VisitScotland launches online guide to locations. The map and accompanying travellers’ itinerary, which will go live at visitscotland.com/outlander from midnight tonight, form part of a wider VisitScotland marketing campaign entitled Scotland: The Land That Inspired Outlander.
To coincide with the US network premiere of Outlander on Saturday 9 August, fans of the bestselling books can now follow in the footsteps of Jamie and Claire with a new interactive VisitScotland map.
The online guide highlights real locations featured in Diana Gabaldon’s first two Outlander novels as well as numerous visitor attractions and historical sites that have a strong connection to the Scotland-set literary phenomenon.
The map and accompanying travellers’ itinerary, which will go live at visitscotland.com/outlander from midnight tonight, form part of a wider VisitScotland marketing campaign entitled Scotland: The Land That Inspired Outlander.
Among the locations featured on the map are the Palace of Holyrood House and the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, where protagonists Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser meet with Bonnie Prince Charlie; Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness, where the characters go in search of the loch’s most famous resident; and Fort William, which also plays a key role in Gabaldon’s novels.
In addition, the VisitScotland itinerary features attractions such as Culloden Battlefield, the Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore, and the Clava Cairns standing stones near Inverness, believed to be the inspiration for the fictional Craigh na Dun – the site where Claire is mysteriously swept back in time.
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said: “Our new map and itinerary is the perfect way for fans of the Outlander books to follow in the footsteps of Jamie and Claire and this interest will only intensify with the release of the television series. As well as highlighting real locations that feature in the books, our map and itinerary also reveal the best places for visitors to trace their ancestry, learn about the Jacobite Uprising, and discover the real Scotland – the land that inspired Outlander.”
Lorna Ewan, Head of Visitor Experience, Content and Learning at Historic Scotland, said: “The Outlander books feature a number of iconic landmarks in Scotland, while many of the fictional locations were inspired by real places. Craigh na Dun, a key location in the books, shares similarities with a number of prehistoric places including the atmospheric Bronze Age cemetery Clava Cairns, near Inverness. Picturesque Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness is also name-checked in the books, and is a must-see for Outlander fans.
“Outlander paints a vivid picture of many locations in Scotland and I am delighted that some of our most outstanding sites have provided inspiration for a story which has captured the imaginations of readers around the world. Furthermore, to date the TV adaptation of the books includes scenes filmed at two of our sites: Blackness Castle, which was used for scenes depicting Fort William, and Doune Castle which stood in for the fictional Castle Leoch.”
A number of Outlander tours already operate in Scotland, with Edinburgh-based Rabbie’s Small Group Tours set to launch its Blazing the Jamie and Claire Trail in October.
Yvonne Wagoun, Acting Managing Director of Rabbie’s Small Group Tours, said: “The Outlander book series has long provided a source of inspiration for many of our customers visiting Scotland. The excitement around the new television series has prompted a noticeable increase in enquiries, mainly from the United States and Canada, regarding which of our tours visit Outlander related locations, particularly over the last three months.
“Having already put together private Outlander themed tours on request, as enquiries increased, we responded by putting together a special Outlander itinerary, which is now on sale to the public.
“Once the series airs we are expecting to see a further increase in visitors – not only interested in taking part in our new Blazing the Jamie and Claire Trail tour but with a renewed passion for travel within Scotland.”
Outlander follows the story of Claire Randall (played by Caitriona Balfe), a married English combat nurse from 1945 who, while on her honeymoon in Inverness, is mysteriously swept back in time to the 18th-century Scottish Highlands. There she meets Jamie (played by Scottish actor Sam Heughan), a chivalrous young warrior, with whom she becomes romantically entwined.
Filming of the 16-part Sony Pictures Television series began last October, in locations including Glasgow, Perthshire, Fife, Edinburgh and West Lothian.
Caitriona Balfe said: “We travelled the length and breadth of Scotland and were filming in the most beautiful places so I can’t imagine people won’t come away with an idea of how beautiful Scotland is.”
Photo caption: Out and about: Edinburgh actor Chris Capaldi, who is appearing in the new Outlander television series, and Sarah Ormerod of VisitScotland launch the new VisitScotland Outlander locations map in Holyrood Park (Picture: Gareth Easton).
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