Ani

I'm looking for a castle for an overnight stay in Scotland for my husband and I. There are many, I realize, and I do have specific criteria I'm trying to match and want to make the best choice. Heres what I'm looking for:<BR><BR>Pre-1650<BR>Preferable with Mary Queen of Scots history<BR>Somewhere with reputed ghosts<BR>Something relatively small<BR><BR>So far, I'm interested in Borthwick, Traquair House and possible Castle Stuart.<BR><BR>Any advice??

janis

Well - all three are really wonderful in different ways. Traquair House is not a classic castle - but it is a great place. They only rent two rooms so you have a feeling of being a guest in a home instead of a hotel. And it truly qualifies as haunted. There is so much to see in the borders.<BR><BR>Borthwick is convenient to Edinburgh but I like the locations of the other two more. It has nore of a "hotel feeling" about it.<BR><BR>Castle Stuart is in a wonderful location - near Fort George, Culloden, and overlooking the Moray firth and its bottle nose dolphins. And it looks like a real castle.<BR><BR>depending on which area you prefer, I personally would choose Traquair or Stuart.

Maira

We toured Castle Stuart in May 1998 and throughly enjoyed it. The castle is said to be hunted by the ghost of one landlady who died at the Murray Room. We were shown one of the rooms, unoccupied at the time, and they were lovely. The castle has the library panels with the hidden passageways, the banquet room with the armours, the tour was a lot of fun (they take a max of 10 people and make sure the areas are clear before the tour heads out). The area has lots to offer, too. We particularly enjoyed the site of the Battle of Culloden, Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, Cawdor Castle; the Western Highlands are just gorgeous.<BR><BR>If you are into Mary Queen of Scots history, you can't miss a visit to Lochleven Castle, the prison tower located in a small loch off the town of Kinross (you hop in a boat at Kinross; about a 15 minutes ride). Mary, Queen of Scots, was taken prisioner to this castle. She was pregnant and said to have lost stillbirth twins, who are said to be buried at the site. The place was also attacked by William Wallace, after it has been besieged by the English and visited by Robert the Bruce. Scotland has fascinating history, have a great time planning!!

Maira

Ani--- I forgot to mention!.....for a list of Castles in Scotland associated with Mary, Queen of Scots try http://www.marie-stuart.co.uk/Scotland.htm

Ani

Thanks so much for the replies-and the website info!