Outlander’s top filming sites draw in record 30million visitors to Scotland last year
Figures show fans worldwide flocked to locations featured in the hit time-travelling TV series featuring Scots hunk Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser, as well as other Jacobite- related sites
SCOTLAND is feeling the Outlander effect after its top tourism sites drew a record 30million visitors last year.
Figures show punters from across the globe flocked to locations featured in the hit time-travelling TV series featuring 37-year-old Scots hunk Sam Heughan as Highlander Jamie Fraser, as well as other Jacobite- related sites.
Of Scotland’s top 20 attractions, the biggest increase in visitors was at the Glenfinnan Monument, which honours those who died for the Jacobite cause.
The Scottish Sun rounds up some of the attractions that have been boosted by Outlander.
Culloden
VISITORS IN 2017: 180,875
ANNUAL INCREASE: 28%
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VISITORS to the site of the 1746 battle in Inverness-shire rocketed as the Outlander effect took hold.
People swarmed there after the show portrayed the events of the brutal conflict in Series 3, main image.
The battle was the crescendo of the uprising, in which British Government forces defeated the Jacobite army led by Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Doune Castle
VISITORS IN 2017: 124,341
ANNUAL INCREASE: 38%
THIS historic Perthshire fortress received one of the biggest booms in visitors.
The medieval stronghold doubles as the fictional Castle Leoch in the 18th-century scenes of the show.
Doune Castle also features in Outlander’s 20th-century storyline as nurse Claire Randall — played by Caitriona Balfe, 38 — visits the spot on her honeymoon before being transported back in time.
Linlithgow Palace
VISITORS IN 2017: 86,596
ANNUAL INCREASE: 16%
ALMOST 90,000 people were drawn to this 15th-century site in Linlithgow, West Lothian.
Visitor numbers shot up after the corridors and entrance of the palace were used as Wentworth Prison, where lead character Jamie is caged.
In real life the palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The Royal Burgh of Culross
VISITORS IN 2017: 16,022
ANNUAL INCREASE: 22%
NATIONAL Trust for Scotland property Culross Palace has been used for a number of locations in the show.
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The Fife palace and its burgh is a perfect example of what a Scottish town would have looked like in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Culross doubles as the fictional village of Cranesmuir in the show, and behind the palace is where Claire’s herb garden at Castle Leoch is located.
Preston Mill
VISITORS IN 2017: 2,748
ANNUAL INCREASE: 24%
THIS picturesque site is one of the oldest water-driven mills in Scotland.
The building in East Linton, East Lothian, was a backdrop for a number of scenes during the Jacobite rising on Series 1 of the show, which can perhaps help explain a 24 per cent increase in tourists there.
Remarkably, the mill was still in commercial use until 1959.
Glasgow Cathedral
VISITORS IN 2017: 389,101
ANNUAL INCREASE: 31%
TOURISTS flocked to the stunning city cathedral in the last year.
The impressive Gothic building is renowned in the UK as having one of the best post-war collections of stained glass.
But the crypt in the medieval building also doubled as L’Hopital Des Anges in Paris, where Balfe’s character Claire volunteers to work in Season 2 of the hit show.
Highland Folk Museum
VISITORS IN 2017: 69,857
ANNUAL INCREASE: 8%
THE open-air museum in Newtonmore, Inverness-shire, has provided the perfect setting for some of Outlander’s period scenes.
The outdoor attraction even boasts a 1700s township with six houses.
Highlander Jamie and his love interest Claire can be seen sheltering there with some clansmen in the first-ever episode of the show.
National Museum of Scotland
VISITORS IN 2017: 2,165,601
ANNUAL INCREASE: 19.6%
ALTHOUGH the museum in Edinburgh wasn’t used for filming Outlander, author Diana Gabaldon — whose books inspired the telly series — opened an exhibition on Jacobites in June last year.
That helped bring in over two million visitors — the first time this milestone has been reached — making it the No1 attraction, beating Edinburgh Castle into second place.
Glentinnan Monument
VISITORS IN 2017: 396,448
ANNUAL INCREASE: 57.8%
THE monument was erected in 1815 overlooking Loch Shiel in Inverness-shire to honour those who died fighting the Jacobite cause.
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The raising of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s standard took place at the head of the loch on August 19, 1745.
And the site has seen a huge surge in numbers in the past year as Outlander fans flock there.
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