My husband Tim and I are on vacation! We spent the past week in the beautiful country of Scotland (specifically seeing Outlander sites 😃), a place we’d love to return to in the future for sure. In fact we are already planning a bit of that trip. Hahaha!
We left Minnesota on a red-eye flight Saturday, May 13 and landed in London Sunday morning.

The goal then was to stay awake as long as possible. So that’s what we did.
5/14/23 Sunday
We eventually found our way to our hotel near the airport, dropped off our bags since it was early morning, had an English breakfast in the hotel and then made our way using the tube (London’s underground train) to Green Park so we could see some sites. We followed the crowd that led us to Buckingham Palace where we witnessed “the changing of the guard.”

We were lucky to be right on time. We followed the crowd and the guard down The Mall, the road that leads from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square. It was regal and formal and amazing to watch.

We explored Trafalgar Square here for a while. We then headed to Westminster and saw Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster, and Westminster Abbey.


On our way back we stopped for a late lunch and then took the Tube back to our hotel, resting our eyes quite a bit on the way. We were exhausted but we kept pushing ourselves. We checked in, unpacked, and fell asleep quickly.
5/15/23 Monday
We got up early the next morning for our flight to Edinburgh, Scotland and made it to the gate just in time. Here we met up with Sherry Roth and her mom Donna – two of the four others joining us on our special Outlander Tour for the next several days.

We all landed in Edinburgh and took the tram to the center of town, and walked several blocks with our luggage to our hotel where we dropped off our bags and took off to explore the city.

We explored the Royal Mile, seeking out Outlander locations. Our first stop was Bakehouse Close where the stairs to Jamie’s print shop was located.

Then it was on to Tweedale Court where Claire’s reunion with Fergus took place. We stopped for lunch, explored the shops (like this place where they make fudge),…

and saw Edinburgh Castle, St. Giles cathedral,…

and the Signet Library where they shot the Governor’s mansion in Jamaica. We took a tour of the Palace of Holyroodhouse…


and then met up with Jennifer Hill and her husband David who would also take part on our Outlander 4-day tour, and the six of us had dinner and drinks to end the day.
5/16/23 Tuesday
Our 4-day tour began, and our tour guide James from Braw Tours picked us up at 9:00 AM and we were off!

We headed to Craigmillar Castle (Ardsmuir Prison in the TV series). The scenery was pretty and we explored every part of the old castle.

We took a side trip to Hopetoun House (the residence of Lord Sandringham). It was closed for event preparations, but James got us through the front gate and even around back so we could get photos of the beautiful place.

Then we headed to Blackness Castle which doubles as Fort William. Again, we were able to explore the entire castle.

We took a bonus side trip to see the Kelpies, gigantic horsehead structures made out of metal.

We then drove to Culross Village which doubles as Cranesmuir. The streets were quite narrow. James did some impressive driving! We saw where Jamie saves a boy who was being punished for stealing, and the window of Geillis Duncan’s home.

We also ate lunch at the Red Lion Inn. Our last stop was Linlithgow Palace (the location of Wentworth Prison).

5/17/23 Wednesday
The next morning we loaded the van with our luggage…

and headed off for the second day of our tour. Our first stop was Midhope Castle (Lallybroch).

The inside of Midhope is in ruins and in the process of being restored. But we were able to peek inside the windows. We took many photos at this location. It was one of my favorite stops!

Other scenes of the TV series were filmed at the wooded path nearby – Fergus running from the Redcoats and Ian finishing off Horrocks when Jamie was trying to get the man and his friends off his property.

Besides the regular tourists, there were people there in period attire from the group called The Sons of Scotland. They were there with a couple that had just done a handfasting ceremony. Everyone was kind enough to take a photo with our group!

We then continued on the tour and drove to Falkland. This is the city that replicates Inverness back in the 1940s in Outlander. Just like the city of Culross, the buildings were painted for the times and then repainted after filming was completed. We recognized the fountain in the center of the town, and Mrs. Baird’s hotel which is called the Covenanter Hotel in real life.

We also were able to take photos of the shop that Claire stood outside of in the first scene of the series, when she was longing for a vase. It’s a gift shop but unfortunately was closed for the day with a sign on the door that read, “We’re closed every Wednesday until we’re not.”

Next we toured the nearby Falkland Palace. The kitchen downstairs was where they filmed Castle Leoch’s apothecary. but it seemed very small.

After our tour, and a bit of shopping in the gift shop, we went back to the Covenanter Hotel…

and had a wonderful lunch.

We then drove to the Highland Folk Museum. Here we saw the thatched roof buildings representing the poorest Highlander homes from the 1700s. These homes were in the episode where Dougal collects rent, and Claire helps to make the colored cloth.

Two items used by filming crew were still there: a stool that Jamie sat on, and some items hanging from a tripod over a fire shown here by James.


We also saw Highland cows and sheep up close.


Our last stop was Clava Cairns where we saw some real standing stones and large cairns which are burial mounds. Standing stones still mystify historians, but in Outlander these are the places that allow time travel.

We arrived at our Airbnb in Inverness around seven and made it to our dinner reservations at the Mustard Seed. The food was wonderful! And it was a very comfortable, warm setting.

Thursday May 18th 2023
Thanks to Jennifer, who went out and got eggs this morning and added in her pastries she picked up the day before, we had breakfast at our Airbnb.
Our third day of the tour started with Culloden Battlefield.

After the guided tour, we walked the loop ourselves and took photos of the gravestone markers and paid our respects.

James then drove us to the Culloden House (a hotel) where Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed prior to the battle. We weren’t supposed to drive onto the property if we weren’t guests, but we did and took pics of it from the outside (shhh).

We then went to Loch Ness. It was cloudy, windy and chilly, but we went down to the water’s edge, took photos, stacked a few stones, and touched the water.


We ate lunch near the Loch Ness gift shop then set off for Urquhart Castle which was once one of Scotland’s largest castles. Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle were not in the TV series but were mentioned in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander novels.

We also visited Beauly Priory (where Claire meets and speaks to Lord Lovat’s seer, Maisri)…

and sneeked onto the property to see the outside of Castle Leod in Stratpeffer, which was the inspiration for Castle Leoch.

After returning to our Airbnb we set off to find a place to eat for dinner. It was a struggle because our group was large and places wanted reservations. We ended up splitting into two groups: three of us went to the grocery store and ate at the Airbnb, and three of us ate at Hootenanny. We had to finish our laundry, and pack as this was our last night in Inverness.
Friday, May 19th 2023
Our last and fourth day of the tour started out with breakfast at a restaurant that reminded us of a casino. The food was cheap and quick. We packed our suitcases into the van, checked out of the Airbnb, and took off to Cairngorms National Park. Here we took a train up the mountain to see a beautiful view of the Highlands.

Our second step was Tibbermore Church which doubles as Crainsmuir’s church, the scene for the witch trials of Claire and Geillis. It looked just like it did on TV!

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant and greenhouse/gift shop nearby called Gloagburn. We were seated at an outdoor “hut” that protected us from the wind and sun while we enjoyed our meals.

We ate quickly and then headed to Drummond Castle to see the beautiful gardens which doubled as the King’s garden at Versailles in France on the show. The drive in was long and under a canopy of trees the whole way… beautiful!

We took several photos here as this was one of our absolute favorite places on the tour.


Our last stop of the day (after capturing photos of more cows and lambs)…


was a visit to Doune Castle which was the backdrop for the show’s Castle Leoch. It wasn’t open to the public, but we were happy just to see the outside.

James drove us back to Edinburgh and dropped us off at our hotels near the airport. It was sad to say goodbye because it was like saying goodbye to a friend. He really was amazing, and we were grateful for all he did to make it a wonderful Outlander Tour experience. (A side note… he stepped in last minute because our original tour guide had to cancel the week before because of a family emergency. We were in a bit of a panic the week prior to flying, but it all came out great for us in the end.)
We will miss this beautiful country.

Yesterday marked the start of the second half of our European vacation – Stampin’ Up!’s incentive trip*, a Norwegian Cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas!! I’ll share more from that in about a week or so.
* Earning the incentive trip is something very few Stampin’ Up! demonstrators achieve—less than 1%, in fact! I’m so excited to be among the 305 attending spending the next week in Norway celebrating this extremely rare accomplishment.

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That is so interesting Rachel. I have been to Edinburgh before so it is nice to revisit familar sights, but the grand houses, ruins etc you saw on your tour were wonderful.
How fun that you were able to visit Edinburgh as well, Rachel!
I’m glad you enjoyed what I shared.
Great pictures Rachel – looks like you had an amazing time with beautiful scenery. Thanks for sharing–it was fun to go along on the adventure (even if virtually).
Thank you so much Betty! 😊
Wonderfull photos.
I am a huge fan of the Outlander-series too and how great that you could visit all those places.
Have a lovelyl SU-Norway cruise.
Thank you Carla! And a high five to a fellow Outlander fan. 🙌
Super cool pictures. Look like an amazing trip! And in June the new Outlander season starts!!
Thanks Janeen! Yes…looking forward to watching the new series!
Love your photos and tour of Scotland. I’m a big fan of Outlander and hopefully one day I’ll go there. I really like the idea of someone taking you around and seeing all the sites.
A tour guide was most important to us. Thanks Vicki!
FAbulous photos and description of your adventure. Thank you so much for sharing your vacay with the rest of us, it took a long time for you to narrate your fun times for the rest of us. I too am an Outlander fan, read all the books. Have fun in Norway, can’t wait to see your photos.
Thanks Rose! Tim helped me to journal each night. That way I just needed to copy and paste and add the photos. He is such a sweetie.
Thank you for journaling your vacation. We love the Outlander series. You took amazing pictures and I know you all had a wonderful time. I would only be able to visit through your vision. Thank you again for sharing.
Aww…thanks so much Sandra. I’m glad you enjoyed this post.
I love reading all about the trip so far. My facebook feed is full of fun and pictures from the trip. I am going to have to step it up a notch to get out of the 99%. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Patience. Yes, my Facebook and Instagram feeds are filled as well. It’s fun for me to see the pics of what everyone else is sharing to see what they are experiencing, too.
Rachel, Thanks so much for sharing your lovely photos! I felt like I was there! So glad you had such a wonderful time! Thanks!
Aww…thank you Cherie.
Loved all the photos and descriptions as I love Outlander. I actually have ancestors from the Highlands. Such a beautiful place. Thanks for sharing with us.
Glad you enjoyed what I shared Terry. Have you been to Scotland then?
So impressive! Wow! What a wonderful trip. So happy for you. Safe travels!
Thanks so very much Phyllis!
I live near Edinboro PA a sister city to Edinburgh Scotland and graduated from Edinboro College. We were the fighting, Scots. Unfortunately, we don’t have any castles here. Looks like you had wonderful weather and good company to share your adventures with. Hope the rest of your trip is as wonderful. Smooth sailing.
Scotland is amazing! What a rich history, too.
Hello Rachel, I was always in the UK but never in Scotland and Ireland. So thank you very much for visiting it in my place!!!!!! and you have weldone to share all the pictures with me and us all together!
Take it easy ….. to take your ‘work’ again!
Glad you enjoyed what I shared Thérèse. Hopefully you can visit Scotland and Ireland someday soon!
Looks like an amazing trip, thank you for sharing:)
Thanks Rachael. 😊