“We had a very nice time on our tour with you. Thanks again for customizing a special day for us! The new "Pictish" trail sounds very interesting. I will definitely keep it in mind for our return trip. We are truly hoping to return.”...  Laura & Kelly Buckley, Colorado Springs , US

Features "King" Arthur & Knights Templar Sites connected to historic warriors and peacemakers in the Stirling area.

Skeleton outline of tour.

(This tour offers the options within it of visiting Stirling Castle in addition to or rather than the Bannockburn Centre. Please specify when booking. There is a supplement to pay to enter the castle.)

The magnificent Stirling Castle was home to a dynasty of Steward kings and queens.and is one of the favourite visitor attractions in Scotland .

The plain below Stirling Castle became the hunting grounds for the Stuart monarchs, and affords a marvelous view of Stirling Castle , towering above on the crags. We visit the King's Knot, a site associated in folklore with Arthur's Round Table, as well as one of the ancient holy wells that feature in the campaign the Scots fought against the English in the fourteenth century century, when the Knights Templars aided their Scottish "cousins".

The informative Bannockburn Centre nearby includes displays on the Knights Templarr's military exploits. The Templars were medieval Knights that allegedly assisted those local rulers daring to defend their land against the English at Bannockburn nearby. William Wallace and Robert the Bruce both figure highly in the history of this region. The Bannockburn Centre reflects this with style.

For those not visiting Stirling Castle we can first visit the ancient church at Kinneil in the Forth estuary, where St Serf allegedly threw his staff across the Firth of Forth, in order to pinpoint where to settle his fifth century monastery. Kinneil happens to be on the old Roman Antonine wall also.

Returning from Stirling to Edinburgh along the northern flanks of the Firth of Forth, we visit an ancient graveyard above Culross that testifies to the local presence of the Templars. This graveyard is only a short distance by pleasant old footpaths away from Culross Abbey, the site where St Serf settled and thrived in his monastic communtiy in the sixth century, during what must have been an early period of stablity and cultural learning in Scotland .

Crossing over the Firth of Forth road bridge, we can get a sense of leaving behind a landscape and an era when mighty warriors fought for their freedom, yet the early learned monks strove for inner freedom and true peace of mind.

Jackie Queally +44 (0)131 667 8510