Kilspindie Castle

There's not much left of Kilspindie Castle, to be honest - just a crumbling tower and some broken walls poking out of the East Lothian countryside near Seton. But that's rather the point. This is proper ruin territory, the kind of place where you can actually feel the centuries rather than walk around a gift shop.

The castle dates back to the 15th century, when it was a proper stronghold. These days you're looking at a square tower that's seen better days, surrounded by earthworks and the ghosts of what was once a defensible position. It's the sort of spot where history types can lose themselves for twenty minutes tracing the old walls and imagining the place in its heyday, while kids will get bored fairly quickly unless they're into clambering about on ancient stones.

Access is straightforward enough - it's freely accessible and sits on farmland near the coast, making it an easy detour if you're staying at Haven Seton Sands Holiday Village down the road. The site itself won't take you more than half an hour, so don't plan your day around it. What works is combining it with a proper walk along the Seton coast or visiting some of the other East Lothian attractions in the area. The weather can be wild out there, and there's no shelter, so pick a decent day.

Worth a stop if you're passing through? Yes. Worth driving specifically to see? Only if you're already exploring East Lothian properly.