Free entry to Historic Scotland sites 21 & 22 April 2007
Written by Karen BryanHistoric Scotland is offering free entry to its sites Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 April 2007, in its annual open weekend. This is a great opportunity to visit interesting historic sites free of charge. Why not plan a Spring weekend in Scotland?
The main attraction in Stirling is the castle but Doune Castle and Inchmahome Priory are close by.
Stirling Castle
In Perthshire Huntingtower Castle and Elcho Castle are two of the attractions. In the Scottish Borders you could visit Melrose, Dryburgh and Jedburgh abbeys.
Melrose Abbey
Direlton Castle and Tantallion Castle are both close to North Berwick in East Lothian. In St Andrews the castle, the cathedral and St Rule’s Tower are interesting sites to visit. Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth would be a great day trip from South Queensferry.
Definitely a recommended thing to do. The National Trust in NI (and presumably in England & Wales) do the same thing on a set date each year.
I generally used the day to go into somewhere that I wasn’t interested enough to pay for and found several places that actually would have been worth paying for.
I am a member of the National Trust but I often wished that Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland would amalagamate. You join the National Trust and assume that it will cover your entry fee for somewhere like Stirling Castle and discover it’s managed by Historic Scotland.
[...] I am taking some of my own advice and heading to Scotland for the Historic Scotland free weekend. I will be staying at the Northern Hotel in Brechin. I have chosen this hotel as it gets good reviews and is close to Edzell Castle, one of the sites I want to visit and photograph. I have started writing a guide to Angus, the county north of Dundee. I need to visit the area to take photos for the guide and I thought I could combine this with visitng some Historic Scotland sites. I know this area pretty well as grandparents lived here and I spent many childhood holidays in Angus. [...]
[...] I thought I’d also feature a couple of places to stay in Scotland, as it’s the Historic Scotland free weekend, so you could visit a couple of castles, Edinburgh and Craigmillar, during your stay. In Edinburgh the St Andrews Boutique Guest House with double rooms for £65 a night gets pretty good reviews. It’s located around 3 miles from the city centre but close to bus routes. You can buy an all day bus ticket for around £2.50. [...]