Alan Cumming’s Scottish castle has spent four seasons hosting reality TV’s most dramatic liars, and now a new cast of ordinary Americans gets a turn inside those stone walls. “The Traitors: New Blood” swaps celebrities for everyday people, but keeps the show’s biggest star: the castle itself.
NBC picked up “The Traitors” for its first all-civilian season, moving the show from Peacock to network TV for the first time. Twenty-two everyday Americans will live inside the same castle setting that made earlier seasons so bingeable. If that mood has ever made you want to book a flight to Scotland, you’re not the only one.
‘The Traitors: New Blood’ Premieres Sept. 17
The new season premieres Thursday, Sept. 17, on NBC, with a two-hour debut before new episodes stream the next day on Peacock. This time, 22 everyday Americans are competing for a prize fund worth up to $250,000, with zero reality TV veterans in the cast. Shows like this tend to send viewers looking for real filming locations to visit, and “The Traitors” is no exception.
The Highland Castles Behind That Castle Mood
For anyone who wants a version of that atmosphere without the banishments, Wales-based tour operator Routescape can book you into real castles across the Highlands, working directly with two of Scotland’s most storied estates.
The Fife Arms sits in Braemar, about two hours from Edinburgh, and pairs an art collection worth wandering for hours with proximity to Balmoral, the King’s Scottish residence. Book through Routescape, and you can add a private tour of Balmoral followed by afternoon tea, or head out in a classic Land Rover with the hotel’s Ghillies for an off-road look at the surrounding estate.
Farther west, Inverlochy Castle sits beneath Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain, on grounds once visited by Queen Victoria. It’s surrounded by lochs, forests and mountain scenery, similar to the moody Highland backdrop the show trades on.
Glenapp Castle Brings Its Own Round-Table Twist
On the Ayrshire coast, Glenapp Castle takes the theme even further. The Relais & Châteaux hotel keeps an official Traitors board game on hand for guests, and its Castle Penthouse Suite takes up the entire top floor, with views that take in Ailsa Craig, the Isle of Arran and the Mull of Kintyre.
Glenapp can also open its doors exclusively to one group at a time, closing to the public and handing over the castle, gardens and grounds. Activities range from wild swimming and falconry to curling and a Hebridean Sea Safari, so there’s plenty to do between rounds of your own game.
You don’t need to outlast a round table to enjoy any of this. These castles were doing the moody, atmospheric thing long before reality TV showed up, and they’ll still be standing long after this season wraps. Book a stay, skip the secret alliances, and let the castle do the rest.