11.10.2016 Blackness Castle - Culross - Stirling Castle

Today morning, grandma jumps around in the motorhome at 7:30 a.m. and mercilessly impresses us with a ready-made breakfast. Because of this, we are already on the road early, although with a yawning granddaughter.

Today, we have some Outlander locations on our list, which are also worth seeing without the series.

After only 30 minutes, we reach Blackness Castle. This is also included in the Historic Scotland Pass and it is really interesting. Not only for Outlander fans (but especially for them, as it has become known as 'Fort William' in the series). As a little special feature, the steward of the castle is currently playing the bagpipes in the courtyard. Sounds impressive!

Blackness Castle was a kind of prison for wealthy and influential people who had fallen out of favor with the king. The most famous inmate was an archbishop who tried to become regent for Mary Stewart, but lost against another archbishop and was banished to Blackness Castle.

After Blackness Castle, we continue to Culross. This is a small medieval town on the Fife peninsula. In Outlander, it is the residence of Geillis Duncan, a friend of the main character Claire. It is also the scene of some eerie events, such as a boy who gets his ear nailed to the pillory when caught stealing, and a witch burning.

Culross is tiny, but very pretty and worth seeing. There is only one café and one shop there, and a 'Palace' that belongs to the National Trust, but unfortunately was closed. We had a nice chat with the shop owner. She told us that she has Outlander fans in her shop every day, and the number of visitors has increased enormously since the series started.

Afterwards, we go to Stirling Castle to conclude our sightseeing marathon of the day. On the way there, we pass by the Kelpies and Valentina even manages to take a good snapshot from the highway.

The castle was built by James V (the father of Mary Stewart), but he died before it was completed. Mary spent the first 5 years of her life there with her mother, Queen Mary de Guise, before being taken to France, where she grew up. Stirling is an impressive castle.

Our campsite today is not far from Doune Castle. That will be our last castle from 'Historic Scotland' before we head into nature towards Loch Rannoch. I'm afraid the internet connection will be rather difficult there, as it is really at the end of the world, but we'll see.