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Our guide to accessible tourist attractions


Branklyn Gardens, Dundee Road, Perth.Tel: 0844 493 2193
This attraction has provision for disabled visitors.
This attraction has baby changing facilities.
Please phone and check that this attraction suits your personal needs before travelling.

Springtime brings Rhododendrons and early flowering
alpines to Branklyn giving inspiration tokeen gardeners
in the springtime. Many of the rhododendrons have
been raised from seeds collected in the wild. More recent
collections from West China have added to the range of
species. Rhododendrons start to flower in February when
the frosts allow and continue to display their lovely colours
until July.

Beneath them, together with the spring-flowering primulas,
grows a large array of bulbous plants, perhaps the most
admired being a good range of species and forms of the
dog-tooth violet (erythronium) with amost spectacular
display. In the rock garden and scree, alpine primulas,
gentians and saxifrages give a fine display to match the
exuberance of the rhododendrons.

Paraquilegea anemonoides, the blue buttercup, is one of
the unforgettable sights in the scree and plant trough. 
Hellebores and lungwort (pulmonaria) provide early spring
colour in the semi-shaded borders, where later crocus,
trilliums and a host of plants too numerous to mention
produce a display to charm the visitor.

As Spring merges into summer with a spectacular display of meconopsis, very much a feature of Branklyn. Asiatic primulas in variety add to the colour but it is in the early summer that the trees come into their own.

Magnolias produce a lovely display of white fragrant flowers, the snowdrop tree charms, while viburnum plicatum ‘mariesii’ makes a major feature with its layers of branches covered with white flowers.

It is however the foliage effects in the garden which produce the summer joy. The focal point of the garden is the golden form of the Japanese maple near the rock garden, but the purple forms of acer palmatum produce a major impact, contrasting well with the many shades of green and the differing hues of the conifers.

Grey-green-leaved hoheria lyallii from New Zealand, with its hibiscus-like flowers, adds to the summer interest in the centre of the garden while producing welcome shade and shelter for lilium superbum, meconopsis grandis and other woodland plants.

High summer brings out the lilies and the herbaceous plants, carefully chosen to associate well and make Branklyn what it is. During the National Trust for Scotland’s redevelopment of the garden, every opportunity is grasped to place plants
where they will grow best and blend together.

Late-flowering alpines such as geraniums and pinks maintain interest in the rock garden, while gentiana x hexa-farreri heralds the start of the flood of blue autumn-flowering gentians which continue until the frosts.
Bannockburn, StirlingshireTel: 0844 493 2139
This attraction has provision for disabled visitors.
This attraction has baby changing facilities.
Please phone and check that this attraction suits your personal needs before travelling.

The Battle of Bannockburn was one of the greatest and most important
pitched battles ever fought in the British Isles. It was a key event in both
English and Scottish history, had very real medium and long-term
effects and was a turning point in the history of the British Isles.

Bannockburn was the key battle in what are now known as the Scottish
wars of Independence; battles fought by the Scots against successive
acquisitive English Kings and between rival claimants from the kingship
of Scotland.

Stirling Castle was central to the defence of the main route into northern
Scotland and between 1296 and 1314 it changed hands five times.
In 1314, Stirling Castle was held by a garrison of Edward II’s troops.
Edward II marched rapidly northwards to relieve the besieged garrison
and Robert the Bruce chose a site at the crossing of the crossing of the
Bannock burn to stop the advance of Edward’s army. Debate continues
over the exact location of the second day of the battle. The area of land
owned by National Trust for Scotland around Borestone Brae is of exceptional
significance because it is the spot where Bruce is though to have raised his
standard on the first day of the Battle.

Bannockburn can rightly be claimed the most famous battle to be fought and won by the Scots in Scotland, but it is widely acknowledged as more than that. The name is now synonymous in the Scottish psyche with ideas of liberty, freedom, independence, patriotism, heroism, perseverance and triumph against overwhelming odds.

Bannockburn has long been at the core of the Scottish national identity and is reflected in the works of art and literature, such as Robert Burns’ Scots Wha Hae or the more recent Flower of Scotland by Roy Williamson of the Corries.

In 2004, archaeologists discovered an armour-piercing arrowhead dating from the battle.
Castle Fraser, AberdeenshireTel:  0844 4932164
This attraction has provision for disabled visitors.
This attraction has baby changing facilities.
Please phone and check that this attraction suits your personal needs before travelling.

Castle Fraser is reminiscent of a French Chateau filled
with family treasures, furniture and interesting family
portraits The largest and most elaborate of Scottish
castles built on the Z plan design . There are stunning
views from the top of the round tower.

Children's woodland secrets play area is an enchanted
wood area with wigwam, bamboo snake walk, giant
xylophone and lots of other areas for children to hide
and clime.

The whole children's area is completely biodegradable
so very environmentally friendly. There is access to this
area by wheelchairs and pushchairs.

Unfortunately, Miss Bristow's Trail (11/4 miles) and
The Alton Brae Trail (11/2 miles) are not accessible by
wheelchair or pushchairs.
Loch Ness Visitor Centre, HighlandsTel:  01456 450573
This attraction has provision for disabled visitors.
Please phone and check that this attraction suits your personal needs before travelling.

Using a highly effective mix of lasers, digital projection and special effects Loch Ness charts the history of the monster
by exploring Scotland's geological past, its folklore and the various research projects carried out on the loch. It also reveals the discoveries of some of that research including the environmental fingerprints left in the loch's layers by both nature and mankind giving an insight into the loch's wider significance.

Designed and narrated by Loch Ness Project
leader, the naturalist Adrian Shine, whilst keeping
the mystery centre stage, it is placed firmly into the
context of a loch with rare & unusual properties:
some still motivate expeditions while others can
"create" monsters. Here are the results of that
exploration, using the very latest multi-media
system, original research equipment and authentic
underwater films.

On one hand, the loch's famous "Jurassic Park"
reputation, 1000 reliable eye-witnesses and some
classic photography give credence to a monster's
existence. On the other hand, hoaxes and illusions,
Scotland's journey and the legacy of the ice, life in
the abyss and a possible underlying truth.

Everything about Loch Ness that you can't
see by looking at it!





This statue of Nessie adorns a pool at the Loch Ness Visitor Centre.
This statue of Robert the Bruce stands
alongside Bannockburn Battlefield
Branklyn Gardens in full bloom