Castle Campbell and Elie: Day 11 – Scotland 2017
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16 April 2017
We woke to the soft patter of rain falling on our tent. It was rather cold, and both of us would have rather stayed snuggled up in our sleeping bags. Instead, with castles calling to us, we got up and quickly packed camp in the quiet rain. Once everything was in the car, we were on the road to Castle Campbell.
Upon our arrival, we found the car park empty except for a lone white moped. With the lot empty, we weren’t sure if the castle was open. We walked up the road in hopes that we’d be able to get in. As we made our way to the top of the hill, we were met with a grand sight. Castle Campbell rose out of the trees, standing proud over a beautiful glen.
Castle Campbell
Perched above the town of Dollar, Castle Campbell is a silent watcher to the goings-on below. It has stood there since the early 1400s when it was once known as Castle Glume. The castle changed over to Campbell hands in 1465, and the Campbell family lived there for nearly 200 years. The setting of the castle is stunning. With the Ochil Hills rising behind it and the land falling away before it, it’s an incredible location.
We used our Historic Scotland pass to get in for free (saving another £12) and started to explore. There is so much of this castle to roam through, and for nearly our entire visit, we were the only people there. One of my absolute favorite parts of the castle was the terraced gardens. Not only is the physical area beautiful, but the views ahead are breathtaking. After we had our fill of the castle and the views, we trekked back down to our car via the glen. We highly recommend this walk. It can be a little steep in places, but it is so beautiful, and missing it would be a tragedy.
Falkland
Next on our agenda was lunch. Technically, the next thing on our agenda was getting to Elie, where we’d be staying for the night. Our route took us near Falkland and we decided it would be a great place for lunch. Why, might you ask? For one reason only, and it has nothing to do with food.
See that second-floor window peeking out from behind the fountain? The one on the right? That’s the window that Claire is standing in when Jamie sees her. He stood by the fountain in the pouring rain and watched her brush her hair. If you’re not an Outlander fan, this will mean nothing to you. If you ARE a fan, you’ll understand the rush of emotion I got when standing here in Faulkland, pretending it was Inverness in the 1940s. I have no idea what we had for lunch here or where we ate. I just remember this view.
Elie
Our final stop of the day was Elie. We were supposed to go to Lochleven Castle earlier in the day, but their boat was broken. The castle is in the middle of the loch and the only way to reach it is by boat. This had been high on our list, not only for location and the castle but also because Mary Queen of Scots had been held prisoner here. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. We carried on to find our room for the night.
We were staying in Elie at The Ship Inn. Our inn was easy to find once we arrived in town. Parking, however, was not. There is limited street parking in town and no other lots to park in, so we parked a good way down the road and moved our car up later that evening when a spot opened. We checked in, got our bags into our room, and then decided to walk around and look for a place to grab dinner. The inn had a pub downstairs, but we wanted to try somewhere else. As luck would have it, there wasn’t anything else, and we ended up eating in the inn anyway. The service we experienced at The Ship Inn wasn’t the greatest, but our room made up for it. We loved it so much, in fact, that we painted our current bedroom in a similar color so that we could recreate the feel of being there. We spent the afternoon enjoying the view from our window and venturing down to the water’s edge. If you ask me, it’s the perfect way to end the day.
Cheers,
Lydia and Billy
