Easy Guide to Visiting Stirling Castle in Scotland

Stirling Castle is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland. Several Scottish monarchs were crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542. Sitting atop Castle Hill, it is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs, providing a strong defensive position and a lovely view for those visiting Stirling Castle!

Get ready to learn about the history of Stirling Castle, which you’ll be sure to encounter on a tour!

The History of Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of Scotland’s largest and most historically and architecturally important castles—making it a must see while visiting.

Most of the castle’s principal buildings date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A few structures remain from the fourteenth century, while the outer defenses fronting the town date from the early eighteenth century.

Before the union with England, Stirling Castle was one of the most used Scottish royal residences, truly a palace and a fortress. Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542.

There have been at least eight sieges of Stirling Castle, including several during the Wars of Scottish Independence, with the last being in 1746, when Bonnie Prince Charlie unsuccessfully tried to take the castle.

Today, the castle is a tourist attraction managed by Historic Environment Scotland.

Getting to Stirling Castle: Day Trip from Glasgow

I took the train from Glasgow to Stirling Station. It is on Goosecroft Road near the city center. I walked the rest of the way to the castle. It’s a bit of a ways so you can also take a bus or taxi if you prefer.

If you happen to have a car, doing a road trip around Scotland is a great way to see the countryside.

You can also access the castle by car or bus. Or if you aren’t coming from Glasgow for a day trip, there are several buses and trains that leave from Edinburgh.

Taking a Guided Tour of Stirling

To get the most out of your trip, I’d recommend taking one of the Stirling Castle tours. The guided tours are complimentary! Not only do they regale you with information about the history of Stirling Castle but about Scottish history as well.

The tour guide I got was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate about the castle. He engaged with us and encouraged questions. It’s wonderful when you get an excellent guide!

Included in the ticket prices is the Stirling Castle tour, taking place on the hour between 10 am and 5 pm.

Guide to Visiting Stirling Castle

If guided tours aren’t for you, though I highly recommend them, check out the audio guides, which are available in various languages for an additional charge. It is free for Historic Scotland Members.

If you’re visiting Stirling Castle with children, they have a special tour called the History Hunter tour. It is specially designed for children 5-12, though other ages are welcome. Hear tales about William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, how a cannonball should be fired, and the best way to storm a castle. History Hunter tours are every Saturday at 2 pm.

They also have sign language tours on select dates.

If you’re interested in William Wallace, and why wouldn’t you be, you can visit the National Wallace Monument. You can actually see it from the castle! I ran out of time while visiting Stirling Castle, so I didn’t get the opportunity myself, but I would if I got to visit again!

There’s so much to see in Scotland, enough to fill an 8-day itinerary.

Mary Queen of Scots Castle

Mary Queen of Scots was crowned in the Chapel Royal on September 9th, 1543. She was also brought up here at Stirling Castle until she was sent to Inchmahome Priory and then to France in 1548.

If you’ve seen the first episode of CW’s Reign, you would have seen her move from the Priory to France.

Queen Mary returned to Scotland in 1561 and was frequently visiting Stirling Castle. A replica costume showing the type of clothing that Mary wore is on display. She owned a lot of black, I assume because of the death of Francis and then the loss of her son.

Mary was traveling from Stirling when she was abducted by the Earl of Bothwell, beginning the chain of events that led to her forced abdication and flight to England. As a result of her ties to the history of Stirling Castle, some know it as the Mary Queen of Scots castle.

The Old Chapel Royal

The old Chapel Royal was the scene of the baptism of James VI, Mary’s son, in 1566. She staged a three-day event celebrating him. After the Catholic service, an elaborate feast was held in the Great Hall.

Later that night, Scotland’s first fireworks display took place over a mock ‘enchanted fort’ built on what is now the Esplanade. Talk about a party!

Seven months later, Mary was forced to give up her throne. In a Protestant ceremony, the one-year-old James VI was crowned at the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling. Almost 30 years later, in 1594, the old Chapel Royal was replaced by one designed for the new faith.

The Great Hall

The Stirling Castle Great Hall is the largest and finest medieval hall in Scotland. Up to 500 people could meet here for state banquets and parliament sessions. Built in 1503, the Hall proclaimed the power of James IV and the Stewart monarchy.

Probably the most extravagant event was a feast celebrating the baptism of James VI’s son, Henry, in 1594. To serve the fish course, a fully-rigged, 5m-long ship with 36 brass guns was wheeled in.

Do you think he felt the need to top his own baptism?

Fun Fact: The unicorn is Scotland’s national animal, which is why you can see several of them while visiting Stirling Castle. Two unicorns supported the Royal Coat of Arms of Scotland, which was used by the Kings of Scotland prior to 1603. The current royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom supports a unicorn for Scotland and a lion for England.

An Audience with The King

In 1496 James VI chose the castle’s highest point for his private residence. The turreted staircase, now the entrance to the regimental museum, originally climbed to James’ apartment.

The King’s Old Building endured 500 years of alterations, including when the army moved in during the 1600s and the northern end rebuild after a fire in 1855.

Only people with some social standing were allowed into this room to wait for a possible audience with the King. His staff decided who might be given the privilege. The chosen few were invited to enter the King’s Inner Hall.

On to the King’s Bedchamber, where only the most important visitors and personal friends met the King. You can again see the unicorn, a royal symbol of purity and strength, in the bedroom.

The Scottish monarchs probably dressed, washed, and prayed here while sleeping in a small room nearby.

The Stirling Heads

If you looked up, you would see an intricate ceiling decorated with a series of carved portraits. Originally decorated with oak portrait roundels known as the Stirling Heads.

Described as “among the finest examples of Scottish Renaissance wood-carving now extant.” The carvings were taken down following a ceiling collapse in 1777. Of an estimated 56 original heads, 38 survive.

Some of the portraits are believed to be of Kings, Queens, and courtiers. Others are thought to show classical or Biblical figures. A £12 million project began to recreate the grandeur of the Royal Palace.

It took a decade of researching the history of Stirling Castle and incredible craftsmanship to restore it. Through it, six royal apartments were restored to how they would have looked in the 1540s when this was the childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots.

The Queen’s Rooms

Reserved for the Queen and her most important visitors was the Queen’s Bedchamber. In the Queen’s Inner Hall, guests were granted a chance to meet the queen.

The stools and benches were for her ladies in waiting. The newly painted ceiling included portraits of James and Mary, though it may have once been covered with carved heads like the King’s.

As part of the project, seven hand-woven tapestries were restored. They hang on the walls of the Queen’s Inner Hall in the royal palace.

The tapestries are closely based on the Hunt of the Unicorn series, which was created in the early 1500s and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of New York. So, unfortunately, while visiting Stirling Castle, you’ll be unable to see the Hunt of the Unicorn, but the tapestries they do have are marvelous!

Only the very wealthiest of people could afford tapestries. James V had a large collection of them, including two sets that showed unicorns.

Stirling Castle’s Kitchens

When visiting Stirling Castle, you’ll learn a ton about the medieval diet! There is an elaborate kitchen section dedicated to just that! In the reconstructed great kitchens, every detail was informed by research.

An English traveler noted in the 16th century that the Scots ‘nauseate the very air with their tainted breath, so perfumed with onions, that to an Englishman it is almost infectious.’

The diet of the royal household was largely dependent on meat and, during Lent, on fish. Scottish history that they had their very own garden, which provided fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit for the kitchens.

The gardener received no pay if he could not produce sufficient amounts of fruit and vegetables. Talk about a tough job!

Eat Your Heart Out

By the 16th century it had become fashionable for food to be served in several courses. Generally dinner began with a type of soup dish known as pottage. Followed by roasts, small pies, pastries, then tarts or fritters. It ended with fresh or preserved fruit and sweetmeats.

16th century food was consumed on the basis of a social food chain. One table was served a far greater amount of food than was necessary, the extra would then be passed on to others by descending order of social rank.

The King and Queen ate first, followed by his or her courtiers, various officials, their personal servants, and finally, those who served the food to the tables. The same system was applied to the other servants.

A Scottish Pint of Ale

In the 1500s, everyone drank ale from morning till night. A servant working for the royal family was given a daily allowance of a joug of Scottish pint of ale (1.7 liters).

To meet the household’s demand, it was regularly brewed here using bere, an old variety of barley. This was often the work of women known as alewives.

Ale was consumed with every meal, even by children. It was safer to drink than water or milk, as any germs it may have contained were killed by the prolonged boiling of malt during the brewing process. It was also highly nutritious and constituted an important part of the medieval diet.

Much of what was consumed was known as small beer, which had a low level of alcohol that acted as a preservative but was not intoxicating.

The North Gate

The North Gate is the oldest surviving part of Stirling Castle. It was originally a gatehouse built in 1381 for King Robert II, grandson of Robert the Bruce and the first of the Stewart monarchs. A groove in the archway shows where a portcullis was once lowered.

Unfortunately, even in the history of Stirling Castle, it is unknown what the north gate’s upper floors originally looked like. In 1511-1512, when the building was expanded to provide kitchens for the Great Hall, the upper floors were removed.

The Birdman of Stirling

When John Damian declared he would fly to France dressed in a chicken suit one day in 1507, James IV and his court crowded here to watch. The alchemist/courtier leapt from Stirling Castle’s battlements, flapped his wings, and plummeted into a muck heap below.

He luckily survived with just a broken leg. Despite spending vast sums of the King’s money on unsuccessful experiments, the alchemist flourished in the vibrant Renaissance culture of James IV’s court.

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum has over 200 years of history on Scotland’s elite military regiments—the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

Stirling Castle currently plays host to this museum, called the Regimental Museum, where you can see exhibits and memorabilia from conflicts all over the world.

What interested me the most about this museum while visiting Stirling Castle, was the evolution of the Scottish Highland dress.

The Highlanders Museum

You learn all about the Scottish history of the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders and the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders. From their union in 1881 when they became the 1st and 2nd Battalions of The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regiment to today. 

The history of Stirling Castle and the museum began in 1881. However, it was not until 1988 that a museum was opened in the King’s Old Building of the Castle.

Civilian Scottish Highland Dress

This Civilian Highland Dress (c 1780-1837) was worn by Duncan Campbell of Lochnell when he was not serving with the army or on other occasions that didn’t require him to wear his uniform.

Made from silk tartan cloth, his colorful Glengarry (cap) also has ribbon tails attached to the back, which is common to Scottish caps of this kind. His kilt, sporran (purse), tartan hose (socks), red garter flash, brogues (shoes), and sgian dubh (the small knife that would have been worn in his hose) are also on display.

The kilt is made of “Hard Tartan,” which was manufactured from very coarse wool and tightly woven to produce a hard-wearing, almost waterproof cloth, which is completely different from the softer tartan kilts that are worn today. If you’ve watched Outlander, you’ve likely seen the “hard tartan.”

Pins held the kilt in place after it was wrapped around the wearer’s body. The kilt is flat at the front but pleated at the back in folds of material. These pleats give the kilt shape and allow the back of the kilt to swing as the wearer walks.

You can also see his Silver-Cantled Sporran (purse) decorated with the coat of arms of the Campbell of Lochnell family and the family motto “Arma Parata Fero” (I carry arms/weapons in readiness). This is surrounded by entwined thistles. The purse is made of goat skin and hair (most of the hair having been lost) and has six silver thread tassels attached to the front.

Fun Fact: Want a cure for blistered feet?

Officer’s Scottish Highland Dress

An Officer’s Feather Bonnet was made from ostrich feathers. It has an internal bowl-shaped wire frame. The height and construction of the bonnet saved several soldiers’ lives throughout the 19th century.

A Badgerhead Sporran was made from the head and pelt of a badger. Only those with the rank of sergeant or higher wore sporrans. To open the purse, the owner raised the front of the sporran by lifting the badger’s nose. The six white horsehair tassels are topped with bronze thistle-decorated caps tied into the leather of the sporran by gold cords and small sections of chain.

Stirling Castle and The Royal Family

Also held within the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum is the key to Stirling Castle. When a member of the Royal Family comes for an official visit, the Stirling Castle key is used. The key and it’s equally large padlock were used to lock the entrance gate to the castle.

On the occasion of a Royal visit, the key is taken from the museum to the front of the castle. The Hereditary Keeper of the castle (the Earl of Mar) presents the key to the Royal personage. Who then touches it, and is invited in.

How to Easily Visit Stirling Castle

If you’d like to take the work out of visiting Stirling Castle on your own or are looking for exciting activities to add to a day trip, then I suggest Get Your Guide Tours as they offer many marvelous options.

I love booking with them because if any issues arise, it’s easy to get a refund. Their tour operators are also affordable and reliable.

Tips for Visiting Stirling Castle

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