Explore Outlander : Blood of My Blood Filming Locations in Scotland
With Outlander : Blood of My Blood returning for its second season, Scotland is once again taking a starring role.
The Outlander prequel tells the stories of Jamie Fraser’s parents, Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie, alongside the remarkable story of Claire’s parents, Henry Beauchamp and Julia Moriston. While the drama transports viewers into the Scotland of the early 18th century, and the world of the First World War, many of the locations seen on screen are real places you can discover during a visit to Scotland.
Here are some of the Scottish locations that helped bring Blood of My Blood to life.
Doune Castle (Castle Leoch)
One location will be instantly familiar to Outlander fans. Doune Castle, near Stirling, once again provides the exterior of Castle Leoch, ancestral home of Clan MacKenzie and an important setting in the story of Ellen MacKenzie. The magnificent medieval castle previously appeared as Castle Leoch in the original Outlander series.
In real life, Doune is one of Scotland’s best-preserved medieval castles and has an impressive screen CV beyond Outlander, having also appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Game of Thrones. Best of all, this is one filming location that you can actually explore.
Balvaird Castle (Castle Leathers)
Another genuine Scottish castle appearing in Blood of My Blood is Balvaird Castle in Perthshire. The remarkably complete tower house was transformed into Castle Leathers for the series.
Dating principally from around 1500, Balvaird is interesting even without its television connection. Unlike many surviving Scottish tower houses, traces of the buildings and gardens that once surrounded the castle remain, helping visitors imagine what life here might have been like centuries ago. It’s exactly the sort of atmospheric Scottish location that makes Blood of My Blood look so convincing.
Loch Lomond and the Luss Estate
Some of the series’ spectacular outdoor scenes were created on the Luss Estate beside Loch Lomond. Production crews transformed part of the estate into a historic Highland settlement, complete with period buildings, horses, carts and large numbers of extras.
Loch Lomond is already one of Scotland’s most beautiful and accessible destinations, particularly from Glasgow. Its combination of mountains, woodland and water also makes it easy to understand why filmmakers are drawn to the area.
For visitors, a journey around Loch Lomond can therefore combine Blood of My Blood connections with some genuinely magnificent Scottish scenery.
Midhope Castle (Lallybroch)
Perhaps no building is more closely associated with Jamie Fraser than Midhope Castle, better known to Outlander viewers as Lallybroch. The 16th-century tower house on the Hopetoun Estate near Edinburgh returned for Blood of My Blood, appropriately taking viewers farther back into the history of the Fraser family. The building itself is not normally entered by visitors, and access to the surrounding estate can vary, so arrangements should always be checked before making a special journey.
For an Outlander fan, however, simply seeing the exterior of Lallybroch can be a memorable experience.
Glasgow, transformed into another time and place
You may be surprised to discover that some of the streets seen in Blood of My Blood aren’t in the Highlands at all. Parts of Glasgow’s West End, including the elegant Park Circus and Park Gardens area beside Kelvingrove Park, were transformed for filming into First World War-era London.
Glasgow has long been popular with film and television productions because its Victorian and Edwardian architecture can convincingly represent other cities and periods. It’s another reminder that Blood of My Blood isn’t only showcasing Scotland’s castles and mountains – Scotland’s cities are part of the production too.
Culross and other Scottish locations
Filming for the series took place across central Scotland, with production activity also reported around Culross, Dunfermline, Comrie, Stirling, Perthshire and Strathallan. Culross in Fife will already be familiar to Outlander devotees. Its beautifully preserved historic streets and buildings previously helped create the fictional village of Cranesmuir in the original series.
It is one of our favourite places to include on an Outlander-inspired journey because you don’t need to be a fan of the programme to appreciate it. Culross is a fascinating historic Scottish village in its own right.
Visit the Scotland behind Blood of My Blood
Part of the magic of Outlander and Blood of My Blood is that so much of the Scotland you see on screen really exists. The castles have genuine stories of their own. The lochs and mountains are every bit as dramatic without a film crew present. And many of the villages and historic locations are places you can walk through for yourself.
At Aura Tours Scotland, we can create a private Outlander and Blood of My Blood-inspired tour, incorporating filming locations alongside the real history, landscapes and stories of Scotland. So when the credits roll on Blood of My Blood, you don’t necessarily have to leave its world behind.
You can come to Scotland and find it for yourself.
