Monday, February 25, 2008

Stay In a Castle? You Bet!



Ever since I was a little girl who loved fairy tales, I’ve wanted to live in or at least stay in a real castle.  While I thought those dreams were never going to come true – my husband surprised me with a thoughtful package from Virgin Vacations that included a stay in a Scottish Castle!

For me, that was the true highlight of the trip.  I anticipated our stay like a little kid anticipates Christmas.  I dreamed about what the room would look like, exploring the grounds that had so much history and soaking in every moment of my castle experience.

Our package included a two night stay in a Castle Hotel located in Fintry Scotland.  From the research I did before we left, I found out that Culcreuch Castle belonged to the Galbraith family who built it in the 15th century.  The castle is on an amazing 1600-acre country park to the northeast of Fintry, in the south Stirling Council area.  The castle was purchased in 1984 with an eye of developing the castle into a tourist destination.  Today, the castle is a thriving hotel with fine dining and many weddings, conferences etc. taking place there.

As we drove up to the castle, I could feel my pulse quicken with excitement.  It was everything I dreamed of.  An immense structure surrounded by forest and rolling fields of grazing sheep. I was so excited to get out of the car and to start exploring.  Even though I was a bit tired from our journey, the adrenaline kicked in and I was raring to go.  After checking in, we immediately started checking out the castle.

I really love the drawing room.  Overlooking the loch, the drawing room now acts as a resident’s lounge – a quiet place for reading, writing and relaxing.  We had our morning coffee here and it was a thoroughly enjoyable atmosphere.  We were also lucky enough to make the acquaintance of several other guests while we were in the drawing room.

Next, we went to our room.  As I opened the door, it didn’t disappoint.  I had a great big smile on my face as I checked out our digs for the next two nights.  We had a great big four-poster bed in a beautiful deep dark wood.  We found it to be most comfortable and allowed us a great night’s rest.  The washroom was small, but adequate and there was plenty of hot water – always a bonus!

We were a bit hungry so we went exploring to find where to eat.  The staff suggested the Dungeon Bar as an excellent place to get a quick bite.  Well, don’t’ be scared off by the name, The Dungeon Bar is really atmospheric and so cozy!  Nothing like a dungeon!

The rest of the day, we spent exploring the truly magnificent grounds.  There is no need to ever leave the castle and the grounds because you can fill every waking moment exploring!  There is a charming lake in the middle that you can walk around and you can follow the winding road up in to the woods.  We enjoyed many romantic strolls!  Oh yeah, I really enjoyed one night when we saw the sunset and every rabbit imaginable in the area came for a nibble on the lawn!

If you are like me and always wanted to stay in a castle, then hunt down a Scotland vacation deal and head over to Culcreuch Castle.  It is a romantic, beautiful, peaceful, relaxing, historic and just amazing place to visit.  I cannot wait to go back!

Posted by enchanted218 on 02/25 at 02:45 PM
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