Royal Burgh of Culross

Culross is the most complete example in Scotland of a burgh of the 17th and 18th centuries, a village of white-harled houses with red pantile roofs on cobbled streets climbing from the Firth of Forth to the abbey, much of it saved by the National Trust for Scotland from the 1930s. At its heart is Culross Palace, the ochre-coloured house built in 1597 for Sir George Bruce, who made his fortune from coal mined under the Forth and salt panned on the shore, with tiny panelled rooms, connecting passages and painted ceilings, and a reconstructed 17th-century garden of herbs, fruit and vegetables on the slope behind. The Study and the Town House complete the Trust's buildings, and the streets have stood in for Cranesmuir in Outlander. Dogs on a lead are welcome in Bessie's Cafe and its outdoor seating, though not in the palace or its garden. Reviewers love the palace garden and the atmosphere of the lanes. Tips from visitors: the palace has spiral stairs and uneven floors, the streets are cobbled throughout, Bessie's Cafe closes mid-afternoon, and the village car parks are free.