I arrived in Scotland a couple days early for my “girl’s trip” as I knew we (my friends and I) had a busy trip planned and I wanted a bit of time to chill and recover from jetlag. I know if I get one night of good sleep and a fairly relaxed next day, I’m fine after crossing multiple time zones so I tend to plan that into my trips.
This time, I decided to spend a few days in Stirling for a few reasons, primarily because it’s somewhere I hadn’t yet been. It’s also basically between Glasgow and Edinburgh (and easy to get to from either place by train) and I was flying into Glasgow and meeting my friends in Edinburgh. And I’m glad I did as it was the perfect place to spend the weekend. In fact, I could have spent more time there are there was lots to do and see.
So what did I get up to on my quiet weekend?
I arrived in Stirling mid-afternoon and my hotel, The Golden Lion Hotel (lovely old hotel, I’d stay there again), was close to the train station, about a 5 minute walk, and easy to find thankfully as I didn’t have access to the internet yet. Sidenote: I didn’t realize how much I rely on Google Maps until I couldn’t use it. I bought a UK 30 day SIM card the next day – £10 for 8gigs, sooo much cheaper than home as it was $17 with the exchange rate and using my Canadian one would have been $16/day (I’ve used EE for getting a UK SIM card the last two times, they worked great and would/will do so again).
After checking in and quickly freshening up, I headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant for an early dinner. Of course, I got fish & chips for my first meal in Scotland after 4 years, which was nice, and a pint.
As I was dead tired – I’d been up for more than 24 hours (I’m getting too old to fly overnight after working a full day, especially as I can’t sleep on planes) – I decided to just go back to my room for an early night. Sleep is the best way to recover from jet lag.
The next day, I spent the morning relaxing, drinking tea and getting rid of my jetlag before heading to a nearby mall to buy the beforementioned SIM card. Then it was off to Stirling Castle to explore. Stirling Castle is now my favourite Scottish castle, and I would recommend it to anyone. Give yourself a few hours at least to explore!
I caught one of their free tours – totally worth it, Claire, our guide, was wonderful – and then explored more on my own afterwards. The royal apartments were gorgeous, I loved the ceilings (I’ve never taken so many photos of ceilings before, lol) And the actors within the royal apartments were great, and totally added to the experience as they spoke to the visitors and answered any questions in character. Which was neat. I also wandered around the grounds, there are beautiful gardens and lots to see. Definitely recommend but make sure you have at least 2-3 hours.
But all good things must come to an end, plus I was getting hungry, so I stopped at the Portcullis (a pub right outside the castle entrance which I’d read good things about) for dinner. It was busy but as a solo traveler it’s easy to eat at the bar which I did as then I didn’t have to wait for a table. Fish & chips again, this one had tons of different veggies which was appreciated, and a pint of Bitter & Twisted to go with it.
Then it was time to head to the Old Jail for the Ghost tour I had booked. It was super entertaining and often funny, but not particularly scary. We didn’t walk as far as I’ve walked on other ghost tours but it was fun and I would recommend it if you have the time. I’ll never forget the graveyard bunnies! Just think about what they were burrowing in…
The next day I was off to meet up with my friends in Edinburgh but thankfully, I had a bit of time to explore first as it was a beautiful day. This is why I love traveling with just a backpack as I don’t need to worry about my luggage. So, after checking out of my hotel, I headed out for a walk along the Back Walk to the Beheading Stone, which is a lovely walk. As you can tell from the photos, the sun came out and I actually got a bit sweaty. After taking a wrong turn (there were a bunch of branches on the trail), and asking a helpful Scot who was walking his dog for directions, which he kindly gave me, not only to correct my wrong turn but how to continue the rest of the way (back to the last Y, go left, then left, then right, then left… can you see how I made a wrong turn, lol). Turns out I was almost there. After finding it, the Beheading Stone that is, and taking a few photos, I took a break and just enjoyed the view, it’s up on a hill so you can see a lot of the countryside, including the Wallace Monument in the distance. I then wandered back, using a different route, this one closer to the castle, to the train station, stopping briefly to buy a Mother’s Day card for Mom at a charity shop.
And that was my brief “get over jetlag” pre-start to my girl’s trip. I’d love to go back to Stirling to hike to the Wallace Monument and explore more but didn’t have time this trip.
How did I get there?
Once I got to Glasgow (by plane), I caught the 500 bus downtown from the airport which dropped me off right at the train station. After buying a tea to relax and kill some time, I took a Scotrail train to Stirling. I’d previously purchased tickets and downloaded the ScotRail app which made everything easy, and I’ll definitely do so again. My solo tickets were 1st class (it was only a bit more) as I wanted the quiet especially after a long day of traveling. When I traveled later with my friends, I booked us regular tickets.
Rambles and Walks 