Stirling and the Central Highlands
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Stirling and the Central Highlands - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Scone Palace
The current residence of the Earl of Mansfield, Scone Palace (pronounced skoon) is much more cheerful than the city's other castles. Although it incorporates various earlier works, the palace today has mainly a 19th-century theme, with mock castellations that were fashionable at the time. There's plenty to see if you're interested in the acquisitions of an aristocratic Scottish family: magnificent porcelain, some sumptuous furniture, a fine collection of ivory, clocks, and 16th-century needlework. Each room has a guide who will happily talk you through its contents and their associations. In one bedroom hangs a portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle, a young Black woman who was born into slavery in the British West Indies, then taken to England by her white British father and raised by the Mansfield family; while her father only officially granted her freedom upon his death, she was raised as a free gentlewoman and became a well-known society beauty in the 1760s. (The 2013 film Belle is based on her life.) A coffee shop, restaurant, gift shop, maze, and play area are on-site. The palace has its own mausoleum nearby, on the site of a long-gone abbey on Moot Hill, the ancient coronation place of the Scottish kings. To be crowned, they sat on the Stone of Scone, which was seized in 1296 by Edward I of England, Scotland's greatest enemy, and placed in the coronation chair at Westminster Abbey, in London. The stone was returned to Scotland in November 1996 and is now on view in Edinburgh Castle. You can only see the palace on a timed guided tour, which you should book in advance.
Queen's Dr., Perth, Perth and Kinross, PH2 6BD, Scotland01738-552300Sight Details
Rate Includes: Guided tours of palace £20, gardens only £10, House closed Nov.--Mar. -
2. Elcho Castle
Built around 1560 on the River Tay, the castle marks a transition period when these structures began to be built as grand houses rather than fortresses, and it's easy to see that Elcho was built for both comfort and defense. The well-preserved but uncluttered rooms let you imagine how life might have been here in the 17th century. The staircases still give access to all floors, and a flashlight is provided for the darker corners. From the battlements of the castle you can see the river stretching east and west.
Off A912, Perth, Perth and Kinross, PH2 8QQ, Scotland01738-639998Sight Details
Rate Includes: £6, Closed Oct.--Mar. -
3. Perth Art Gallery and Museum
This museum has a wide-ranging collection, including exhibits on natural history, local history, archaeology, and art, as well as an important glass collection. It also includes work by the great painter of animals Sir Edwin Landseer and some botanical studies of fungi by Beatrix Potter.
78 George St., Perth, Perth and Kinross, PH1 5LB, Scotland01738-632488Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Tues. and Wed. -
4. Regimental Museum of the Black Watch
Some will tell you the Black Watch was a Scottish regiment whose name is a reference to the color of its tartan. An equally plausible explanation, however, is that the regiment was established to keep an undercover watch on rebellious Jacobites. The Gaelic word for black is dubh, meaning, in this case, "hidden" or "covert." A wide range of uniforms, weaponry, and marching banners are displayed in this museum in Balhousie Castle, and there's a very good café and shop.
Hay Street, Perth, Perth and Kinross, PH1 5HR, Scotland01738-638152Sight Details
Rate Includes: £9, guided tour (book ahead) £16 -
5. St. John's Kirk
In this impressive cruciform-plan church dating from the 12th century, religious reformer John Knox preached a fiery sermon in May 1559 against idolatry. An enraged crowd stripped the church and poured into the street to attack the wealthy religious institutions; this helped start the Reformation in Scotland. The interior was divided into three parts at the Reformation, but in the 1920s Sir Robert Lorimer restored it to something closer to its medieval state.
St. John Street, Perth, Perth and Kinross, PH1 5SH, Scotland01738-633192Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Oct.--Apr. except for services -
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