Cawdor Castle
Cawdor Castle is a Scottish castle, built ca. 1380, with many later additions; fictional home of Macbeth. You will find it 7.5 km southwest of Nairn. Officially, it is a category A listed building.
Castle near Nairn
One of the best-known places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
#465 of the 8,556 museums, castles, gardens and other attractions we list, by how widely it is covered (13 Wikipedias). About ↓
Near Nairn
Cawdor Castle is 7.5 km southwest of Nairn. Towns near it ↓
Category A listed building
On the official list of protected heritage; Nairn has 63 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓
Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, NRS’s localities and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Picking your season
For warmth in Nairn, choose July and August (19°C).
Cawdor Castle
Articles on it exist in 13 languages. Nearby, Fort George (11 km) heads a list of 11 within 15 km.
- Type
- Castle
- Listed
- Category A listed building
- Wikipedias
- Covered in 13 languages
- Town
- 7.5 km southwest of Nairn
- Official site
- cawdorcastle.com
Locating Cawdor Castle
Cawdor Castle sits at the orange dot; the numbered ones are listed below.
© OpenStreetMap contributors · NRS locality 2022
The nearest towns
Inverness tops the 8 for size, at 48,257 people. Start with its own town; the others follow by distance.
Nairn
Culloden
Smithton
Westhill
Compare the 8 towns
| Town | Where Cawdor Castle is | People | Places to visit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nairn | 7.5 km northeast of it | 9,576 | 2 |
| Culloden | 13 km west of it | 3,699 | 12 |
| Smithton | 14 km west of it | 2,905 | 14 |
| Westhill | 15 km southwest of it | 5,681 | 13 |
| Milton of Leys | 17 km southwest of it | 3,168 | 9 |
| Inverness | 19 km west of it | 48,257 | 12 |
| Forres | 21 km northeast of it | 9,290 | 10 |
| Invergordon | 24 km northwest of it | 3,801 | 3 |
Other places close by
Within 15 km are 11 places, among them 3 castles, 2 museums and a fort.
CastleRait Castle5.4 km away4
CastleCastle Stuart11 km away5Historic houseHistoric houseDalcross Castle7 km away6CathedralCathedralFortrose Cathedral14 km away7MuseumMuseumGroam House Museum13 km away8
Museum · National Trust for ScotlandCulloden Battlefield Visitor Centre11 km awayWithin 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.
Your questions on Cawdor Castle
Where is Cawdor Castle?
Cawdor Castle is 7.5 km southwest of Nairn, Highland.
What is Cawdor Castle?
Scottish castle, built ca. 1380, with many later additions; fictional home of Macbeth.
When is the best time to visit Cawdor Castle?
July and August are the warmest months in Nairn, with afternoon highs of 19–19°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).
Is Cawdor Castle a listed building?
Yes: category A listed building.
What else is there to see near Cawdor Castle?
Within 15 km: Fort George (11 km), Kilravock Castle (3.4 km), Rait Castle (5.4 km) and Castle Stuart (11 km).
Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the NRS 2022 locality (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.
Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (3)
- Rait Castle: Jean Aldridge, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Castle Stuart: User StaraBlazkova on cs.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.