Search hotels in Stirling

The locals were all friendly and there is an abundance of eateries from snacks to main courses . I even noticed the taxi drivers were assisting all there customers . Easy to stroll around this historic town / city .

The website for Sterling castle says a visit takes approximately 2 to 3 hours i disagree, to do the castle justice I feel the visit should be planned for 3 to four hours at a minimum there is a lot to see and explore, a fantastic place to visit and I would very strongly recommend you go on one of the free guided tours their knowledge and enthusiasm for the history of Stirling Castle is amazing

Excellent for those interested in history and beautiful scenery :-) Stirling castle was my favourite part of our break . Book tickets on line in advance . However we struggle on internet connection so they let us buy tickets at the entrance .

We have previously stayed twice at this hotel and the location is excellent we ate the first night at the hotel and the food was very good we were served by a wonderful young man who went above and beyond to help us l his name was Scott. I would book ahead for a restaurant as they were all very busy we visited the Rude Church and grounds very interesting and the castle and Jail is worth a visit good shopping to .

The Castle and the old bit of the town is a good walking about size though either steep upwards or steep downwards (there's a bit of a hit in that there's a medieval castle at the top of the crag!) Stirling Castle is a bit of a mixture: built originally as a proper castley castle to dominate the river crossing and the entrance to the Highlands. Then the James's started to turn it into a Palace (only to be out-palaced by Henry of England with Hampton Court and then the pesky French Louis built a real palacey palace at Versailles. So very interesting place to see and hear about that change from the guides. The old town has many small old-style craft and family run shops with a big shopping centre complex(Thistle Centre) between the town centre and the railway station. Town Centre parking is expensive and scarce during the day (but more than adequate and mostly free overnight roughly 5;45pm to 8:45am). Some parking at the Thistle Centre but there is cheap day-tie parking (£2+ per day) at the Vue Cinema which connected to the town centre by a pedestrian bridge over the railway maybe a 10 minute walk. The Walace Monument is a glorious bit of Victorian monumental history but well worth the climb on a clear day as you see why the castle was so important before big guns Pre-Covid there was a lively artistic scene (Tolbooth had regular concerts) largely driven by the university on the outskirts which is now (Oct 2021) starting to come back to life. Great transport links: trains to the corners and central belt of Scotland with fast long distance busses filling in the gaps. Be aware that the motorways to at Perth(30 miles roughly) and some A-roads will be fast(e.g. the A9 through Perthshire to Inverness is mostly 70mph limit dual carriageway) but many are twisty and slower.

Stirling is a very picturesque City with plenty of places to visit and interesting shops too. A City walk is a good way to find out where everything is and to be able to pinpoint places that you would like to explore further. We were taken to places that we would never have found ourselves on a short visit.