For Scotland – Day 2 – Highlands we used the Secret Scotland (SS) itinerary from Edinburgh and set off on our adventure! We covered so much ground and see so much, it was fantastic! Driving around the highlands was amazing as well. You can see our full itinerary and costs on my Scotland Itinerary post.
Bannockburn Visitor Center was first as it was indoors and the weather was questionable to as if it would be raining or not. However when we arrive we fund that we’d have to wait 45 mins for the next tour so we decided just to skip it and head on out to see other stuff since the weather turned out to be not raining. Had we visited it would’ve been £30 for our family.
We stopped at a grocery store where we spent £37 and loaded up on drinks, snacks, and stuff for sandwiches for lunch & fruit.
We then headed over to see Stirling castle, from the outside, we decided not to pay to see the inside since we had decided to visit two other castles, there’s a limit to how many castles we’re willing to tour in one trip 😉 Plus it would’ve been £43 for our family of 4 to tour the castle as well.
Instead we went to the cemetery next to the castle & behind the church to get some great views of the castles. It was interesting checking out all the old gravestones as well. The city was cute and quaint and we walked the scenic route past the jailhouse to the car.
Scottish Wool Center was next to get there by 1 pm so that we could see the sheep dog demo as they are only 3 times a day. The dog demo was fun to watch as he herded ducks though an obstacle course. She also explained the different types of sheep and we got to see them up close. There were also some babies to see as well. It’s free to watch the dog demo & visit the shop.
This is a fantastic gift shop as well. There was a large selection and the prices are reasonable. There is a small cafe on site as well as free bathrooms. A few animals and small play area towards the back of the shop near parking lot also.
Doune Castle was our next stop and one of the castle’s we toured. It’s more of a ruin and not furnished but it’s where Outlander and the pilot episode for Game of Thrones was filmed so it was worth the visit. There is a small cottage like building next to the free parking lot and that is where the restrooms are located. It was £17.60 for our family of 4 and that included audioguides for the self tour. We were here about 40 minutes, I’ll be doing a separate post on this castle as well.
Duke’s Pass is the scenic route that thankfully we took using the SS guide, it was along this pass that we got to see and hang out with some Highland cattle, we were so excited! They came right up to the fence to see us as well. Since this is off the beaten path there was only one other family pulled over admiring them as well. This was free and it’s considered one of Britian’s best drives, I’d recommend checking it out!
Falls of Dochart was in a cute little town. There is free parking about a 2 min walk away. Don’t miss the cute gift shop by the falls, has some great stuff for reasonable prices, owner was super friendly as well. Seeing the falls is free and great photo opps from the bridge.
Finlarig Castle ruins is another off the beaten path and I assume often missed location. There is free parking across from the cemetery and it’s about a 1 min walk up to the ruins. There were great for photos as well!
Croftmorg Stone Circle is located on a small farm. There is a little pull off area to park on the right side of the road. We didn’t go up to the stones as they looked to be inside a fenced area with sheep. I was able to get photos from the road though. We also seen a newborn sheep that had literally been born probably minutes before we arrived.
We stayed the night at Atholl Villa Guest House – We stayed in the apartment and it had a great set up. It had a living room area with a tv, games, couch & chair. There as a kitchen and a bedroom with 3 beds. The beds were comfy and there were a ton of outlets in the room which was a huge plus. The train just out back of the guest house was a bit lout and annoying at 11 pm but it flies through blaring it’s horns but not much that can be done about that. The wifi was decent and worked great for websites and Facebook but kept buffering and dropping the connection for streaming. The fridge was a bit of a disappointment as it was on the highest setting but was not very cold. Breakfast was food cooked to order with a buffet, you turned your order card in the night before and it was yummy. It’s also located in walking distance to restaurants for dinner and there is a grocery store and bank down the road as well. Customer service was friendly and we had a good overall experience. It was £129 for the apartment for our family of 4, breakfast was included.
We ate at Victoria’s Restaurant which was ok food but ran us $100 for our family of 4, so it wasn’t the best bang for our buck for sure.
Coming up soon will be Day 3 which includes the Highlands in the Inverness area.
*There are affiliate links for the hotels, so if you choose to book through the link I’ll get a small % back to help support the blog, there are no added fees or costs for you.
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