Scotland has more than 2,000 castles, and you come across one almost everywhere. Some stand atop cliffs and have defied wind and rain for centuries. Others are hidden among forests. Before leaving for Scotland, I planned to visit a few castles. But I did not expect them to become one of the most beautiful parts of the trip. Not because of their history or the famous names associated with them, but because of the feeling you get when you step through their gates.
A huge number of castles in Scotland are open to the public. Most are privately owned, while a few have passed into state management over the years because their owners could no longer afford the high maintenance costs. Those costs are certainly not small. Just looking at the roofs, stone facades, parks and gardens tells you that it is a constant battle against the ravages of time.
Admission usually ranges from £15 to £25. That may seem like a lot to some people, but you quickly realise that you are contributing to the preservation of history. Every castle offers something different. In some, you can photograph the interiors without any problem; in others, photography is forbidden. Some have been turned into museums and are intended solely for visitors, while descendants of their former owners still live in others today.
The interiors of the castles did not impress me as much as I expected. It is interesting to see old libraries, dining rooms, weapon collections, portraits of ancestors and lavish bedrooms. But what truly fascinated me lay outside their walls.
Their gardens. Gardens tended down to the last detail. Hedges trimmed with a surgeon’s precision. Flower beds where every plant is in its place. Tree-lined avenues leading towards the castle and creating the feeling that you have stepped onto a film set.
Then there are the lawns. I do not know how they manage it. Maybe it is the climate, maybe the constant moisture, maybe it is the people who know what they are doing. The grass around Scottish castles is something special. It looks like a perfect green carpet. No weeds, no yellow patches, no holes. The kind that makes you want to take off your shoes and walk barefoot.
When you stand in front of a castle that has survived wars, political intrigue, changing kings and centuries of Scottish weather, you really do find yourself transported to another time for a moment. To an era of clans, swords, tales of knights and royal intrigues. And although there is now a car park in front of the castle, you buy your ticket by card and use Google for navigation, the feeling remains the same.
Scottish castles are not merely tourist attractions. They are time machines. And every single one tells its own story. That is why you do not visit them in Scotland just to tick another sight off your list. You visit them because, for a few hours, they take you into a world that has long since ceased to exist. A world preserved today by stone walls, immaculate gardens and endless green spaces that look as though someone drew them.
