Detour #219: The Outlander Trail, Scotland, UK

Fans of the time-travelling TV series Outlander can discover the show’s stunning locations in a single highland fling.

The landscape feels like it’s brimming with spirits.

To my left are hotchpotch stone walls and fences bumping their way over pastureland. In my mind, I can see tired farmers in their long coats, herding sheep that are munching on wind-blown grass. The pastureland’s flatness is excruciatingly apparent as a tsunami of hills dominates its rear. Actually, hills isn’t a good enough word to describe their height and weathered mien. It would be more accurate to say the mountains look like waves of volcanic, green rock formed from forceful collisions 430 million years ago. Again, I imagine Ice Age warriors or mighty clansmen battling the elements for survival.

Before long, the A702 has mountains giving way to layers of medieval buildings, crowned by lofty towers and the impressive battery of Edinburgh Castle sitting atop an extinct volcano.

Right on cue, a haunting skirl from a nearby bagpipe permeates the car. It’s undoubtedly synonymous with Scotland, but for me, the opening credits of Outlander, titled The Skye Boat Song, begin to play in my ear. I’m soon singing the words, ‘Sing me a song of a lass that is gone, say could that lass be I?’

My previous wool-watching and the bagpipes are an appropriate start to my roughly 375-mile Outlander-themed road trip. I leave the car searching for Bakehouse Close, one of the best examples of a historic close in Edinburgh and the location where Claire and Jamie reunite after 20 years. I head west on the A90 before detouring onto A904; mountains and city dwellings fall away; traffic becomes non-existent; and roads become single-track, tree-lined avenues directing to Midhope Castle – Jamie Fraser’s beloved Lallybroch!!

I continue along similar roads to Blackness Castle (Outlander’s Fort William), a 15th-century fortress known as ‘the ship that never sailed’ due to its boat-like semblance. I pass anchored sailing boats and come face-to-face with Blackness Bay, where a bitter wind propels me onto Linlithgow Palace. Another body of water – Linlithgow Loch – and the A803 bring me to Outlander’s Wentworth Prison.

But the weather has me continuing quickly along the M9/A84/A85, making my way to the Scottish Highlands. Sweeping roads wind through amphitheatre-like glens partly covered with falling rocks and crevices where gushing waterfalls run at breakneck speed toward the A82, leading to Glencoe – featured in Outlander’s opening credits. In most places, miles of open land make drivers feel small and inconsequential. At other spots, clusters of trees give way to serene lochs painted with shimmering peak-like shapes.

I again feel a ghostly presence in Glencoe, especially looking towards the wild, lonely terrain that witnessed the Massacre of Glencoe. Here, members of Clan MacDonald were killed by the Scottish government, and I sense these tortured souls still linger, establishing a desolate atmosphere.

This sad story matches the rest of my journey north along A82; dramatic landscapes ebb away, leaving the glistening shores of Loch Ness and eventually a rugged and exposed moorland; in the centre is Culloden Battlefield. Its headstones mark the graves of clansmen who died defending the Jacobite cause to restore the Stuart monarchy. The Clan Fraser headstone is particularly upsetting; as any Outlander fans know, Jamie Fraser fought here, almost dying and losing many loved ones.

As the sky darkens, I leave, following the A9, increasing the distance between myself and the dead. My goal is Falkland – Outlander’s substitute for Inverness. Its picturesque buildings, whitewashed cottages and grand palace perk me right up, as do the lanes I pass driving A912/A92 leading to Culross.

I find the ochre-coloured palace (Claire’s herb garden at Castle Leoch) alongside cobblestone streets and the River Forth. Its quiet charm and fairy-tale-like aesthetic put me straight into the pages of Outlander’s first book, which I open to the sound of a nearby bell.

Words & Photography Jade Braham Twitter | Instagram

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ROADBOOK

CLASS:HIGHLAND FLING

NAME: tHE outlander trail

ROUTE: Edinburgh to Culross

COUNTRY: scotland

Distance: 390 Miles

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