Doune Castle

Filmed as Winterfell (pilot only)

📍 Castle Hill, Doune, Stirling FK16 6EA, Doune, Stirling, United Kingdom

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Doune Castle — Photo: JThomas · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Scene breakdown · A Song of Ice and Fire

Winterfell (pilot only)

Game of Thrones S01E01

Courtyard and gate plates from the original pilot; the aired series rebuilt Winterfell in County Down.

Eddard Stark

Also filmed here: Outlander

Castle Leoch courtyard

S01E02 Mild spoilers

Claire is brought to Colum MacKenzie's hall after falling through the stones.

Claire Fraser Jamie Fraser Colum MacKenzie Dougal MacKenzie

Spoilers for Outlander are hidden — tap to reveal, or change it under Spoilers in the menu.

Real-world history

A 14th-century courtyard castle on the Teith. Used as Winterfell in the unaired 2009 pilot (later reshot at Castle Ward). Still worth the stop for fans tracing the show’s prehistory; also Monty Python’s Swamp Castle.

Logistics & accessibility

Admission: Historic Environment Scotland ticket.

Parking & accessibility: Signed lot below the castle.

Best time to visit: April–October. Easy add-on to a Glasgow–Highlands drive.

What else to see here

Stirling Castle

Castle

20 min drive