It was Sir Walter Scott's poems — and those of Robert Burns — that first inspired people to consider the Scottish Highlands as a tourist destination, especially once train travel made it feasible. Queen Victoria also has been credited with promoting the Highlands. She loved vacationing at Balmoral Castle (as does Queen Elizabeth II today) with her large family, enthusiastically embracing Highland culture. And then along came Diana Gabaldon.

This best-selling author of spicy time-travel romances — what she has described as "historical fantasias" generally set in the 18th century Highlands — "has done a lot for Scottish tourism," notes Alastair Cunningham, who heads the Scottish Clans and Castles tour company based near Inverness. For the past decade he has helped tourists plan their own trips or arrange guided tours to enjoy the lush green scenery or research their Scottish ancestry. When fans of Gabaldon's "Outlander" series began requesting special tours to areas mentioned in her books, which have sold more than 17 million copies in 24 countries and 21 languages, he began offering those, as well.

Ironically, Gabaldon (pronounced GAH-bull-dohn — rhymes with stone), a former university professor who holds a Ph.D. in quantitative behavioral ecology, is from Scottsdale, not Scotland. She had never set foot in Scotland when she penned her first best-seller, "Outlander," published in 1991. Intrigued after seeing a BBC "Doctor Who" science-fiction episode featuring 18th century Scotland and a "fetching" young man in a kilt, Gabaldon thought it would be interesting to research the era and take a stab at writing a novel, which she finished in 18 months and promptly sold.

Since then fans on both sides of the Pond have been lapping up her mega-page books as fast as she can research and churn them out, which takes about three years for each one.

"My housework is not getting done, my kids are running wild, my husband gets very annoyed when he sees me reading. I have to sneak pages when he's in the shower," wrote Carla, one of many Gabaldon fans on Amazon. Another posted on a fan blog: "Anyone who can make characters and the past come alive the way she does —well, I'm in awe." A worldwide fan club with online message boards is called Ladies of Lallybroch.

Wanting to see what the fuss was all about (I normally prefer nonfiction), I decided to tag along on one of Cunningham's tours. The dozen U.S. fans in the group included a court reporter, teachers, nurses, mom-and-daughter duos and a couple of patient husbands who had signed up for the seven-day trip through "Claire and Jamie" (the romantic couple featured in the series) Highland country.

Traveling on a 16-passenger bus, we left the bustle of Edinburgh — where we also toured — to journey on narrow country roads through the Highlands' forests, woodlands, mountains, streams and waterfalls, past scenic fields of heather, lavender, barley and grazing sheep. We visited several castles, saw the Bronze Age Clava Cairns and stones, and toured storied sites, including Loch Ness, Beauly Priory, Fort William and Glenfinnan. We stayed overnight at charming inns in Inverness and the Isle of Skye, as well as in a castle.

My companions had come to tartan territory because of Gabaldon's intriguing stories woven through Scottish landscape, culture, traditions and history. From her books they had learned about Gaelic, clans, customs, uprisings, brutal battles, imprisonments and witch-burnings.

"I enjoy the way she 'joins up' history so you get a sense of what is happening in France and the USA and Scotland during the period of her novels," notes longtime fan Anne-Marie Ringler, an American who lives just outside Glasgow. "I also enjoyed how Claire uses her 20th century medical knowledge to the benefit of the Jacobean populous —which almost gets her burnt as a witch!"

Also included in Gabaldon's stories is rich detail about historic figures Bonnie Prince Charlie — and "The Old Fox," Lord Lovat, Chief of Clan Fraser, "whom she portrays absolutely spot-on," noted Cunningham.

Her writings tell about the 1745 Jacobite Rising, which forever changed Highland and European history. As we quietly strolled through the sacred ground and mass graves of Culloden Battlefield, just a few miles east of Inverness, it brought to life that fateful day of the crushing Jacobite defeat to the British army on April 16, 1746. The site of a brutal, bloody battle, this was where the hungry and tired Jacobite army viciously fought on that chilly, damp day. Over 1,000 Jacobites were killed during the battle (versus only some 50 British government soldiers), which was over within an hour — yet its repercussions were felt for many generations. It destroyed and divided families and set clan against clan. Over the years archaeologists have found coins, musket parts, buckles and ripped-off buttons that tell the story of the terrifying confrontation. It is also eerily depicted in a small theater-in-the-round at the phenomenal visitor center.

One highlight of the tour was meeting Gabaldon at the Strathpeffer Highland Gathering on the grounds of Castle Leod, where — as pipers performed in the background — she signed "An Echo in the Bone," the seventh in the "Outlander" series.

Our group also stayed overnight at the 17th century Castle Stuart (which, of course, has a resident ghost). Located outside Inverness, the 5-star accommodation, a perfect fairy-tale setting, is where we had the unique opportunity to dine with Gabaldon. As we enjoyed a champagne toast in the richly decorated drawing room, the petite, charming author chatted with our group about her books and posed for photos. We then followed a kilted piper into the dining room, where a young girl performed a Highland fling.

At dinner, Gabaldon told me that she had wanted to be a writer since age 8.

"Of all the people who read my books, I've never met a single one who didn't love Scotland: the country, the history, the delights of the fresh salmon and single-malt, especially the people," she said.

"Diana's books came along at exactly the right time for me," tour member Lori Lindau, a teacher of young deaf students in Janesville, Wis., told me. She explained that she had picked them up to read while enduring cancer treatment 10 years ago. "I thoroughly enjoyed being able to escape from my world, travel to the 18th century and join Jamie and Claire in the Highlands. The opportunity to tour these very Highlands and to meet the author who originally took me here is a dream come true."

"As a Scot myself I absolutely love Diana's books," wrote Shona on a recent fan blog. "I have learned more about Scottish history than I ever was taught at school."

Dorease Rioux of Colorado Springs summed up the Highland tour: "It was magical. It brought Diana's books to life for us."

WHEN YOU GO

For general information: www.cometoscotland.com, www.visitscotland.com, www.visitbritain.com

Transportation: Continental Airlines, www.continental.com, and British Rail, www.britrail.com

Scottish Clans and Castles Tours (click on "Diana Gabaldon Adventures"): www.clansandcastles.com

Castle Stuart, with rates at about $280 per person per night (check website for current information): www.castlestuart.com

Culloden Battlefield: www.nts.org.uk/culloden/

Sharon Whitley Larsen is a San Diego-based freelance travel writer.