Blair Castle

Blair Castle stands in the village of Blair Atholl in Perth and Kinross, founded in 1269 by John Comyn and today recognisable by its distinctive whitewashed walls and tower. It has been the seat of the Murray family — whose head holds the title Duke of Atholl — for centuries, and is currently owned by Bruce Murray. The castle's most singular feature is the Atholl Highlanders, Europe's only legal private army, a purely ceremonial bodyguard that parades in historical uniform at special occasions on the estate. During the Jacobite rising of 1746, Blair Castle was the last castle in Britain to be besieged, giving it an unusually specific place in Scottish military history. Open daily from late March through October, visitors can tour around 30 furnished rooms and wander the expansive castle grounds set against the Highland landscape.