Castle Country

From impossibly romantic ruins perched on the sides of lochs to mighty medieval fortresses overlooking modern cities, the castles of Scotland are a reminder of the nation’s fascinating and often brutal history. There are hundreds of castles around the country, and today they are among Scotland’s top tourist attractions.  

 

The north-east of Scotland is known as castle country and home to some of the most dramatic examples, including 12th-century Dunnottar Castle, which director Franco Zeffirelli used as a location for his film of ‘Hamlet’, and Balmoral, the Queen’s splendid Highland home in Aberdeenshire which was built in 1855. And legend has it that Glamis Castle, the birthplace of the late Queen Mother, was the setting for Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’. There are a host of specialist companies which will organize castle tours, often tied with visits to whisky distilleries and other attractions.