The tower roof
Climb the spiral stair to the top of the fifteenth-century tower, where the whole of Dollar Glen opens out below you to the Forth valley.
Tom Parnell — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ruy Lestrade (George Gastin) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Alfred de Breanski — Public domain · eebAMDG — CC BY-SA 4.0
It was called Castle Gloom, and it stands on a narrow rock between two ravines, one carrying the Burn of Care and the other the Burn of Sorrow. None of that is a historian's joke; the names are real, and they stuck until Colin Campbell, first Earl of Argyll and chief of Clan Campbell, pushed an act through the Scottish parliament in 1489 to rename the place after his family. The setting never changed: a tower begun around 1430 at the head of Dollar Glen in the Ochil Hills, about 25 km east of Stirling, with a crescent of green hills behind it and the glen dropping away in front all the way to the Forth valley. What survives is a fifteenth-century tower house that has kept its floors and vaults almost intact. You climb its tight spiral stair floor by floor, past stone-vaulted rooms and small carved heads, and come out on the roof to the view that justifies the whole trip. In the courtyard is an open arcaded loggia, added in the 1590s and a rarity in cold Scottish castles, and below it the terraced gardens where the Campbells took their walks. A rocky knoll in one corner is known locally as John Knox's pulpit, after a tradition that the preacher addressed a crowd from it while staying here in 1556; Mary, Queen of Scots spent three days at the castle in January 1563. The great hall range was burned in 1654, during Cromwell's occupation of Scotland, by Royalist enemies of the Campbells rather than by Cromwell's own troops as is often said, and it was never rebuilt; its ruin completes the picture rather than spoiling it. Getting there is part of the experience, not a footnote. From Stirling the A91 takes you east to the small town of Dollar in about half an hour, and then you choose. Either a narrow, steep single-track road up to the tiny upper car park, which fills on summer afternoons, and a 500 m walk with a sharp descent and climb and a narrow stepped footbridge, so no pushchairs here; or leave the car at the main car park at the foot of the glen in Dollar and walk up Dollar Glen, a free National Trust for Scotland path through woodland, past small waterfalls and along raised wooden walkways, 30 to 40 minutes. That walk is half the pleasure, provided you have proper shoes, because it is slippery after rain. By bus from Stirling to Dollar allow about an hour, then walk; no public transport reaches the castle itself. Facilities are minimal: there is a small shop, but do not count on toilets at the castle, the nearest being in Dollar. Hold on to the important part: the castle opens only from 1 April to 30 September, daily 10:00 to 16:30, shuts for a full hour at lunch from 12:30 to 13:30, and takes last entry half an hour before closing. From October to March it is closed outright, though the glen path stays open all year and the exterior alone is worth the walk. Adult tickets are £8.50 at the gate or £7.50 booked online for a timed slot, children aged 7 to 15 pay £5 or £4.50 online, under-sevens go free, and Historic Scotland members and Explorer Pass holders get in free. Allow two to three hours including the glen. If you have a single day in Stirling, spend it on Stirling Castle; if you are staying two days or more and like walking, this is one of the best half-days anywhere around the city.
Climb the spiral stair to the top of the fifteenth-century tower, where the whole of Dollar Glen opens out below you to the Forth valley.
An open arcade of the 1590s that you would expect in Italy rather than Scotland, with terraced gardens below and the knoll locally called John Knox's pulpit.
A free climb from the town past waterfalls and wooden walkways, open all year, that delivers you to the castle in 30–40 minutes.
Castle Campbell, Dollar, Clackmannanshire FK14 7PP
It is not a substitute but a different thing: Stirling Castle is a full royal museum, Castle Campbell is a ruin in wild scenery you reach on foot. With one day, stick to Stirling; with two days and a taste for walking, make this half of your second day, and do not come between October and March, when it is closed.
Not the pushchair; both routes cross a narrow stepped footbridge and steep gradients, so bring a carrier for toddlers. Children from about six upwards love the spiral stair and the raised walkways in the glen, but pack proper shoes and a rain jacket even in August, and do not count on toilets at the site.