired by Clava Cairns, outside Inverness, and the Calanais Standing Stones on Lewis. The two are 177 km apart, as the crow flies.
Near Inverness · free, all year
An ancient cemetery on a terrace above the River Nairn; the cairns are about 4,000 years old and were built to house the dead.
Historic Environment Scotland. Free and open all year. A 17-tonne limit on the access road. IV2 5EU.
Isle of Lewis
A cross-shaped setting of stones put up 5,000 years ago, older than Stonehenge. The excavator’s favoured idea: every 18.6 years the moon skims especially low over the southern hills.
Twelve miles west of Stornoway, HS2 9DY. You reach the stones through the visitor centre run by Urras nan Tursachan: check its hours and tickets.
On screen · Dunkeld, Perthshire
It is where the MacKenzies disappear through the stones, and where Claire washes blood off her face in the waterfall. The hotel’s 280 acres of woodland doubled as the North Carolina wilderness.
From Inverness
Live marketplace results for half-day trips to the battlefield and the stones.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursDunkeld, Perthshire
A four-star country house hotel with 100 rooms in 280 acres above the River Tay. Its woods are where the MacKenzies go through the stones. Pictured: the house from the lawn.
Check roomsRent · Newtonmore, Badenoch
Claire meets wool waulking here in season 1, episode 5, “Rent”; the Badenoch Waulking Group sing “Mo Nighean Donn”, “My brown-haired lass”. Waulking strengthens and finishes freshly woven wool: the cloth is soaked, then beaten and kneaded to the beat of Gaelic songs.
Thump when the light swells. 16 beats finish the cloth.
Highland Folk Museum
Replica 18th-century turf-roofed crofts were used for period scenes, including Dougal collecting the rent. Over 35 reconstructed buildings show Highland life from the 1700s to the mid-1900s.
High Life Highland. Daily 10.30am–4pm; entry by donation; car park £3. PH20 1AY.
The opening credits
Glen Coe is in the opening credits of season 1. On 13 February 1692, 38 men, women and children of Clan MacDonald were murdered by government soldiers they had welcomed into their homes.
National Trust for Scotland visitor centre on the A82, a mile before Glencoe village: free, daily 9.30am–5pm to 25 October, then 9.30am–4pm. Car park £4. PH49 4HX.
1743 to the print shop
Fort William · 1743
Blackness, near Linlithgow · 167 km from Clava
Blackness is Black Jack Randall’s headquarters at Fort William.
It was the Fort William headquarters of Black Jack Randall, and the setting of Jamie’s incarceration.
The 15th-century castle’s lasting roles were garrison fortress and state prison.
Historic Environment Scotland. Daily 10am–4pm October to March, 9.30am–5pm April to September. Adults £7.50 online. A small car park for ticket holders, 75 minutes in winter. EH49 7NH.
Hopetoun Estate, West Lothian
Keepers Cottage and Midhope Cottage, beside the castle that plays Lallybroch, on a private part of the Hopetoun Estate. Each has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study and its own garden, and sleeps up to six; continental breakfast items are included.
Check datesNear Inverness · Adults £16.50 with the tour · £12.50 centre only
The visitor centre and a guided walk on the field, where you can find the Clan Fraser stone.
Plan a visitEast Linton · Until 31 October · adults £11
An hour inside the Lallybroch mill, four times a day, Thursday to Monday. Numbers are capped: book first.
Book a tour1946
The people who made it, photographed as themselves.
Sam HeughanJamie · San Diego, 2025
Caitríona BalfeClaire · New York, 2014
Diana GabaldonThe novels · Phoenix, 2017
20 places you can visit, none of them private. Craigh na Dun is not among them: it was never there.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Historic Environment Scotland. Daily 10am–4pm October to March, 9.30am–5.30pm April to September; last entry 45 minutes before closing. Adults £10 online, £11 at the door. FK16 6EA.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. National Trust for Scotland. Palace and garden daily 10am–4pm until 31 October (last entry 3pm), then closed until April 2027; adults £14. The streets are open at any time. KY12 8JH.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A historic church west of Perth, PH1 1QJ. There is no parking at the church: park considerately nearby, and check access before you go.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A village: the square, the fountain and the hotel front are on the High Street, KY15 7BU. The Covenanter’s lease is on the market, so check it is trading before you plan a meal or a room.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. National Trust for Scotland. Palace daily 11am–5pm until 31 October (last entry 4.15pm), then closed until March; garden and shop Thursday to Monday in winter. Adults £19. KY15 7BY.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A village at the east end of Loch Rannoch, PH16; the loch roads and paths are free to walk.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel above the River Tay, PH8 0HX; the woods are the hotel’s grounds.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Historic Environment Scotland. October to March, Saturday to Wednesday 10am–4pm, closed Thursday and Friday and for lunch 12.30–1.30pm. Adults £7.50 online. Five minutes’ walk from Aberdour station. KY3 0SL.
Castle Hill, Doune, Stirlingshire · 143 km from Clava
Doune Castle plays Castle Leoch, home to Colum MacKenzie and his clan in the 18th century.
Historic Environment Scotland. Daily 10am–4pm October to March, 9.30am–5.30pm April to September; last entry 45 minutes before closing. Adults £10 online, £11 at the door. FK16 6EA.
Culross, Fife · 160 km from Clava
The Royal Burgh plays Cranesmuir, the village where Geillis Duncan lives, in season 1.
National Trust for Scotland. Palace and garden daily 10am–4pm until 31 October (last entry 3pm), then closed until April 2027; adults £14. The streets are open at any time. KY12 8JH.
Tibbermore, near Perth · 124 km from Clava
The church plays Cranesmuir Church for the witch trial.
A historic church west of Perth, PH1 1QJ. There is no parking at the church: park considerately nearby, and check access before you go.
The Square and High Street, Falkland, Fife · 145 km from Clava
Falkland became 1940s Inverness for season 1, and 1960s Inverness for seasons 2 and 4.
A village: the square, the fountain and the hotel front are on the High Street, KY15 7BU. The Covenanter’s lease is on the market, so check it is trading before you plan a meal or a room.
East Port, Falkland, Fife · 145 km from Clava
In season 2 one of the palace cellars was used as an apothecary in 1746 Inverness.
National Trust for Scotland. Palace daily 11am–5pm until 31 October (last entry 4.15pm), then closed until March; garden and shop Thursday to Monday in winter. Adults £19. KY15 7BY.
Kinloch Rannoch, Highland Perthshire · 86 km from Clava
The country round Loch Rannoch and Kinloch Rannoch is seen behind Claire and Frank on their second honeymoon, in the first episode.
A village at the east end of Loch Rannoch, PH16; the loch roads and paths are free to walk.
Dunkeld, Perthshire · 105 km from Clava
The hotel’s 280 acres of woodland doubled as the North Carolina wilderness.
A working hotel above the River Tay, PH8 0HX; the woods are the hotel’s grounds.
Aberdour, Fife · 165 km from Clava
The castle doubled as the monastery where Claire and Murtagh bring Jamie to recover after the prison; the Old Kitchen and Long Gallery were used.
Historic Environment Scotland. October to March, Saturday to Wednesday 10am–4pm, closed Thursday and Friday and for lunch 12.30–1.30pm. Adults £7.50 online. Five minutes’ walk from Aberdour station. KY3 0SL.
Stay
Cottages at Midhope, and the hotel whose woods held the stones on screen.
Hopetoun Estate, West Lothian
Keepers Cottage and Midhope Cottage, beside the castle that plays Lallybroch, on a private part of the Hopetoun Estate. Each has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study and its own garden, and sleeps up to six; continental breakfast items are included.
Check datesDunkeld, Perthshire
A four-star country house hotel with 100 rooms in 280 acres above the River Tay. Its woods are where the MacKenzies go through the stones. Pictured: the house from the lawn.
Check roomsGo there
One pass for the castles, a guide at Culloden, the Lallybroch mill, and day tours from Edinburgh and Inverness.
Across Scotland · Adults £48
Fourteen consecutive days’ entry to Historic Scotland’s ticketed sites, among them Doune, Blackness, Linlithgow, Aberdour and Craigmillar. Book visits ahead online.
See the passNear Inverness · Adults £16.50 with the tour · £12.50 centre only
The visitor centre and a guided walk on the field, where you can find the Clan Fraser stone.
Plan a visitEast Linton · Until 31 October · adults £11
An hour inside the Lallybroch mill, four times a day, Thursday to Monday. Numbers are capped: book first.
Book a tourFrom Edinburgh
Live marketplace results for coach tours to Midhope, Blackness, Linlithgow and Doune. Check what each includes, especially entry to Midhope’s grounds.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursFrom Inverness
Live marketplace results for half-day trips to the battlefield and the stones.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
Bear McCreary’s score with an orchestra across North America, and costumed characters at Wentworth’s palace.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
Diana Gabaldon’s novels and her companion, and Bear McCreary’s soundtracks.
Diana Gabaldon
The first novel: 1946, a stone circle, 1743.
Find the bookDiana Gabaldon
Her own guide to the first books: synopses, people and the research.
Find the bookDiana Gabaldon
A later novel in the series.
Find the bookBear McCreary · CD, 2015
Bear McCreary’s score for the first season.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyBear McCreary · CD, 2016
France and the Rising.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyBear McCreary · CD, 2018
Ardsmuir and the print shop.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, 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.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
20 of 20 places · 24 of 24 Moments
Castle Hill, Doune, Stirlingshire
Doune plays Castle Leoch, home of Colum MacKenzie and his clan.
Claire and Frank visit the castle in ruins on a day trip.
Culross, Fife
Claire gathers plants for medicine in the herb garden of Castle Leoch.
The Royal Burgh plays Cranesmuir, where Geillis Duncan lives.
Tibbermore, near Perth
Claire and Geillis stand trial in Cranesmuir Church.
The Square and High Street, Falkland, Fife
The Covenanter Hotel becomes Mrs Baird’s guesthouse in Inverness.
The ghost of Jamie looks up at Claire’s room from the Bruce Fountain.
East Port, Falkland, Fife
A palace cellar becomes an apothecary in 1746 Inverness.
Kinloch Rannoch, Highland Perthshire
Loch Rannoch lies behind Claire and Frank on their second honeymoon.
Dunkeld, Perthshire
The MacKenzies disappear through the stones.
Aberdour, Fife
Claire and Murtagh bring Jamie to the monastery to recover.
Hopetoun Estate, near South Queensferry, West Lothian
Midhope is the outside of Lallybroch, the Fraser home.
South Queensferry, West Lothian
Hopetoun House is the home of the Duke of Sandringham.
Blackness, near Linlithgow
Blackness is Black Jack Randall’s headquarters at Fort William.
Linlithgow, West Lothian
Jamie is imprisoned at Wentworth.
East Linton, East Lothian
Jamie goes to repair the mill on the Fraser estate.
Craigmillar, Edinburgh
Jamie is held at Ardsmuir Prison.
Off the Canongate, Edinburgh
Claire finds Jamie at his print shop after years apart.
Balnuaran of Clava, near Inverness
Clava Cairns is one of the two real sites behind Craigh na Dun.
Culloden Moor, near Inverness
Claire and Jamie part on the field before the battle.
Frank and Claire visit the battlefield to research Frank’s family.
Newtonmore, Badenoch
Claire joins the women waulking the cloth.
Glencoe, Lochaber
Glen Coe runs through the opening credits.
Calanais, Isle of Lewis
Calanais is the other real site behind Craigh na Dun.
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