Stirling Castle, Scotland, United Kingdom
The main attraction of Stirling is its Castle around which the old town is centered. With an uneventful day so far with my overnight sleeper ferry arriving in Aberdeen 7am and onwards train to Stirling at 9.44am there were no delays or mishaps as with before so I was on schedule and had the whole day to explore. I had checked into my hotel to leave my bags which although in a central location across from the train station, it was basically an "upscale hostel".
Walking up the main street to the Castle I was passing by some of the landmarks. First was the Old Town Jail which cost 14 pounds to enter so I skipped having already visited jails in Belfast and Lancaster. It was also UK Election day so I asked in a polling station if I was eligible as an Overseas UK Citizen, but without a UK address I could not which I suspected would be the case.
Next stop was the Church of the Holy Rude but that was 5 pounds entry so I skipped also having visited many churches on my UK visits.
It was an incline continuing up to the Castle passing more impressive stone buildings in the old town
I dont recall what the ticket price was to Stirling Castle but there were no lineups or issues booking tickets online as had been the case with Edinburgh Castle. You can also buy tickets on the spot at the counters unlike Edinburgh Castle which was online only
It was a similar layout to Edinburgh Castle with a square inner courtyard and buildings on either side
The Royal Apartments were more spacious and better furnished than in Edinburgh Castle. They also had costume characters in each room to narrate stories of the room
This was maybe the second most important Scottish Royal household after Edinburgh Castle
The other section of the Castle houses the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum of Scottish military history
It was also a gallery with many interesting scene paintings and portraits
Other sections of the Castle included the Chapel and Great Hall which had stained glass windows
There were still yet more sections of the Castle such as the cellars, kitchens, and hilltop views of the town
Leaving the Castle light rolling drizzle began and I had to toggle wearing my hood or not. I was making my way downhill to the Old Stone Bridge on the River Forth
There is actually the Old Bridge and the new bridge running together. The original medieval bridge is from the Battle of Stirling in 1297
I was then going along the River Forth thru a residential district to get to the old Abbey. This was a very nice neighbourhood similar to where I grew up in London. They were very quiet streets, big homes, locals greeting you by saying hello. Somewhere I could see myself living but probably out of my price range
As I reached Cambuskenneth Abbey ruins suddenly heavy rains began. I actually had to go inside the church tower to wait for the rains to pass. King James I is buried here but I must have missed that
Again there were nice residential streets making my way back to the town centre. I went in Thistles Shopping centre but nothing that interesting except more goodies from Marks & Spencers Food Hall
Back in the hotel it was UK Election Day but the tv did not work. The lady in bathrobes and slippers who had let me in was now at the reception dressed for the day. She said she did not know how to make the tv work, the owner is in Edinburgh, her husband is back this evening. So what was I supposed to do when the tv was not working. Turns out you could only use internet apps such as youtube, netflix. They did have BBC iplayer where I was able to get some election coverage
See also Vlog of Scottish Castles - https://youtu.be/Jrmmo68t5qM
2025-05-23