Stirling, Scotland.  (May, 2022).

Scotland has a very efficient train and bus system that will get you to pretty much any city you want to visit.  But many interesting sights are several miles or more out in the countryside.  For the first time on our travels we decided that a rental car would give us more flexibility and options.

On our way out of Edinburgh, we picked up a Hyundai Tucson compact SUV at the airport rental car park to begin a week driving around the Scottish Highlands.  Stephanie prefers to be the driver rather than the passenger, and I certainly did not object.

As expected the Hyundai had a manual transmission with a right-sided steering wheel.  Driving on the left side of the road is not particularly difficult.  Just follow the other cars. 

The roundabouts take a bit more getting used to, especially the larger ones.  But sitting on the wrong side of the car and shifting with your left hand definitely adds an element of difficulty.

I’ll give Stephanie some credit.  She didn’t cuss anywhere near as much as I anticipated, nor did she hit anything the entire week.

I sat in the front seat and played the role of back seat driver.  Stay in the center of your lane.  Don’t drive onto the sidewalk.  Make sure you look for oncoming traffic when turning right.  The right lane is the fast lane on the motorway.  The speed limit is 60 miles per hour, so please go faster than 40. 

Not once did I suggest to Stephanie that she slow down, which never ceased to amaze me over the upcoming week. 

Our first stop was at the Kelpies, two towering horse head sculptures by artist Andy Scott situated in the Helix, a large park in between Falkirk and Grangemouth, located about 20 miles west of Edinburgh.  It was a great place to stop if for no other reason than to give Stephanie a break from driving.  Her hands were already cramping from gripping the steering wheel too hard.

After twenty minutes or so, walking around in strong winds and cold temperatures, it was time to get back into the car to go to Stirling.

We bought Stirling Castle tickets online for a 1:00 PM entry.  I figured that would give us time to pick up the rental car, visit the Kelpies, drive to Stirling and grab lunch before making our way to the castle.

Rain was predicted beginning around 2:00 PM.  Though the weather forecast is not entirely reliable, we did not want to take a chance.  We hustled to Stirling Castle to get an early entry and avoid the rain.

When we pulled into the parking lot at the castle it was half full at best.  Maybe two tour buses were present.  So far so good.  It was obviously nowhere near crowded.  About 11:30 AM we approached the check point outside the main entrance to show that we had castle tickets.

And we were politely told to come back in an hour.  Stirling Castle enforces timed entries within a 30 minute window.  The earliest we could get in was 12:30 PM.  Okay, we will go to lunch first as originally planned.

We walked ten minutes down the hill into town and found that all the restaurants were still closed.  Of course they don’t open until noon. 

A quick check of Google Maps showed a Subway a few blocks away.  Good enough.  Open, fast, and inexpensive checks all the boxes.

After lunch it was back up the hill to Stirling Castle.  At 12:30 PM we were allowed in.  There were even fewer people in the castle then than there were an hour earlier.  We basically strolled around the castle for an hour and a half with few other people anywhere near us.

Stirling Castle reminded me of a smaller Edinburgh Castle.  Situated above the city, Stirling Castle has a Great Hall, Royal Chapel, Regimental Museum, Palace, a battery and walls overlooking the city and countryside, and a small garden.  Not to mention a café and gift shop. 

It was definitely a worthwhile visit.  About 2:00 PM, as we were leaving the castle, we felt a few rain drops.  But that was about it.  The actual rain did not arrive until later that night.

Stirling is essentially a smaller, older town with a well preserved castle.  The stores in town close at 5:30 PM (or earlier), even the indoor mall.  Several restaurants and pubs can be found, but not a lot.  Stirling is a quiet place.  It is great for a day trip, and as a stopover, but probably not more than that.

After our one night in Stirling we woke up early to take a short detour to one of the highlights of our trip: Doune Castle.  Not particularly large or pretty, Doune Castle is well known as being the filming site for many movies and television shows, notably Monty Python and the Holy Grail and, more recently, scenes from Game of Thrones and Outlander.

The audio guide for Doune Castle is narrated by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame.  I hate audio guides as a general rule, but this is one I would have undoubtedly enjoyed.  Unfortunately Doune Castle is also closed for inspection and renovation.  Our visit was limited to a portion of the exterior, which generously lasted about five minutes.

Dozens of old castles and ruins across Scotland are closed for the same reason, risk of falling mortar.  As of May, 2022 a list of closures can be found here. 

From Doune Castle, Stephanie successfully got us back to the A9 motorway heading north towards Inverness for our next stop.

Garrett and Stephanie

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