Sights in Stirling Region
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Stirling Castle
Hold Stirling and you control Scotland. This maxim has ensured that a fortress of some kind has existed here since prehistoric times. Commanding superb views, you cannot help drawing parallels with Edinburgh castle – but many find Stirling's fortress more atmospheric; the location, architecture and historical significance combine to make it a grand and memorable sight. This means it draws plenty of visitors, so it's advisable to visit in the afternoon; many tourists come on day-trips from Edinburgh or Glasgow, so you may have the castle to yourself by about 4pm.
Admission costs for the castle will rise once the Royal Palace opens. The mooted price was £14 for adults, whi…
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National Wallace Monument
Towering over Scotland’s narrow waist, this nationalist memorial is so Victorian Gothic it deserves circling bats and ravens. It commemorates the bid for Scottish independence depicted in the film Braveheart. From the tourist office, walk or shuttle-bus up the hill to the building itself. Once there, break the climb up the narrow staircase inside to admire Wallace’s 66 inches of broadsword and see the man himself re-created in a 3-D audiovisual display. More staid is the marble pantheon of lugubrious Scottish heroes, but the view from the top over the flat, green gorgeousness of the Forth Valley, including the site of Wallace’s 1297 victory over the English at Stirling …
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Castle Campbell
Charming Dollar is about 11 miles east of Stirling in the lower Ochil Hills. Castle Campbell is a 20-minute walk up Dollar Glen, into the wooded hills above the town. It’s a spooky old stronghold of the Dukes of Argyll and stands between two ravines; you can clearly see why it was known as ‘Castle Gloom’. There’s been a fortress of some kind on this site from the 11th century, but the present structure dates from the 15th century. The castle was sacked by Cromwell in 1654, but the tower is well preserved. From the little car park near the castle there’s a great ramble with sweeping views over Castle Campbell and the surrounding country.
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Museum of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
In the King’s Old Building is the Museum of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, which traces the history of this famous regiment from 1794 to the present day. It has a great collection of ornately decorated dirks (daggers). In another part of the castle, the Great Kitchens are especially interesting, bringing to life the bustle and scale of the enterprise of cooking for the King. Near the entrance, the Castle Exhibition gives good background information on the Stuart kings and updates on current archaeological investigations
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Wallace Monument
Two and a half miles north of Stirling is Scotland’s impressive Victorian monument to Sir William Wallace, who was hung, drawn and quartered by the English in 1305. The view from the top, of no less than seven battlegrounds, is as breathtaking as the 67m climb up to it. The monument contains interesting displays, including a parade of other Scottish heroes and Wallace’s mighty two-handed sword. Clearly, the man was no weakling.
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Breadalbane Folklore Centre
The Breadalbane Folklore Centre is in an old water mill overlooking the falls. There is an audiovisual presentation about St Fillan, a local saint whose religious teachings are said to have helped unite the ancient kingdoms of the Scots and the Picts in the 8th century. There are displays about local and clan history, including the MacGregors and MacNabs. The centre also houses the tourist office.
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Stirling Castle & Argyll’s Lodging
Hold Stirling and you control the whole country. This simple strategy has ensured that a castle has existed here since prehistoric times. The superb views it commands mean you cannot help drawing parallels with Edinburgh Castle – but Stirling is better. Location, architecture and historical significance combine to make it one of the grandest of all Scottish castles.
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Inchmahome Priory
From the Lake of Menteith (called lake not loch due to a mistranslation from Gaelic) a ferry takes visitors to the substantial ruins of Inchmahome Priory. Mary, Queen of Scots was kept safe here as a child during Henry VIII’s ‘Rough Wooing’. Henry attacked Stirling trying to force Mary to marry his son in order to unite the kingdoms.
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Dunblane Cathedral
Fabulous Dunblane Cathedral is well worth a detour. It’s a superb, elegant sandstone building – a fine example of Gothic style. The lower parts of the walls date from Norman times, the rest mainly from the 13th to 15th centuries. A 10th-century carved Celtic stone is at the nave’s head, and a standing stone commemorates the town’s slain children.
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Argyll's Lodging
Complete with turrets, spectacular Argyll's Lodging is the most impressive 17th-century town house in Scotland and you'll find it by the castle, at the top of Castle Wynd. It's the former home of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling and noted literary figure. It has been tastefully restored and gives an insight into lavish, 17th-century aristocratic life.
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Church of the Holy Rude
The Church of the Holy Rude has been the town’s parish church for 600 years and James VI was crowned here in 1567. The nave and tower date from 1456, and the church has one of the few surviving medieval open-timber roofs. Stunning stained-glass windows and huge stone pillars create a powerful effect.
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Bannockburn Heritage Centre
At Bannockburn Heritage Centre the history pre- and post-battle is lucidly explained. The audiovisual could do with a remake, but there’s lots to do for kids, and an intriguing recreation of Bruce’s face which suggests that he may have suffered from leprosy in later life.
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Cowane’s Hospital
Behind the church is Cowane’s Hospital, built as an almshouse in 1637 by the merchant John Cowane. There’s a family-tree database here, where you can search for your ancestors if they were born around this area.
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Old Town Jail
The Old Town Jail is a great one for kids, as actors take you through the complex, portraying a cast of characters that illustrate the hardships of Victorian prison life in innovative, entertaining style.
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Hamilton Toy Collection
The Hamilton Toy Collection is a powerhouse of 20th-century juvenile memorabilia, chock-full of dolls houses, puppets and toy soldiers. It’s a guaranteed nostalgia trip.
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Royal Burgh of Stirling Visitor Centre
The Royal Burgh of Stirling Visitor Centre has an audiovisual presentation and exhibition about Stirling, including the history and architecture of the castle.
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Old Town
Below the castle, the steep Old Town has a remarkably different feel to modern Stirling, its cobblestone streets packed with 15th- to 17th-century architectural gems. Stirling has the best surviving town wall in Scotland. It can be explored on the Back Walk, which follows the line of the wall from Dumbarton Rd (near the tourist office) to the castle. You pass the town cemeteries (check out the Star Pyramid, an outsized affirmation of Reformation values dating from 1863), then the path continues around the back of the castle to Gowan Hill where you can see the Beheading Stone, now encased in iron bars to prevent contemporary use.
The Church of the Holy Rude has been the tow…
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Old Town
Below the castle, the steep Old Town has a remarkably different feel to modern Stirling, its cobblestone streets packed with 15th- to 17th-century architectural gems. Its growth began when Stirling became a royal burgh (about 1124), and in the 15th and 16th centuries rich merchants built their houses here.
Town Wall, Back Walk & Mar's Wark Stirling has the best surviving town wall in Scotland. It was built around 1547 when Henry VIII of England began the 'Rough Wooing' – attacking the town in order to force Mary, Queen of Scots to marry his son so that the two kingdoms could be united. The wall can be explored on the Back Walk, which follows the line of the wall from Dumb…
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Bannockburn
Though Wallace's heroics were significant, it was Robert the Bruce's defeat of the English on 24 June 1314 at Bannockburn, just outside Stirling, that eventually established lasting Scottish nationhood. Exploiting the marshy ground, Bruce won a great tactical victory against a much larger and better-equipped force, and sent Edward II 'homeward, tae think again', as the song 'Flower of Scotland' commemorates.
At Bannockburn Heritage Centre the history pre- and post-battle is lucidly explained. The audiovisual could do with a remake, but there's lots to do for kids, and an intriguing recreation of Bruce's face which suggests that he may have suffered from leprosy in later li…
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