Castles in Scotland
There were once more than 3000 castles, towers and fortified houses in Scotland – some have been restored, some are in ruins, some have been incorporated into later buildings, and some don’t exist at all any more.
There are currently 3031 castles in the Stravaiging around Scotland castles database, but the plan is to eventually add all of the castles over time.
You can see the distribution of castles on the map below, and you can zoom in to find particular castles.
Clicking on a marker will reveal the name of the castle and a link to a page about it.
Click here to view the castles as an alphabetical list, or here to see them divided by county.
Mottes in Scotland
Many of the earliest castles in Scotland were built on mottes, raised earthen mounds designed to elevate the castle for defence and increased visibility. See the distribution of mottes across Scotland and explore what remains of these early castle sites.
Stay in a Scottish castle
What could be more Scottish than staying in a castle? Some of Scotland’s many castles have been converted into hotels or contain self-catering apartments, while others offer bed and breakfast rooms or can be rented for exclusive use.
Castle glossary
There are many specialist and obscure words used to describe castles and their constituent parts.
To help you negotiate your way through castle descriptions we’ve put together a glossary of terms with explanations for each.
Castles we’ve visited
We have visited 595 out of 3031 castles in the Stravaiging around Scotland castles database, so we still have 2436 castles to visit!
Join us on our journey around Scotland and see what we’ve visited.
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