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Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued at times to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century, the castle’s residential role declined, and by the 17th century, it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland’s national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half.

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Fyvie Castle is a magnificent fortress in the heart of Aberdeenshire is a sterling example of Scottish Baronial architecture.

Inside, the rooms are filled with antiquities, armour and lavish oil paintings. Out in the grounds the grandeur continues, with a picturesque lake and an unusual glass-roofed racquets court.

Ghosts, legends and folklore are all woven into the tapestry of Fyvie’s 800-year-old history. But stories aside, we do know William the Lion was at Fyvie around 1214 and later Robert the Bruce and Charles I were among its royal guests.

Visit, and lose yourself in the glory of Fyvie’s landscape and the richness of its past.

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Castle Fraser is the most elaborate Z-plan castle in Scotland and one of the grandest ‘Castles of Mar’.

It is located near Kemnay in the Aberdeenshire region of Scotland.

The castle stands in over 300 acres (1.2 km²) of landscaped grounds, woodland and farmland which includes a walled kitchen garden of the 19th century.

There is archaeological evidence of an older square tower dating from around 1400 or 1500 within the current construction.

The castle is a Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

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Culzean Castle is a castle overlooking the Firth of Clyde, near Maybole, Carrick, in South Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland.

It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of Clan Kennedy, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.

The clifftop castle lies within the Culzean Castle Country Park and is opened to the public. From 1972 through 2015, an illustration of the castle was featured on the reverse side of five pound notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

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Floors Castle, in Roxburghshire, south-east Scotland, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. Despite its name it is an estate house rather than a fortress.

It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for Duke John, possibly incorporating an earlier tower house.

In the 19th century it was embellished with turrets and battlements by William Playfair for Duke James. Floors has the common 18th-century layout of a main block with two symmetrical service wings.

Floors Castle stands by the bank of the River Tweed and overlooks the Cheviot Hills to the south.

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Dunrobin Castle is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, and the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland.

It is located 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Golspie, and approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Brora, overlooking the Dornoch Firth.

Dunrobin’s origins lie in the Middle Ages, but most of the present building and the gardens were added by Sir Charles Barry between 1835 and 1850.

Some of the original building is visible in the interior courtyard, despite a number of expansions and alterations that made it the largest house in the north of Scotland.

After being used as a boarding school for seven years, it is now open to the public.

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