The Land of Outlander!

Yep!  It’s Lallybroch Castle...the home of Jamie Fraser and the Fraser Clan!  This is the castle they used for a set in the TV series, Outlander.  I can almost see the horses and wagons going up the road, through the archway and into the courtyard.  Today it’s a lonely, big building.  The only trace of the film crew and set designer is repair made to the steps up to the main door.  

Our day begins with a short two block walk from our hotel to the Highlander Explorer Tour Office on the Royal Mile.  We check in and are assigned bus #6.  At 8:30 promptly, our bright yellow bus rounds the corner, and out bounces Catlain, our driver and guide for the next 9 hours.  First stop is Castle Doune Leoch out in the Scottish countryside.  

The audio tour the castle offers is fabulous and the hour we have here is barely enough, partly because I lose Steve, who goes up a tower staircase to the left as I am looking right.  

Then we are off to Culross Crainsmuir, a beautiful little village.  For the filming many of the houses are painted white...and then returned to their original color, of course.  The gardens and winding paths and streets are magical.

The scones from the Biscuit Cafe are fabulous!  

Climbing up the stone paths provides amazing views of the homes and shops below.  

Here’s Mercat Cross which is a place in the center of the village where a Town Crier would proclaim the news of the day.  These places are present in the villages and took the place of modern day newspapers...or...the internet!  Here you learn what was happening and if someone is to be punished for a crime, that is announced as well.  Sometimes the punishment takes place here, so all can clearly see what happens if a bad choice is made.







Our next stop is the village used for some of the early Outlander scenes, when Claire and her husband, Frank, tour Scotland for a vacation.  For those of you who know the story, this is when Claire touches the “Standing Stones” and is magically transported back two hundred years and dropped into the life and times of the Jacobite uprising as Scotland is trying to become independent from England.  

Here’s the hotel used for their overnight stay.  I see no sign of them!

Look who is looking at us!  It’s “Shaun the Sheep”....from one of my favorite animated (claymation) short films!  You never know who might be watching!

In the Cottage Craft Centre, (translation: Gift Shop) the shop keeper has a scrapbook of Outlander photos and many tales.  

He kept the door the set designer built for his shop, and looks forward to yet another episode being shot there and reinstalling the door.

We have time for a short lunch here, and then it’s off to the seaside village where the scenes of Claire and Jamie heading to France were staged.  All the buildings that filled the cliff side for the filming...are...gone.  As you see, it’s low tide.  LOW.  TIDE.

Another good drive in the yellow bus and we arrive at our last stop, Lallybroch Castle, home of the Fraser Clan.  

The woods near the road entrance are the set for the beginning of Season 3, when Jamie is hiding out after surviving the Battle of Culloden.  

Now watching this season at home, it all seems so familiar!

Here’s Steve getting a feel for  Jamie’s cave hideout.  Today we find no one taking refuge here.



And...one more photo of the woods and stream where horses crossed, young Scots were chased by Redcoats as they ran along the bank...and yes, I believe, where one particularly nasty British soldier was drowned.  

One last photo of Lallybroch as we get ready to head back to Edinburgh.  

This turns into a really great day!  Our guide, Catlain, is an excellent story teller, well versed in Scottish history and of course very familiar with the Outlander series.  She has stories to tell as we drive from place to place, and she adds many songs and pieces of music that speak of those days in Scotland.  She is an excellent professional guide who has a university degree in tourism.  How I wish I had a history teacher like this young woman, when I was in school.  As it turns out, many of the songs she incorporates into her tour we have just learned to play on the ukulele, so it is even more meaningful.  

I never thought much about Scottish history before this trip.  What a rich experience!

A wonderful way to spend our last day in Scotland!