Scottish Tour Guide's Blog

Royal Apartments, Stirling Castle, Scotland

Royal Apartments, Stirling Castle, Scotland

This evening, I am focusing on the recently refurbished Royal Apartments at Stirling Castle in Central Scotland.

Stirling Castle has been transformed into one of Scotland’s top tourist attractions. Until the 1960s the castle was a British Army base but after the Army vacated the historic experts moved in and commenced a long programme to take the castle back to something approximating its former splendour-as a combined Royal residence and military fort.

Recently, a long-running project to restore the Palace building (effectively a shell) to its former mid-16th century (specifically 1545)  glory was completed. The result is a stunning display of colour and craftsmanship to replicate the living conditions on King James V and his French wife Mary of Guise. There are six rooms in all which are brought to life by the presence of actors in 16th century dress and language.

Royal Apartments, Stirling Castle, Scotland

Royal Apartments, Stirling Castle, Scotland

Royal Apartments, Stirling Castle, Scotland

Royal Apartments, Stirling Castle, Scotland

Royal Palace, Stirling Castle, Scotland

Overall, the new Royal Apartments serve to enhance the visitor experience at Stirling Castle, albeit at cost to visitor of a higher entrance fee.

This morning was the start of the final leg of the 48 hour photography tour of Scotland in winter. We had been incredibly fortunate with the previous two days as manifested in a combination of sunshine and snow covered landscape. The one downside being electricity cut in Mallaig as a function of damage caused by the recent hurricane force winds.

This morning, we departed our lodgings at Kenmore Hotel in central Scotland. The weather was not on our side in that it was raining and dark. First stop was the nearby Croft Moraig Stone Circle which we viewed in the dawn half light. This circle has its origins around 3000BC and is one of the more important such Neolithic sites on mainland Scotland.

Croft Moraig, Stone Circle, Scotland

Next we drove back to Kenmore and then tracked the northern edge of Loch Tay through to Killin at the southern end of Loch Tay and our immediate objective of the Falls of Dochart  which were in full spate after the recent rains.

At this stage we were still experiencing heavy rain and so decided to drive on to Stirling Castle. Fortunately, the rain progressively eased and were able to stop for photographs of Loch Lubnaig en-route to Stirling.

Loch Lubnaig, Trossachs, Scotland

Nearer to Stirling we came across a part frozen flooded field which proved an interesting subject. Then we stopped to photograph an old stone built pack-horse bridge which straddles the River Teith.

Pack Horse Bridge, River Teith, Scotland

We duly arrived at Stirling about 11.30am. We started by taking some images of  the south aspect of the castle sittig on its volcanic stump and then went on to visit the castle proper which entailed a  a quick tour including the recently refurbished royal apartments,latter being very colourful and impressive.

South View, Stirling Castle, Scotland

Main Entrance, Stirling Castle, Scotland

Royal Palace at Stirling Castle, Scotland

Interior of Royal Apartments, Stirling Castle

Re-enactment at Royal Apartments, Stilring Castle

From the vantage point of Stirling Castle a good view of the Wallace Monument can be obtained.

Wallace Monument, Stirling, Scotland

After some refreshments at Stirling we headed east to Edinburgh Airport to enable guest to connect with return flights.

Overall, an excellent trip with guest interested in another such photo tour next year.

Stills at Glengoyne Distillery, Scotland

This evening, I am focusing on Glengoyne Distillery which regularly features in both my specialist whisky tours and general sightseeing tours. Location in the Trossachs means the distillery is within striking distance of Glasgow and can be easily included in a day tour  using Glasgow as a base.

The distillery is located at Dumgoyne in Stirlingshire. Curiously, the facility sits astride the geological fault which separates the Scottish Highlands from the Lowlands as a result of which the spirit is distilled in the Highlands region but matures across the road in the Lowlands region.

This distillery is unusual in that it is privately owned, i.e. not part of  a corporate drinks empire. Whisky has been legally distilled on the site since 1833. Historically, the existence of a nearby burn (stream) would have influenced the siting of the distillery although this water source is  no longer used for the distillation process.

Glengoyne whisky has two characteristics: (1) It is unpeated, and (2) It is aged in American oak which is first shipped to Spain then seasoned outdoors before being assembled into casks which are filled with Jerez sherry. Later the casks are shipped to Scotland for use in the whisky maturation process at Glengoyne.

Glengoyne uses three stills for distillation and has a production capacity of some 1.2m litres per anum.

Glengoyne’s key products comprise a 10 year old, a 17 year old and a 21 year old.

The distillery is very visitor friendly. In addition to the standard distillery tour there are a range of specialist tasting and blending tours. 

Reception Area at Glengoyne Distillery, Scotland

Whisky Tutorial at Glengoyne Distillery, Scotland

Overall, Glengoyne offers a good experience to the connoisseur and non-connoisseur alike.