Where Will Outlander 2026 Shoot Its Scotland Scenes?

If you love 'Outlander' and want to follow where 'Sam Heughan' and the crew shoot around Scotland, you've got a treasure map of beautiful spots. The most iconic is Doune Castle — that's Castle Leoch on the show — and it's classic medieval stone that fans queue to photograph. Midhope Castle, the ruin you see as Lallybroch, sits near South Queensferry and feels exactly like Jamie's home in the books. Culross is the postcard-perfect village used for 18th-century scenes and small-town exteriors; walking its cobbled streets gives the same vibe you see onscreen. Beyond those big hitters the production moves all over: Blackness Castle and Hopetoun House have both popped up, and the team regularly uses studio space near Glasgow for interiors. For the sweeping Highland landscapes expect shoots around places like Glen Coe, Loch Lomond and the areas north of Inverness — those open moors and lochs are staples. There are also occasional shoots around Falkland and other Fife villages that stand in for period towns. If you plan a pilgrimage, check official tours and local notices because many spots are on private land or involve fragile environments. I loved standing where a scene was filmed and feeling the real chill of the Highlands; it's a little magic seeing fiction and landscape collide.

I can't stop grinning thinking about all the Scottish spots that keep turning up for 'Outlander' shoots — the production keeps going back to the Highlands and lowlands like it's a love letter to Scotland. From what I've followed, principal photography for the 2025 cycle leaned heavily on classic locations: the rolling glens and dramatic peaks around Glencoe and the Cairngorms, iconic castles such as Doune and Blackness, the picturesque village streets of Culross, and fan-favorite Midhope Castle (the real-world Lallybroch). You also see stately homes like Hopetoun House standing in for grand interiors, plus coastal stretches and river sites around Loch Lomond and the Firth of Forth for seafaring scenes. They haven’t limited themselves to Scotland — some studio work and tropical sequences have historically been handled far from the Highlands, and past seasons used South African studios and locations for colonial/Jamaica-type scenes. For the 2025 shoots there were reports of a mix of on-location filming across Scotland combined with soundstage work to handle complex interiors and VFX-heavy moments. As for the release date, the network had not pinned an exact day by the last updates I read, but the window most fans are whispering about is mid-2025 once post-production wraps. Honestly, just picturing those landscapes again gives me chills — I’m already planning my next rewatch.

I get a little giddy thinking about all the places they’ll use this season — Scotland is basically a character in 'Outlander' at this point. Production will be centered around Glasgow for logistics and studio work, with Wardpark Studios in Cumbernauld handling most of the interior sets and controlled scenes. That’s where the heavy lifting happens: period rooms, stunt rehearsals, and hair-and-makeup setups that would be impossible to stage on a windy moor. For exteriors they’re back out in the Highlands and Central Belt. Expect familiar spots like Doune Castle (Castle Leoch), Midhope Castle (Lallybroch), and the preserved village of Culross to pop up again alongside Blackness Castle and Hopetoun House. They’ll also scout around the Highlands and Lochs for sweeping landscapes and battlefield sequences, and a few smaller towns will double for 18th- and 20th-century locations. As a fan who’s chased down a few filming days, I can already picture the tents, the crew, and the buzz in each village — it’s always a mixture of organized chaos and magic, and I’m hyped to see how they frame those vistas this season.

Pinpointing a few hotels around Fort William that hosted cast and crew from 'Outlander' is kind of a nostalgic treasure hunt for me. Inverlochy Castle Hotel often comes up in conversations and write-ups — it's just a few miles from Fort William and has that old-world luxury that productions love for comfort and privacy. The Ben Nevis Hotel & Leisure Club in the town itself is another place people mention; it's practical, central, and big enough to handle a whole unit turning up between takes. Beyond those two, I’ve read about smaller local guesthouses and inns being used, especially when shoots were based around Glenfinnan and Glencoe. The Glenfinnan House Hotel and various B&Bs near the viaduct have welcomed actors and extras when sequences were filmed nearby. Even Ballachulish and Kingshouse area hotels get play as crew bases because of their proximity to iconic landscapes. If you’re planning to visit, think about the vibe you want: lavish hideaway at Inverlochy, straightforward convenience at Ben Nevis, or cozy, scenic stays closer to filming spots. I love picturing the cast winding down in those lounges after a long day under Scottish skies.

I still get a thrill thinking about how Scotland wears so many faces on 'Outlander' — season 6 leaned hard into that, blending old castles, quiet villages, and studio sets across the country. A lot of the recognizable exterior locations people chase down are the usual suspects: Doune Castle shows up as Castle Leoch again, Midhope Castle (that tiny, perfect ruin) is still Lallybroch, and Culross returns as Cranesmuir with its perfectly preserved 17th-century streets. Blackness Castle also pops up for darker, fortress-y scenes. Beyond those landmarks, the crew used stretches of the Trossachs and parts of Stirling and the surrounding lowlands to stand in for varied outdoor landscapes, especially when the story needed that rugged, windswept look. What blew me away was how much the production mixes on-location shooting with studio work—Glasgow served as a major production hub, where interior scenes and sets for some of the more intimate, domestic moments were built. That’s how they convincingly recreate 18th-century colonial America on Scottish soil: exterior vistas and period villages outside, then detailed interior sets under roof. Hopetoun House and other stately homes around West Lothian and Midlothian have also been used in recent seasons, so you’ll spot elegant manor-room vibes that translate to the Fraser-Ridge and estate scenes. If you want to visit, plan your stops: Doune and Culross are super tourist-friendly, Midhope is on private land (so stick to the public viewpoints), and castles often have seasonal opening hours. I love how season 6 felt both grand and painfully intimate because the locations supported every mood — I walked some of these routes and still got goosebumps.

My eyes light up just thinking about the cameras rolling across Scotland again — for 2025 the crew behind 'Outlander' is expected to keep filming primarily in Scotland. The show has always leaned heavily on Scottish locations to sell both the Highlands and older European settlements, and season seven follows that pattern. Expect to see a mix of studio work near the Glasgow area paired with on-location shoots at familiar spots like Midhope (Lallybroch), Doune Castle (Castle Leoch), Culross (for village scenes), and various Highland glens for Fraser's Ridge exteriors. Production normally uses a nearby studio base for interior sets and period rooms, with location crews fanning out across Stirling, Falkirk, Aberdeenshire, and bits of the Central Belt. Scotland’s landscapes double for a surprising range of time periods, so even the American-set sequences often get filmed on Scottish soil with clever set dressing. Personally, the idea of seeing those rolling moors and ruined castles on screen again in 2025 gets me planning a road trip — the scenery is half the character for me.

I get giddy thinking about how many blockbuster moments from 'Outlander' were actually filmed up in the Highlands — the scenery almost becomes a character itself. The iconic stone circle, the show’s version of 'Craigh na Dun', was filmed at Clava Cairns just outside Inverness; standing among those old stones you can practically replay Claire’s first jumps in your head. The tragic Culloden scenes were shot on Culloden Moor (the real Culloden Battlefield), and the visitor centre even points out where certain shots were taken. Beyond those two big anchors, the production used several spectacular glens and lochs: Glen Coe and Glen Etive provide the sweeping mountain and river vistas you see in travel and wilderness sequences, while the Cairngorms and Loch Laggan area (including Ardverikie Estate) supplied the grand estate backdrops and moody loch-side panoramas. Visiting these spots, I kept recognizing little visual cues from the show — a stone wall, a bend in a river — and it added this delicious layer of reality to the fiction. Standing on the moor, you feel the weight of history and TV magic at once, which is exactly why I keep going back.

I've tracked the shooting spots for 'Outlander' like a stamp collector — it's become a little obsession of mine. If season 10 returns to Scotland in the same spirit, expect the production to revisit the classics: Doune Castle (the show's go-to for castle exteriors), Midhope Castle for Lallybroch, and Culross for those perfectly preserved 18th-century streets. They love hopping between Stirling, Fife, and the Lothians because those places have ready-made period-friendly towns and estates. Beyond the regulars, I’d bet on scenic sweeps through Glencoe, Loch Lomond, and maybe the Isle of Skye for those sweeping Highland panoramas. The crew often sets up near Edinburgh or Glasgow for base operations, then dispatches units to Hopetoun House, Blackness Castle, and Aberdeenshire locations. It’s a practical mix of historic architecture and dramatic landscapes that the show leans on heavily. I can already picture the transport convoys rolling down narrow lanes and the crew scouting vantage points at dawn. It makes me excited to think about the way familiar spots will be framed in new scenes.

Walking around Doune Castle felt like stepping into 'Outlander' itself. For the 2022 shoots and the big Scottish sequences, most of the heavy lifting was done on location across central Scotland and the Highlands. The production kept returning to familiar anchors: Doune Castle (the iconic Castle Leoch), Midhope Castle near South Queensferry (the beloved Lallybroch), and the picturesque village of Culross which doubles as period towns. Those spots are sprinkled around Stirling, West Lothian and Fife, so you get that distinct lowland-to-highland hop that the show loves. Beyond the castles and villages, the series leans on dramatic landscape locations — Glencoe, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs region for sweeping Highland vistas. Interiors and tightly controlled scenes often moved into studios and grand houses around Edinburgh and Glasgow, like Hopetoun House and nearby studio spaces, so the production could mix real exteriors with polished indoor sets. I loved tracking these places on a trip; they stitch together so well on screen that you feel the history underfoot.

Chasing 'Outlander' locations has become my favorite Scotland hobby — I find the mix of rugged landscapes and preserved towns endlessly photogenic. If you’re asking about seven places where scenes from 'Outlander' were filmed in Scotland, here’s a list I keep coming back to when planning trips. Doune Castle is the one everyone recognizes: it plays Castle Leoch and you can walk the courtyard and imagine clan gatherings. Midhope Castle, the ruined but atmospheric house near the village of South Queensferry, is Lallybroch — fans love snapping shots framed through the old stone. Culross, a wonderfully preserved 17th/18th-century village, doubled for several small-town scenes and the 20th-century village sequences; its narrow streets scream period drama. Blackness Castle on the Forth has been used as a grim fortress backdrop in multiple episodes; it’s such a moody spot for exterior shots. For big landscapes, Glen Coe and Glen Etive provide the sweeping highland vistas — most of the riding, wandering, and dramatic outdoor moments were captured in valleys like these. Hopetoun House (near South Queensferry) stands in for grander house interiors/exteriors — think stately rooms and carriage drives. Lastly, the pretty town of Falkland and nearby locations sometimes stand in for smaller villages and period streets. I always try to time visits early in the morning for fewer tourists and better light. It feels surreal standing where scenes were filmed — I get a nostalgic buzz every time.