Dunnottar Castle 🏰

I’m sure you have seen it as Merida’s home in the Disney Pixar hit ‘Brave’ as the castle which is surrounded on three sides by the sea with dramatically steep cliffs hanging beneath its walls. Once an impregnable citadel, Dunnottar proved to be highly defensible, notably as the hiding place of Scotland’s crown jewels during Oliver Cromwell’s 17th century invasion.

The castle might be picture-famous, but it is very much off the beaten path. The castle lies about 2 hours north of Edinburgh by train, just outside a seaside town called Stonehaven, in Aberdeenshire.