Carnasserie Castle

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Historic Scotland says parking is available approximately 550 metres from the castle but publishes no charge or free statement, so the status is recorded as unknown; reviewers find enough parking. The track from the car park to the castle is for residential use only and visitor vehicles must not drive up it.

Driving pin: the Carnasserie Castle car park at Castle Road End, 412 m from Historic Scotland's own pin as the crow flies, 2 miles north of Kilmartin off the A816. Historic Scotland gives journey planners only.

About

Carnasserie Castle is one of Argyll's finest Renaissance residences, a roofless ruin on a hill two miles north of Kilmartin whose parapets look down the length of Kilmartin Glen with its cairns and standing stones. It was built for the Earl of Argyll by John Carswell, rector of Kilmartin, who was granted the lands in 1559 and became Bishop of the Isles in 1565; the Gaelic inscription over the door, God be with O Duibhne, is the motto he used to dedicate his translation of Knox's Book of Common Order, the first book printed in Scots Gaelic. Unusually for its date it fuses a five-storey tower house and a hall range into one building. Royalists blew it up in 1685. Reviewers climb the stairs to the top for views of the hills, often have the place to themselves, and find the walk up from the car park steep but short.

Check today’s timesPick a day for times and prices

Until 31 Mar: Daily 10:00–16:00, last entry 15:30
From 1 Apr: Daily 09:30–17:30, last entry 17:00

Today, Saturday 24 October

Carnasserie Castle10:00 – 16:00last entry 15:30

Free entry

Opening times may change at short notice.

1 April to 30 September daily 9.30am to 5.30pm; 1 October to 31 March daily 10am to 4pm; last entry 30 minutes before closing. No closures or notices on 20 October 2026.

A steep walk of about 550 m up a track to the castle, ten to fifteen minutes, steeper at the end; the site sits on working farmland. Inside, stairs climb to the upper storeys and parapet; it can be wet inside in rain. No toilets or facilities.

Photo: The roofless tower house and hall range of Carnasserie Castle on its lawn under a stormy sky, framed by trees. Brian Deegan, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carnassarie_Castle_c16th_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7636639.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.