Our stopover at the Stirling Highland Hotel was completely unplanned but turned out to be fortuitous. We had intended to head north to stay in Fort William on Friday then visit Glenfinnan Viaduct, Loch Ness, Eilean Donan Castle and Inverness the following day, but with Storm Amy bearing down on the northern half of the UK, we heeded the weather warnings and stayed in the south of Scotland. Even Glasgow and Stirling had heavy rain and gale force winds, but it was much worse further north.

We were lucky to have secured a last-minute booking at the Stirling Highland Hotel and were pleased to have arrived by late afternoon, with the worst of the storm forecast for that night. We were delighted to discover that the hotel was a huge old high school built in 1854, and was just a stone’s throw from Stirling Castle. Features like the tartan carpet gave it a real Scottish feel, and it sat high up on the hill so had a great view across Stirling.

With the wind and rain bearing down all night we were pleased to have a sheltered spot for the car inside the school quadrangle. The next morning we awoke to lots of little pieces of tree debris which had blown in around the windowsills overnight. Needless to say that although we felt safe and were grateful to have found somewhere to stay, we did not sleep all that well!

The following morning the wind had dropped considerably, though the rain still persisted on and off. We were able to leave the car at the hotel for a few hours so could explore charming Stirling on foot, and return to Stirling Castle for a better look at the Robert the Bruce statue and National Wallace Monument, as the fog had lifted. We would not have had these opportunities had we headed north as originally planned.