Castles, castles, and more castles!

5 July 2014
There is a distinct lack of castles in the United States whereas Scotland seems to have plenty of castles to explore. You can't throw a rock without hitting a castle (and chances are good that rock would have came from a castle!). With our brand new Historic Scotland Pass (we get in to all the castles and other historic areas for free now), we have started exploring the castles that are close to Edinburgh. We haven't had to venture out very far and we still haven't exhausted the castles within a day trip from our place! And this list doesn't include the really famous one we walk past every day on our 'commute' to work...

Tantallon, North Berwick (~30 minutes by train)

My first castle here - a fun ruin to explore. There was a nice walk along the top with a beautiful view of the coast and the beautiful, green rolling hills the opposite direction.

The view of the castle as we first approached it.

 A view of the ruins with Bass Rock in the background, which is known for its gannet population. Close to the sea bird center - puffins! I got to add several new birds, including puffins, to my life list :) Puffins are smaller and cuter than I thought and they are now one of my favorite birds.

Craigmillar, 4 miles from our flat (45 minutes by bus or a little more than an hour walking)

Cute castle ruins that are on the outskirts of town. We took a bus and then walked through some forest and fields to get to the castle.

The inside was beautiful and peaceful (the sun helped!). Our picnic was great and we had the castle to ourselves in most places.

There were two amazingly beautiful trees just inside the main doors that gave the courtyard a very ancient feeling.

The view from the top was nice, but this weird guy photobombed my panoramic :)

Linlithgow (~15 minutes by train)

Very cool castle, but we were there when it was crowded so I think we'll have to go back on a non-festival day to enjoy it properly. Jousting was fun to see, but we've really enjoyed exploring on our own at the other castles. At least it's close enough to easily go back!

View from the entrance gate:

The individual rooms and details are amazing - the fountain is spectacular and the Great Hall was the most spectacular one we've seen at any of the castles.

The fountain ran with red wine when one of the kings visited in the castle's prime!

The Great Room was enormous!

The view from the back of the castle as you walk around the loch.

I can't explain why, but I love anything with buttressing :) This was the gun defence added on after other parts had already been built, and they used the buttressing to support a weaker portion of the wall.

 A view out a window in the Queen's Bower.

The view from the very top of the tower with the loch to one side, a small part of the jousting field in the middle, and the peel (the outside park area) on the right.

The jousting event was lots of fun, but too much to add in a regular post on castles. It will have to wait!