Stirling has played a central role in Scotland's history for hundreds of years. This guide features the main of the historic attractions that you will want to visit in the Royal Burgh of Stirling.
Stirling Castle played an important role in the life of Mary Queen of Scots. She spent her childhood in the castle and Mary's coronation took place in the Chapel Royal in 1543.
The Royal Palace at Stirling Castle 1540-42 is the finest Renaissance building in Scotland. Visitors can now glimpse life in one of the great royal residences of Scotland's kings and queens.
Opened in 1869 to commemorate Scotland's greatest freedom fighter, Sir William Wallace. The Wallace Monument is on the Abbey Craig, a rocky crag from which Wallace watched the English army gather before the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
In June 1314 the history of Scotland as a nation was about to change forever. It was at the Battle of Bannockburn that Robert Bruce, King of Scots, would face down the English army led by Edward II. An incredible new experience that changes how you learn about Scottish history.
This 17th Century town residence is Scotland's finest surviving Renaissance mansion. A tour of Argyll's Lodging is included with Stirling Castle admission ticket.
By 1550, Broad Street in the Old Town of Stirling was the hub of town life and the centre of commerce and trading. The history of Stirling developed as the old town gradually grew from the castle down onto the low flood plain.
A once, grand building at the head of Stirling Old Town. Commissioned around 1569 by the powerful Earl of Mar, heriditary Keeper of Stirling Castle and one time Regent of Scotland.
Stirling's principal parish church for more than 500 years. A plaque on the floor marks the spot where the infant, King James VI was baptised in 1567.
A £1.7 million project to restore Stirling's Old Town Cemeteries was completed recently. Wander around the Holy Rude graveyard and you will see headstones which are hundreds of years old.
Built between 1639 - 49 with funds bequeathed by John Cowane, a wealthy Stirling merchant. John Cowane was a Town Councillor who became a member of Parliament for Stirling in the Scots Parliament and was elected Dean of Guild in October of 1624.
By 1550, the Tolbooth stood next to the Mercat Cross in the old town of Stirling. It was the court house, council meeting place, armoury and prison. Stirling Tolbooth is now a vibrant centre for music and the arts.
The original Erskine Kirk was founded in the 18th century amid local religious upheaval. The tomb of the the Reverend Ebenezer Erskine lies in front of the church, overlooked by an elaborate classical monument. The facade of Erskine Marykirk has been incorporated into a modern youth hostel for Stirling.
For 400 years, Stirling's prisoners were kept in the old Tollbooth Jail. Pressure for improvement and prison reform led to the new, purpose built Stirling Old Town Jail which was opened in 1847.
At the lower end of Broad Street is the house where Mary Queen of Scots second husband, Lord Darnley, is said to have stayed.
John Cowane was born in this house around 1570. The house was still inhabited in 1900 but is now a ruin on St. Mary's Wynd in Stirling Old Town.
Stirling's Town Wall was built as a defence when King Henry VIII was trying to force a marriage between the infant Mary, Queen of Scots and his son Edward. The Back Walk was built between 1723 and 1791 and is regarded as one of Europe's finest urban walkways.
One of the landmarks on Stirling's skyline with fine views towards Stirling Bridge, the Wallace Monument and the Abbey Craig. The beheading stone was used for many executions during the 15th Century including Murdoch, Duke of Albany in 1425.
Before this Bridge was built there were earlier structures, including the wooden bridge where Sir William Wallace defeated the English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Read about William Wallace and Andrew Murray who, defeated heavy cavalry on 11 September 1297 with an army of common spearmen.
An octagonal stepped, grassy mound on the land below Stirling Castle. The King's Knot is known locally, as the Cup and Saucer and around 1630 it formed part of a magnificent formal gardens.
At one time the park was used as the hunting grounds for the Royal Court at Stirling and is now one of Stirling's best used recreation areas.
Founded in 1874 with a legacy from Thomas Stuart Smith. The Smith gallery and museum houses a wide range of artworks, historical and archaeological material and a changing programme of exhibitions.
A surviving section of the 16th Century, town wall of Stirling. Under the Thistles shopping centre you can visit the thieves pot, a small dungeon where prisoners were confined.
Within a loop of the winding River Forth. An Augustinian settlement founded by King David I in 1147. The Abbey was closely involved with the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
The Stirling Arcade was designed and built between 1881 and 1882 and has long been an important feature in Stirling city centre due to its prominent location right in the heart of the old town.
Erected in the 1730's, the Steeple in the graveyard at St. Ninians Old Parish Church is all that remains of the old church.
A beautiful site on the banks of the Logie Burn beneath the hill of Dumyat, this ruined kirk dates from around 1684.
Menstrie Castle, a three-storey castellated house, was home to Sir William Alexander, who became 1st Earl of Stirling in 1633.
