Best of Central Scotland
The 20 best castles in Central Scotland
Our curated top 20 castles in Central Scotland, ranked by quality rating, image richness and content depth. For the complete list of 400 castles see the full castles index for Central Scotland.
- 1
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle (Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal Dhùn Èideann) is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There ha
- 2
Blackness Castle
Blackness Castle is a 15th-century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by Sir George Cri
- 3
Ballencrieff, East Lothian
Ballencrieff is a rural community in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies between the towns of Aberlady, Drem, Haddington and Longniddry and is approximately 20 miles north-east of Edinburgh. The name come
- 4
Drochil Castle
Drochil Castle is a ruined castle in the Scottish Borders. It is located above the Lyne Water, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north-west of Peebles, and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of West Linton. James Dougl
- 5
Scone Palace
Scone Palace is a Category A-listed historic house near the village of Scone and the city of Perth, Scotland. Ancestral seat of Earls of Mansfield, built in red sandstone with a castellated roof, it i
- 6
Craigmillar Castle
Craigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is three miles (4.8 km) south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar. The Pre
- 7
Dunbar
Dunbar ( ) is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately 30 miles (50 kilometres) east of Edinburgh and 30 mi (50 km) from the English border north of B
- 8
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Sti
- 9
Tantallon Castle
Tantallon Castle is a ruined mid-14th-century fortress, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It sits atop a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out on
- 10
Bamburgh Castle
Bamburgh Castle, on the northeast coast of England, by the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland, is a Grade I listed building. The site was originally the location of a Celtic Brittonic fort known as
- 11
Loch Leven Castle
Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during
- 12
St Andrews Castle
St Andrews Castle is a ruin located in the coastal Royal Burgh of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The castle sits on a rocky promontory overlooking a small beach called Castle Sands and the adjoining No
- 13
Crichton Castle
Crichton Castle is a ruined castle near the village of Crichton in Midlothian, Scotland. It is situated at the head of the River Tyne, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the village of Pathhead, and the same d
- 14
Roslin Castle
Roslin Castle (sometimes spelt Rosslyn) is a partially ruined castle near the village of Roslin in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located around 9 mi (14 km) south of Edinburgh, on the north bank of the
- 15
Black Castle, East Lothian
Black Castle, East Lothian is an Iron Age hillfort with a number of defensive banks, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south-east of Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland. It is south of the B6355 road, between
- 16
Kilbride Castle
Kilbride Castle — castle in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK, demolished and replaced by Mains Castle.
- 17
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Balvaird Castle
Balvaird Castle in Perthshire is a traditional late medieval Scottish tower house. It is located in the Ochil Hills, around five kilometres (three miles) south of Abernethy. The name Balvaird is from
- 19
Craignethan Castle
Craignethan Castle is a ruined castle in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located above the River Nethan, a tributary of the River Clyde, at NS816464. The castle is two miles west of the village of
- 20
Culcreuch Castle
Culcreuch Castle is a Scottish castle close to the village of Fintry, near Loch Lomond. It had been the home of the Barons of Culcreuch since 1699. In the 1980s the castle was converted into a hotel,
