The round table is being reset. Claudia Winkleman is preparing her fabulous wardrobe and getting the capes ready. And from 1 October, the nation will once again be shouting “It’s so obvious!” at the TV as a fresh batch of Traitors and Faithfuls try to out-scheme each other across the Scottish Highlands.
But here’s the bit most viewers don’t realise: the brooding castle, the misty lochs and the dramatic train journeys that make The Traitors so hypnotic to watch are all filmed less than an hour from Dornoch. So, while everyone else is googling “where is The Traitors filmed,” we thought we’d give you the inside track along with a few very good reasons to come and see this stretch of the Highlands for yourself, but minus the murder plots!
Ardross Castle: the round table’s real address
The Traitors UK as well as the US version is filmed at Ardross Castle, a turreted 19th-century estate around 25–30 miles north of Inverness, tucked into the hills above the Cromarty Firth.
Despite its brooding ancient-fortress image on screen, Ardross isn’t medieval at all. It was actually built in the 1840s as a grand country mansion for a wealthy merchant, in the ornate Scottish Baronial style that so many Highland estates adopted in the Victorian era: turrets, battlements and all the theatrical trimmings.
And if you look very carefully, you’ll see the stone hounds at the entrance gates grip poppy seed pods in their mouths. This is a nod to how the owner, Sir Alexander Matheson, made his massive fortune through trading tea and opium in China and India.
The castle fell into disrepair through the 20th century before the McTaggart family took it on in 1983 and restored it into the stunningly atmospheric backdrop that now hosts the show.
Ardross itself is private and closed to visitors (spoiler alert: the cast don’t even sleep there, they’re bussed off-site each night to protect the game’s secrecy and it’s rumoured they are holed up at a hotel at Inverness airport. Talk about disappointing!) but the surrounding glens and forestry around Alness and Ardross are every bit as moody as what you see on screen, and well worth a detour if you’re heading north on the A9.
If you want to learn more about it’s history take a look at their website.
Loch Glass: where the coffins float
That unforgettable floating-coffins opening scene? Filmed on Loch Glass, a quiet freshwater loch near the village of Evanton, just a short drive from the castle.
The jetty and graveyard dressing were built purely for the show, but the loch’s stillness and the hills leading down into the water are entirely real. This is classic Easter Ross scenery, the kind you’ll get completely to yourself outside of filming season.
Boat of Garten and the Strathspey Railway
The contestants’ nervy first meeting happens on a heritage steam train, the Strathspey Railway, which still runs a genuine 10-mile line between Aviemore and Broomhill through the Cairngorms National Park. The platform where everyone eyes each other up suspiciously is Boat of Garten station, a proper working heritage railway that visitors can actually ride, unlike most of what’s on this list.
It’s roughly an hour from Ardross Castle, and about the same from Dornoch if you fancy a full Highlands-in-a-day itinerary: castle country in the morning, a steam train through Speyside in the afternoon.
Glenfinnan Viaduct: the cameo you’ll recognise from somewhere else
Eagle-eyed viewers will spot a sweeping shot of a train crossing a curved stone viaduct. Well, that’s Glenfinnan Viaduct near Fort William, a good two-hour drive from the castle and not actually part of the same railway line.
You’ll know it from somewhere else too: yes, it’s that bridge the Hogwarts Express crosses in the Harry Potter films, with steam trains still running the route above Loch Shiel today.
So, why come to Dornoch for your Traitors pilgrimage?
Because you’re already closer than you think! Dornoch sits right across the water from Traitors’ country a straightforward run over the Cromarty and Dornoch firths puts you in Ardross, Alness and Evanton territory in well under an hour, with the Cairngorms and Speyside locations comfortably reachable as a day trip too.
Base yourself here and you get the best of both worlds: proper access to every filming location on this list, and a Highland town with just as much drama in its own back catalogue.
Dornoch has been standing since long before Ardross Castle was a twinkle in a Victorian merchant’s eye. It goes back thousands of years, and the town’s medieval Cathedral and Dornoch Castle (now a rather cosy hotel with an award-winning whisky bar) still anchor the centre of town.
We’ve even got our own real-life tale that would give the show’s plotting a run for its money: Janet Horne, the last person executed for witchcraft in Scotland, met her end here in 1727, and the Witch’s Stone still marks the spot today.
Add in the championship links of Royal Dornoch, a Blue Flag beach, independent cafes and shops, and the seal-spotting nature reserve at nearby Loch Fleet, and you’ve got a Highland base that’s every bit as cinematic as anything on your screen this autumn minus the murders and banishments!
So, when you’re watching this series, when the round table candles flicker and someone gets sent home in the dead of night, remember: you don’t need a TV crew to experience this landscape. Just a car, a couple of hours, and a starting point in Dornoch.
Fancy making a trip of it? Explore more of what’s on in Dornoch and the surrounding Highlands.
