Insight Guides Scotland by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Scotland
Publisher: Apa Publications
Published: 2017-05-16T16:00:00+00:00

To the west, not far from Stirling, lies Scotland’s first national park, the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, which was officially opened by the Princess Royal in 2002, and covers five distinct areas: the Argyll Forest in the west on the Cowal Peninsula, Loch Lomond, The Trossachs, east of Callander and the northern peaks around Crianlarich.

The Falkirk Wheel.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

The Battle of Bannockburn

The site of the Battle of Bannockburn, a few miles south of Stirling, has been more or less consumed by a housing estate. No one is precisely sure where the battle was fought, but the rotunda beside the heroic bronze equestrian statue of Bruce is said to mark his command post. The Bannockburn Heritage Centre (tel: 01786-812 664; www.battleofbannockburn.com; daily Mar–Sept 10am–5.30pm, Jan, Oct 10am–5pm) gives an audio-visual account of the matter. Also close to Stirling is the Alloa Tower (tel: 01259 211 701; mid-Apr–Aug Thu–Mon noon–5pm, mid-Mar–mid-Apr, Sept–Oct Fri–Mon noon–4pm), the superbly restored former home of the earls of Mar, built in the late 15th century with a dungeon, medieval timber roof and an impressive rooftop parapet walk with fine views.

Stirling is almost equidistant from Edinburgh and Glasgow. If you take the M9 to Edinburgh, you stay roughly parallel to the broadening course of the Forth. There are rewarding diversions to be made on this route. Just outside Falkirk is the Falkirk Wheel (tel: 08700-500 208; www.thefalkirkwheel.co.uk; daily 10am–5.30pm; free). Opened in June 2002, this spectacular feat of engineering is a unique rotating boatlift that carries boats between the Forth & Clyde and Union canals. You can see the lift in action and take a ride on amphibious boats.

Also near Falkirk are four good sections of the Roman Antonine Wall t [map] , which the Emperor Antoninus Pius had built between the Firths of Clyde and Forth around AD 140. The motorway itself has opened up a distracting view of the loch and the late 15th-century Linlithgow Palace y [map] (tel: 01506-842 896; daily Apr–Sept 9.30am–5.30pm, Oct–Mar 10am–4pm), the well-preserved ruins of Scotland’s most magnificent palace and birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots.

From the M9, you can also visit the village of South Queensferry u [map] on the southern bank of one of the Forth’s oldest crossings, where river becomes estuary. Until the Forth Road Bridge was built, ferries had plied between South and North Queensferry for 900 years. Today, South Queensferry huddles between and beneath the giant bridges that provide such a spectacular contrast in engineering design – the massive humped girders of the 1890 rail bridge and the delicate, graceful span of the suspension bridge, which took six years to complete and was opened in 1964.

At South Queensferry, you can take a boat excursion to the island of Inchcolm in the Forth and visit the ruined abbey (tel: 01383-823 332; daily Apr–Oct 9.30am–5.30pm), monastic buildings and gardens. Be aware that adverse weather conditions could make the crossing impossible. Cross the Forth Road Bridge or take the train to North Queensferry to visit the huge aquarium at Deep Sea World (tel: 01383-411 880; www.

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