Outlander, Season 8: A Highland winter
As Outlander draws to a close with its final season (due for release in 2026), Scotland once again steals the spotlight with landscapes that feel as central to the drama as its leading characters. Eglinton Country Park in Ayrshire, with its woodland paths and Eglington Castle ruins sets the stage, while the towering 14th-century stone walls of Doune Castle in Perthshire stand tall as Castle Leoch. Fans will recognise Midhope Castle in West Lothian as Lallybroch (access to grounds only), Jamie Fraser’s family home, while Falkland, nestled below the Lomond Hills in Fife, reprises its role as 1940s Inverness. Wander the cobbled lanes, and visit Falkland Palace – a restored renaissance palace where Stuart kings and queens once held court. In the fishing village of Culross, a 50-minute drive from Falkland, winding streets stood in for the fictional Cranesmuir. Visitors can see Culross Palace, whose ochre-painted walls and orchard garden appear in several scenes, and the 13th-century Culross Abbey, which has watched over the Fife coast for centuries. Fans who want to pack several locations into a single day can join a one-day Rabbie’s Outlander Adventure coach tour from Edinburgh, visiting key filming sites such as Doune Castle, Linlithgow Palace and Blackness Castle.
The festive season itself is a character here with snow-dusted Highlands transformed into a panorama of towering mountains and mirrored lochs. Visitors can live this cinematic winter for themselves at Ardverikie, a 19th-century baronial estate that also portrayed Balmoral in The Crown. For those seeking fireside grandeur, Blair Castle offers festive banquets, falconry displays, and even a visit from Father Christmas himself.
Tinsel Town: A rom-com Christmas in North Yorkshire
This December, the festive rom-com Tinsel Town brings North Yorkshire’s market towns to life on screen. Filmed in Wetherby and Knaresborough, with their stone bridges, riverside walks and cobbled squares, these locations offer a naturally atmospheric backdrop for a seasonal story. Off-screen, Knaresborough sparkles with festive spirit when a Christmas market (6 and 7 December 2025) fills the market square with traditional stalls, music and twinkling lights, all set against the backdrop of the towering Nidd Gorge viaduct. The real-life sparkle lies just beyond the lens. Visitors can settle into stately homes decked out for Christmas at the five-star Grantley Hall in Ripon, where festive dining is accompanied by Georgian elegance, or opt for the modern chic of Sandburn Hall, an award-winning woodland retreat just outside York. Seasonal cheer spreads through the region: York’s medieval streets glow with wooden chalets and mulled wine as part of the York Christmas Market (13 November to 21 December 2025) while Leeds sees City Square transformed as it welcomes its Christmas market (21 November to 21 December 2025).
Wuthering Heights: Yorkshire’s wild beauty
Yorkshire’s moorland will return to the screen in director Emerald Fennell’s retelling of Wuthering Heights (2026), with their untamed beauty still as brooding and magnetic as Emily Brontë imagined in her novel. Filmed in Arkengarthdale, Swaledale and the village of Low Row, the story is intertwined with the landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which is also home to some of Yorkshire’s most atmospheric stays. The five-star Yorebridge House in Wensleydale delivers boutique elegance in the heart of the Dales. Beck Hall at the foot of Malham Cove offers rooms in its original 1705 cottage, where wooden beams, carved headboards and creaking floorboards evoke an atmosphere that could have been lifted from the pages of Wuthering Heights. Round off a windswept day with a meal at The Box Tree in Ilkley, a Michelin-starred restaurant housed in a 1720 stone farmhouse. Its intimate, low-beamed dining rooms and seasonal menus – think Yorkshire wood pigeon with preserved cherries or langoustine with local chorizo – make it the suitable setting for a romantic dinner worthy of Catherine and Heathcliff.
Frankenstein: Gothic Edinburgh and Glasgow
Mary Shelley’s monster returns in a new screen adaptation, and the filmmakers have chosen some of Britain’s most gothic hubs to conjure their dark vision. In Edinburgh, historic Canongate on the Royal Mile provides a suitably atmospheric setting, its closes and wynds (through-roads) steeped in centuries of history. Glasgow Cathedral, with its soaring medieval vaults, invites visitors to immerse themselves in a world of gothic imagination. This vision can be enhanced with a guided tour of the city’s Victorian Necropolis, a cemetery packed with elaborate monuments. In Edinburgh, The Witchery by the Castle offers one of Britain’s most theatrical dining experiences: candlelit chambers swathed in rich tapestries, oak panelling and gilded ceilings, all dressed for Christmas. The Frankenstein Pub, housed in a converted 19th-century church, provides a playful counterpoint, complete with gothic arches and themed décor. Beyond Edinburgh, Borthwick Castle in Midlothian allows guests to live their own gothic tale, from candlelit dining to retiring to vaulted bed chambers with four-poster beds.
Downton Abbey: Elegance across Britain
With Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale released in September 2025, the spotlight returns to the grand houses and landscapes that define the series. From Highclere Castle in Berkshire to Alnwick Castle in Northumberland and Inveraray Castle in the county of Argyll, these filming locations are as much a part of the story as the Crawley family themselves – and most of them open their doors each winter to visitors keen to step inside this world of aristocratic splendour. In December, Highclere Castle beckons with an array of festive events, from twinkling light displays to seasonal teas, all open for early booking. At Alnwick, the castle’s grounds glow with the Winter Light Trail, transforming its gardens into a wonderland of colour.
Harry Potter: Spell-binding Britain
Another Christmas favourite, Harry Potter, has put Britain firmly on the map for film-location hopping. Head to King’s Cross station’s Platform 9¾, to York’s own wonky timber-framed version of Diagon Alley, the giant cauldron located in Wiltshire’s Lacock Abbey, and creep around the cloisters of Gloustershire Cathedral – the corridors of Hogwarts. Check out Oxford, the ‘city of dreaming spires’, with the Bodleian Library doubling up as the library at Hogwarts, while the vaulted Divinity School next door became Hogwarts Hospital – admitting students with broomstick injuries and back-firing spells. Budding wizards can also take part in broomstick flying lessons at Northumberland’s Alnwick Castle. For a full experience, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter gives fans the opportunity to check out original sets, animatronic creatures and special effects. It is also given a festive makeover annually, as part of Hogwarts in the Snow (15 November 2025 to 18 January 2026).
Love Actually: A London love story
For his film director’s debut, Love Actually, Richard Curtis came up with so many plots that he couldn’t choose, so he combined them all into one film. Shot at locations all over London, Curtis’ romantic British Christmas classic includes several iconic settings, alongside some of the capital’s lesser-known spots. Packed with glistening lights and yuletide cheer, look out for Trafalgar Square and the Millennium Bridge, as well as Tate Modern, housed in the old Bankside Power Station, and the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf. From Gabriel’s Wharf on the South Bank to outside 10 Downing Street, other notable locations include St Luke’s Mews in Notting Hill, where Andrew Lincoln’s character uses cue cards to profess his love, and the department store Selfridges. It’s here the late Alan Rickman waits as Rowan Atkinson takes an age to wrap a necklace. London in December echoes the film’s festive spirit, not least on its pop-up ice rinks. Visitors can glide beneath the neoclassical grandeur of Somerset House with Skate. For skyline views, the ice rink at Canary Wharf offers skating surrounded by the very skyscrapers glimpsed in the film. And at Glide at Battersea Power Station, skaters can twirl beneath twinkling lights as the site’s monumental chimneys provide the backdrop.
