One of the most complete 17th-century burghs in Scotland. Your guide takes you along the cobbled streets past the ochre-washed Palace, the Town House and the Mercat Cross, and up to the Abbey for the view out over the Forth. Outlander filmed Cranesmuir here, and the Palace garden was Claire's. Wandering the village is free and open all year; entry to Culross Palace and its terraced garden is optional, paid locally, and available April to October only.

A 15th-century fortress built in the shape of a ship's hull and driven out into the Firth of Forth — known as the ship that never sailed. Outlander viewers will recognise it as Fort William. Your guide walks you round the curtain wall and out onto the stern tower, with the Forth bridges behind you, and explains how the castle served in turn as royal fortress, state prison and gunpowder magazine. The exterior, the foreshore and the views are free to enjoy; entry to the interior is optional and paid locally.

The palace where Mary Queen of Scots' father died - six days after she was born. James IV and James V turned an old castle into this between 1501 and 1541, one of only two true Renaissance palaces in Scotland. It was here in December 1542, broken after defeat at Solway Moss, that James V took to his bed and died at thirty - days after hearing his wife had borne a daughter, not the son he needed. Tradition gives him a last word on the crown: "It cam wi' a lass, it will gang wi' a lass." The lass was Mary, six days old and already Queen. Outlander viewers know Falkland as 1945 Inverness. The Bruce Fountain in the square is where Claire first sees Jamie's ghost, and the Covenanter Hotel facing it played Mrs Baird's. In the grounds is the tennis court James V built in 1539 - the oldest in the world still in play. He used it barely a year. Your guide walks you round the village and palace exterior; entry inside is optional and paid locally.

Free time in the home of golf. Your guide shows you the medieval street plan, the university quads where student life has run since 1413, and the best of Market Street and South Street, then leaves you to explore at your own pace. There is no entry fee for the town itself.

The most famous golf course in the world. We walk out towards the 18th fairway and the Swilcan Bridge, with the R&A clubhouse and the red sandstone Hamilton Grand behind you — the view every golfer recognises. No tee time and no green fee are needed to stand and photograph it. The Old Course is closed to golf on Sundays and open to the public for walking, so a Sunday visit gets you furthest onto the course.

Two miles of open sand running north from the Old Course, and the beach used for the opening scene of Chariots of Fire. A short walk with the dunes on one side and the North Sea on the other — a good place to finish the day before the drive back to Edinburgh.