You might know it as Hogwarts. Or Gotham City. Or New York.
We know it as Scotland.
For years, Scotland has been quietly stealing scenes in some of the world’s biggest films and television shows. Daniel Craig’s James Bond has driven through its Highland glens. Harry Potter crossed one of its most famous railway viaducts on his way to Hogwarts. Outlander has transformed its castles, villages and university cloisters, while Marvel has sent superheroes racing through the streets of Edinburgh.
And then there’s Glasgow. Give it a few yellow taxis, American street signs and a little Hollywood magic and apparently, you’ve got New York.
The fun, of course, is that these aren’t purpose-built film sets. Many of them are real places you can wander through, drive past, travel across by train or build into a much bigger Scottish adventure.
So, if you’ve ever watched something and thought ‘where on earth is that?’ there’s a surprisingly good chance the answer was Scotland.
Glasgow on Screen
Glasgow: Scotland’s very convincing New York
There’s something wonderfully strange about watching a Hollywood blockbuster set in America and suddenly recognising a Glasgow street.
The city has become one of Hollywood’s favourite doubles for the United States, helped by its long, straight streets, grid layout and grand Victorian architecture. Film crews can bring in yellow taxis, change the street signs and, remarkably quickly, central Glasgow becomes Manhattan, Philadelphia or even Gotham City.
And some of the productions that have arrived here are enormous.
Spider-Man swings through Glasgow
In 2025, parts of Glasgow city centre were transformed into New York for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. American flags appeared, yellow taxis arrived and streets including Bothwell Street and areas of the Merchant City became part of Peter Parker’s New York. We even had a front-row view of the transformation ourselves, with filming visible right from our Glasgow office window.
For anyone who knows Glasgow, there’s an extra bit of entertainment in watching the finished film and trying to see through the disguise.
It isn’t the first time the city has fooled audiences either.
George Square became Philadelphia for Brad Pitt’s World War Z, while St Vincent Street and the surrounding city centre were dressed as 1960s New York for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Glasgow has even stood in for San Francisco, its steep streets proving particularly useful for Cloud Atlas.
From Glasgow to Gotham
If Glasgow can do New York, apparently it can do Gotham too.
The atmospheric Glasgow Necropolis appeared in The Batman, its Victorian monuments and winding paths providing a suitably brooding backdrop for Robert Pattinson’s Gotham. And Glasgow is becoming Gotham all over again: filming for The Batman: Part II is taking place across the city in August 2026, with streets, vehicles and even bus stops being given a Gotham makeover. Visit at the right time and you may catch a little real-life Hollywood transformation in action.
It is one of those locations where the film connection is almost secondary once you arrive. Sitting high above the city beside Glasgow Cathedral, the Necropolis is fascinating in its own right, filled with elaborate Victorian memorials and some wonderful views across Glasgow.
And the Cathedral next door has had its own screen career. Outlander fans may recognise its crypt as the hospital in Paris where Claire works during the second series.
Wait… is that the Hydro?
One of the most recent blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Scottish appearances comes courtesy of Netflix’s Running Point. The comedy follows Kate Hudson’s Isla Gordon as she takes charge of the fictional Los Angeles Waves basketball team. Their enormous LA home arena looks suitably impressive on screen.
There’s just one problem.
It’s in Glasgow.
The exterior used for the Waves’ stadium is the OVO Hydro on the banks of the Clyde. The series was filmed principally in Los Angeles, but exterior shots of the distinctive Glasgow venue were used to establish the fictional team’s home arena. Its silver illuminated exterior makes a surprisingly convincing big-league backdrop.
Once you know, you can’t unsee it.
All aboard the Hogwarts Express at Glenfinnan
There are film locations you recognise once somebody points them out.
And then there’s Glenfinnan Viaduct.
Even before a steam train appears, its great curve of arches across the Highland landscape feels familiar. Then comes the whistle, a plume of steam rises above the trees and suddenly it is very difficult not to hear “Anything from the trolley?” somewhere in the back of your mind.
The viaduct became one of the defining locations of the Harry Potter films as Harry, Ron and Hermione made their journeys north aboard the Hogwarts Express.
It’s a lovely connection because the train journey itself plays such an important role in the films. This is where friendships begin, chocolate frogs escape, Dementors appear and another year at Hogwarts really starts.
The real-life journey is rather special too.
The Jacobite Steam Train travels between Fort William and Mallaig, crossing the 21-arched Glenfinnan Viaduct along the way. The landscape stretches from mountains and lochs to the west coast, making this much more than a pilgrimage for Harry Potter fans. It’s simply one of Scotland’s great railway journeys.
It’s also a journey we know particularly well. Our best-selling Grand Tour of Scotland by Train includes a first-class journey on the Jacobite Express from Fort William to Mallaig, subject to availability, as part of a leisurely 15-night rail adventure through the Highlands and islands. It means the famous Glenfinnan crossing becomes one memorable moment in a much bigger journey around Scotland.
Step into the world of Outlander
Few television series have shown off Scotland quite like Outlander. For fans travelling from North America in particular, seeing these places in person can feel strangely familiar. You’ve watched Claire and Jamie walk through the courtyards, villages and landscapes on screen; then suddenly you’re standing there yourself.
And many of the locations are every bit as atmospheric without a camera crew in sight. The connection stretches beyond filming locations too. At Loch Ness, keep an eye out for the famous monster: in Diana Gabaldon’s original Outlander novel, Claire encounters a mysterious creature in the loch that becomes known locally as a ‘water horse’.
Doune Castle: Castle Leoch
The moment Claire arrives at Castle Leoch is one of the first times we are properly drawn into the Scotland of Outlander.
You’re looking at Doune Castle near Stirling, a magnificent medieval stronghold whose courtyard and interiors became the home of Colum MacKenzie and his clan. Walk beneath its stone archways today and very little imagination is required.
Its acting career doesn’t stop there either. Doune has also appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and even played Winterfell in the original pilot of Game of Thrones. One castle, several completely different worlds.
Glasgow University: a little bit of Harvard
One of Glasgow’s most beautiful corners also crossed the Atlantic for Outlander.
The University of Glasgow’s Gothic buildings and cloisters were used to represent Harvard University, where Frank teaches and Claire studies medicine.
It’s an easy location to weave into time in Glasgow’s West End and one we’d recommend visiting even if you’ve never watched a single episode. The cloisters, quadrangles and soaring architecture have the kind of atmosphere film location scouts spend years looking for.
Follow James Bond into Glen Coe
There is a moment in Skyfall when Bond and M leave London behind and head north in the Aston Martin DB5. The road opens up. The mountains rise around them. And suddenly the landscape becomes just as important as either character.
That landscape is Glen Coe.
Bond’s drive takes him along the A82, beneath the great peaks of Buachaille Etive Mòr and Buachaille Etive Beag, before turning into Glen Etive for the memorable roadside scenes on the way to the fictional Skyfall Lodge. The lodge itself wasn’t here – its exterior was a purpose-built set in Surrey, but the Highland landscape on screen is very real. Bond fans can stop at the now-famous Skyfall viewpoint on the single-track Glen Etive road to recreate the shot of Bond and M beside the Aston Martin with the glen stretching behind them.
Mountains crowd around the road, waterfalls tumble down the slopes after rain and every bend seems to reveal another enormous view. There’s a rather fitting real-life Bond connection here too. Ian Fleming’s family once owned a lodge in Glen Etive.
So yes, you can absolutely put on the Bond soundtrack in the car. We won’t judge – in fact, we encourage it!
Edinburgh gets the Marvel treatment
Edinburgh has never exactly struggled for drama. Medieval closes, Gothic spires, hidden staircases and a castle sitting on top of an extinct volcano tend to take care of that.
Marvel clearly agreed. When Avengers: Infinity War came to Scotland, Edinburgh’s Old Town became the setting for one of the film’s major action sequences. The shoot lasted several weeks and was, at the time, the largest and most complex production ever filmed in the city’s historic centre.
Fans will recognise Cockburn Street and the Royal Mile, while Waverley Station became the setting for the moment Vision and Wanda are attacked before Captain America, Black Widow and Falcon arrive.
St Giles’ Cathedral appears among the action too.
It’s a slightly different experience walking the same route when nobody is being thrown through a shop window. But that’s part of the appeal. Edinburgh doesn’t need to become somewhere else. On this occasion, Hollywood came because it wanted Edinburgh exactly as it was.
Welcome to Traitors country
A winding Highland road. A grand Scottish castle. Mist hanging over a dark loch.
You can almost hear Claudia Winkleman’s cloak swishing already.
The Traitors has given a whole new audience a reason to dream about the Scottish Highlands, with Ardross Castle, around 25 miles north of Inverness, providing the wonderfully dramatic setting for the series. Many of its outdoor challenges have also made use of the surrounding Highland landscape, including Loch Glass.
Ardross itself is privately owned, so this isn’t one for walking up the drive and knocking on the door in search of breakfast and a round-table discussion.
But that’s almost beside the point.
The real star is the landscape around it: deep lochs, wooded estates, Highland roads and the kind of scenery that has become such a huge part of the programme’s identity. Base yourself around Inverness and you can explore plenty of that world for yourself, from Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle to Culloden and the wider Highlands. Preferably without having to work out which member of your travelling party has been secretly plotting against you.
When Scotland simply plays itself
For all the times Scotland has pretended to be America, France or somewhere entirely fictional, some of its best screen appearances happen when it doesn’t pretend at all.
Shetland is the obvious example. The television drama has made the islands’ rugged coastline, harbours and wide-open landscapes familiar to millions.
Then there’s Trainspotting. Although forever associated with Edinburgh, parts of the film were shot in Glasgow too. Further north, one of its most memorable scenes takes us to remote Corrour Station on Rannoch Moor, a place with no public road and one of the most wonderfully isolated stops on the West Highland Line.
Scotland’s castles have been particularly busy too. Productions including The Crown, Mary Queen of Scots, Outlaw King and countless historical dramas have borrowed its grand houses, ruins and estates. After a while, you start wondering which Scottish castle hasn’t appeared on television.
See Scotland beyond the screen
Following filming locations can be a wonderful starting point for a Scottish holiday. But we’d never suggest turning it into a race from one famous scene to the next. The best part is discovering everything around them.
Come to Glenfinnan because you loved Harry Potter, then stay for the West Highland scenery and one of the world’s great railway journeys. Follow Bond into Glen Coe, then give yourself time to explore the glens, villages and coastline beyond it. Find Outlander in Glasgow, Stirling and Fife, but leave room for the castles, restaurants, gardens and stories that never appeared on screen at all.
That’s where a film-inspired trip becomes something much more personal.
At McKinlay Kidd, we know these routes and places well, from the Highland railway lines and island ferry crossings to characterful hotels and experiences worth making time for along the way. Tell us the places you’ve seen on screen and always wanted to experience for yourself, and we can help shape them into a journey that feels entirely your own.
Ready to see where the stories were filmed? Start planning your Scottish holiday with McKinlay Kidd.
