Fans of BBC’s The Traitors might want to add the underrated town onto their list as it’s right by plenty of the beautiful locations you see on the hit show – and the castle itself
It’s right by plenty of The Traitors filming locations
BBC’s The Traitors has us gripped with the tense roundtables, secret turret meetings, murders in plain sight and tense missions. However, it’s not just the drama that catches our attention; those beautiful backdrops make it very tempting to open up your laptop and book a Highlands getaway immediately.
Filmed in the Scottish Highlands, the series offers sneak peeks of lochs with sparkling waters, dense forests, and breathtaking scenery that is the stuff of storybooks. For fans who want a taste, the good news is that there are budget-friendly places to stay in the area, a stone’s throw from plenty of the filming locations.
In fact, one town has recently been crowned as the ‘best for fans’ in the area. Dingwall may not be famed for being particularly beautiful or full of places to visit, but the underrated town is worth having on your radar whether you’re a Faithful or Traitor. A study from SMC Coach Hire named it the ‘best place for fans’ of the hit show, thanks to its location less than half an hour’s drive to plenty of The Traitors’ filming locations, not to mention the town boasts around 32 places to eat and drink as well as 11 places to stay.
There are also a few main attractions in the town including the Dingwall Museum, or the GlenWyvis Distillery which is approximately a 10-minute drive away. Meanwhile the Tulloch Castle Hotel is a firm favourite with visitors, while Lastminute.com offers stays at Dingwall hotels from £41 a night.
For Traitors fans, Dingwall is actually just a 24-minute drive from the actual Traitors Castle where the series takes place. Its real name is Ardross Castle but sadly it’s not a real hotel, nor is it a castle that’s open to the public. The 19th century castle boasts beautiful formal gardens and 100 acres of parkland you will no doubt recognise from the show, but if you want to visit there are only a few options; either you need to be filming a TV show or film and have permission there, or you can book out the entire venue for a wedding (although it’s worth noting that it will look very different when it’s not decked out with its Traitors decor).
Still, the missions in the show are filmed on the estate as well as around Alness, Inverness and local spots such as Loch Glass, Cairngorms National Park, and the Rothiemurchus Estate, all of which are open to the public, and less than a half hour’s drive from Dingwall.
If you do want to experience a hint of where the Faithfuls and Traitors stay, then you may want to consider a trip to the Courtyard by Marriott Inverness Airport. Despite the show offering scenes of the cast staying in lavish rooms in the castle, they actually stay at this airport hotel during filming! (If you’re in Inverness and want a budget stay, there are other options too including Travelodge and Premier Inn hotels in the city centre).