Eilean Donan Castle - The Scottish Icon Photographs and Viewpoints

The Scottish icon viewed and photographed by many on the road to the Isle of Skye, Eilean Donan Castle is one of the classic famous castles which is instantly recognisable. The castle sits on a small island near to the village of Dornie on the road to the Kyle of Lochalsh, as you drive past the castle looms on the horizon and does feel like it has been put there by a film crew as the setting is just perfect.

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I spent a week in a holiday cottage nearby down the road at Morvich during a rainy September just around the corner from the castle overlooking the shores of Loch Duich. It was from here that I spent a couple of days on the Isle of Skye - photography guide. One of my photos from this trip featured as the front cover my 2013 Photography Calendar.

Eilean Donan Castle sits on a small island in Loch Duich near to the village of Dornie. The extremely photogenic Eilean Donan Castle appears in many photographs which are widely used on Scottish merchandise and the castle has appeared in a number of films. The castle has featured in many films including Bonnie Price Charlie in 1948, The Master of Ballantrae in 1953, most famously throughout the film Highlander in the mid 80's, the Sean Connery film Entrapment and as the Scottish headquarters of MI6 in the Bond film The World is not enough.

Originally dating back to the 13th Century, Eilean Donan Castle was home to the Clans of Mackenzie and Macrera. It was this link with the Mackenzie which lead to the destruction of the castle during the Jacobite rebellions by government ships in the year 1719. The castle remained in this state until the castle was rebuilt between 1919 and 1932 by Lt. Col. John MacRae-Gilstrap. This refurbishment included the building of the current bridge giving better access to the castle, it is this refurbished castle that you can see today and this was based on the floor plan of the original castle as they hoped to bring it back to its former glory.

The lights of the castle come on automatically at dusk and it seems to be lit well into the night so there is a long window of opportunity for your photographs. On my trip I found the best time to shoot was during the ‘blue hour’ shortly after sunset when there is still colour in the sky but is dark enough for the castle to be illuminated giving a nice balance between brightness in the castle and the surrounding landscape. Once the colour has disappeared from the sky you tend to get a nicely illuminated castle but the background fades to black with little detail so you don’t get the same beautiful surroundings in the shot.

Eilean Donan Castle Photography Viewpoints

There are 3 main viewpoint of Eilean Donan Castle from which to shoot:

Viewpoint 1

The classic viewpoint is from the car park so you can literally shoot from the side of the car (ideal for winter evenings).

Viewpoint 2

The second viewpoint is from the other side of the castle, from here you will get a different perspective on the castle but can still us the bridge as a lead in.

Viewpoint 3

The third viewpoint is over the Dornie bridge allowing you to shoot the castle with a telephoto lens in front of the impressive backdrop of the mountains behind.

You can view more of my photographs from around the Scottish Highlands including the Glencoe area, the Isle of Skye and the Cairngorms National Park in my Scotland landscape photography gallery >