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In search of Jamie Fraser

My wife is a huge Outlander fan and so our trip to Scotland won't be complete without an Outlander tour as she searches for her TV boyfriend. I've found a lot of Outlander tours from 1 day to several days. Has anyone been on any? Is an organized 1 day tour enough? We're trying to put a 2 week itinerary together for next June. Our preliminary plan right now is to base ourselves in Edinburgh for roughly a week and possibly make day trips from there via tours, bus and train. The plan for the 2nd week is to rent a car. The only must-see with the car in our preliminary plan is 1 or 2 nights on Mull. Where to go in Highlands is still to be determined and so we could visit some Outlander sites this way as well.

Posted by
4535 posts

I don't have much to offer in recommendations, but let your wife know that if she does find Jamie, my wife claims first dibs.

A visit to Inverness and Culloden would seem worthwhile. The territory along Loch Ness is supposed to be beautiful and filled with castles. That's an easy drive northeast from Mull.

Posted by
4022 posts

but let your wife know that if she does find Jamie, my wife claims
first dibs.

Rock, paper, scissors?

Posted by
5678 posts

So, I don't know about official tours, but I do know that it's easy to get to Doune Castle. It's near Stirling and you get a double when you visit Doune. This is also where Monty Python filmed some of Holy Grail. Also, there are lots of stone circles in Scotland. But conveniently, Clava Cairns near Culloden Field has one split stones that is featured in Outlander.

Finally, VisitScotland conveniently gives you a map.

Pam

Posted by
82 posts

My niece recently took an Outlander tour and loved it. Her pics on Facebook were wonderful. The tour was through either Brendan Tours or Trafalgar Tours. Their websites might give you an idea of the itinerary as a startling point for organizing your own trip.

Posted by
114 posts

We found not all sites utilised in the series are close enough to visit in one easy tour. We did the Rabbies tours. I highly recommend Rabbies.
We like this company because the tour sizes are small and if the weather gets rough (we once encountered snow in early November- - - thankfully had a great driver) you can count on them informing you of rescheduling options. Not all companies do that.
See as example, this tour views two sites, Doane Castle which was interesting and fun and Loch Lomand, where many outdoor scenes were filmed: https://www.rabbies.com/en/scotland-tours/from-edinburgh/day-tours/west-highland-lochs-castles-day-tour .

Perhaps supplement by renting a car for other sites?

There also are some private guides you can hire.

Some sites can be muddy or challenging to access so do your site research depending upon time of year.

Have fun! Hope this helps.

Posted by
23 posts

What a great husband you are!! Being an Outlander fan myself, and having inflicted the show upon my husband (who not so secretly enjoys it!) I really got a kick out of your post. That being said, Rabbies just posted about spots you can visit around Edinburgh where that features places used in the show https://www.rabbies.com/en/blog/where-are-best-outlander-locations-edinburgh?fbclid=IwAR0X7cpWfdr9kWeErduTzzERqQfMS5pESX3ztz8Mz7Twt6pkIzTS9MglnwM Your trip sounds like it's going to be great, but we go in 20 days and if I find Jamie Fraser first, he's mine :)

Posted by
360 posts

Agree on Doune Castle, where they filmed much of season 1 and some of season 2. They also have a few times during the visit where they have an Outlander add-on that explains how they used the grounds during filming (it's so much smaller in person than you realize).

As much as I love Outlander -- and it's what inspired me to push Scotland to the top of our list -- part of it's enjoying the country's beautiful sites, so I would hesitate to spend more time in some of the more random locations to see where a couple of scenes were filmed at the expense of seeing more of this awesome country (and understanding this country more and why it was worth fighting for). One other area I'd suggest is Glencoe Valley and near the Three Sisters hills, which is wear the opening of the pilot is, so you're killing two birds with amazing scenery and the show.

Posted by
1 posts

My wife and I enjoyed a private tour out of Inverness/Culloden hosted by Hugh Allison. Hugh is eminently qualified from his time as curator of Culloden Battlefield, and his work with the Outlander series author Diana Gaboldon. Hugh has authored several books based in the area, especially his creative work "Culloden Tales." We visited historical sites associated with the books as well as areas where selected scenes were filmed. We gained a thorough understanding of the fascinating, tragic, and triumphant history of the area, and his expertise helped put the books in context.
This was a wonderful tour for us and I highly recommend it. Hugh himself, with his good humor and the way he fits into his kilt would give Jamie stiff competition for the lassies!

Hugh's tours are customizable, and can be private or group tours.