Was in the mood for a romp around a castle today, so we headed off to Dollar to visit Castle Campbell, A Historic Scotland property. A lot of the adventure was in the getting there - he thought I knew where it was. Naturally, I thought HE knew where it was. And then when we eventually found Dollar, we discovered the road to Castle Campbell is rather steep and narrow, with little opportunity to pass another car should you meet one coming the other way. Luckily for us there was a space in the tiny car park at the top of the hill, as I didn't fancy reversing all the way back again!
A pleasant if slightly hilly walk takes you round and down to the imposing castle in its amazing setting, with great views out over Clackmannanshire and beyond. There's a quiz for kids, resulting in stickers and a "genius" certificate if you score 100% (we did!) There are lots of dark and spooky rooms in this old ruin, many many stairs to climb to the roof terrace, and some great interactive displays and information boards. There are also some fabulous gargoyles on one of the ceilings which are worth climbing up all those stairs for!
The gardens were lovely with plenty space and facilities for picnics. We were impressed to find inside one of the tiniest old castle rooms a modern loo, what must surely be the smallest toilet in Scotland! There is a "tearoom" of sorts - with provision to buy sachets of hot drinks and snacks at the shop and make your own drinks in the small kitchenette provided. If you intend to visit more castles, it's certainly worth your while thinking about buying an annual pass for Historic Scotland, which is good value. See their website http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/ for more details.
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