Artist-led Outlander Art Experience

There’s only one thing that’s better than a tour of Outlander filming locations in Scotland…our Outlander Art Experience! Join us on this 10-day Outlander-themed art and history tour of Scotland and really connect with the land where Jamie and Claire travelled through centuries and lived their love that knew no time nor borders.

With your sketchbook journal in hand, feel the creative flow as we visit Doune Castle (Castle Leoch), Culross (Cranesmuir), the Battlefield of Culloden, Jamie’s Printshop in Edinburgh and much, much more.

Drawing and painting facilitate contact with reality and create a strong bond with places – something that’s more difficult to experience during conventional travel. The stronger the emotion, the deeper it will be remembered in your mind. We work with watercolours, charcoal, graphite and other materials, and integrate treasures we find on our journey, such as oak leaves or feathers.

The tour includes a tartan and kilt workshop and we’ve built in elements of creative writing which will help you turn your sketchbook into your own personal Outlander-inspired story. To enrich your creative time-travel experience further, you’ll also get the opportunity to learn about herbal remedies used by Claire and Geillis in a session with Scottish herbalist Anna Canning in Culross (Cranesmuir). A truly authentic experience from which you will leave inspired and refreshed!

Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrival in Linlithgow (by Edinburgh)

Arrival at hotel in Linlithgow. Welcome reception, introduction to the tour, 3-course welcome dinner. Storytelling session.

Day 2 – West Lothian and nearby area

Linlithgow Palace (Wentworth Prison in Outlander and birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots in real life), overlooking Linlithgow Loch. Hopetoun House (stately home of the Duke of Sandringham (S1); backdrop for Parisian streets, the spare room in Jamie and Claire’s Paris apartment, and the Hawkins Estate (S2)). Midhope (Lallybroch). Blackness Castle (Fort William headquarters of Black Jack Randall) 

Day 3 – Edinburgh

Jacobites Exhibition at National Museum of Scotland, Bakehouse Close (Carfax Close, home to Alexander Malcolm’s print shop). Greyfriar’s Bobby. National Portrait Gallery.

Day 4 – Stirling area

Doune Castle (Castle Leoch). Drummond Castle Gardens (ornate park and orchard of the Palace of Versailles in France). Deanston Distillery as indoor alternative (Jamie’s cousin’s wine warehouse on the docks of Le Havre). Possibly Tibbermore Church (Cranesmuir Church, hosts the scene of the infamous witch trial)

Day 5 – Glasgow

George Square (location of Frank’s spontaneous proposal to Claire). Glasgow Cathedral (L’Hopital Des Anges in Paris where Claire volunteers to work). Charles Rennie Mackintosh Centre at The Lighthouse. Willow Tea Rooms.

Day 6 – Kiltmaking workshop

Half day kilt and tartan workshop with talk, demonstration and taster session. Free afternoon.

Day 7 – Culross 

Culross (Cranesmuir where Geillis lives. The town also lends its backdrop to the Jacobite encampment and makeshift hospital scenes). Culross Palace Gardens (Claire’s herb garden at Castle Leoch). Garden tour and herbalist workshop led by Scottish herbalist Anna Canning. She will teach us how to make infused oils, herbal balms and creams and you get to take home products created by you – and a handout with recipes for making more once you’re back home.

Day 8 – Making our way to Inverness

Falkland (substitutes for 1940s (S1) and 1960s (S2) Inverness. Covenanter Hotel stands in for Mrs. Baird’s Guesthouse; Bruce Fountain is where the ghost of Jamie looks up at Claire’s room; Fayre Earth Gift Shop doubles as Farrell’s Hardware and Furniture Store; and Campbell’s Coffee House and Eatery is Campbell’s Coffee Shop). Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore (replicas of 18th century turf-roofed Highland crofts; scenes include when Dougal collects the rent. Visit to learn how Scottish Highlanders lived, built their homes, dressed and more). Culloden Battlefield and Clava Cairns near Inverness. Overnight stay in Inverness.

Day 9 – Heading back South

Loch Ness. Fort Augustus. Glencoe. Arrive back in Linlithgow. Farewell dinner at the Champany Inn.

Day 11 – Departure

We say goodbye, but you’ll be taking back a precious sketchbook journal, filled with your artwork, and no doubt you’ll want to come back to Scotland soon!