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GOOD THINGS TO SEE AND DO IN CALLANDER
TOY MUSEUM, MAIN STREET
The Hamilton Toy Collection is a delightful self-explanatory haven full of memories. [Check out their website at www.thehamiltontoycollection.co.uk]
The Hamilton Toy Collection is a delightful self-explanatory haven full of memories. [Check out their website at www.thehamiltontoycollection.co.uk]
ROB ROY AND TROSSACHS VISITOR CENTRE
This is a very good information centre housed in an old church in Ancaster Square. I often find myself in such places, adding to my collection of leaflets and shuffling backwards and forwards, pausing now and then to finger a woolly coo. I imagine it's par for the course when you're a tourist. Being a visitor brings with it a license to make a complete nuisance of yourself by asking lots of stupid questions, like, 'Where can I buy strawberries in the town?' If you wish to really annoy the staff you could perhaps take some time rearranging their book shelves or asking if Rob Roy was a hero or villain. Word of caution though: they keep a claymore under the counter for just such occasions, and it can be difficult having fun when missing vital bits of your anatomy, like ears.
This is a very good information centre housed in an old church in Ancaster Square. I often find myself in such places, adding to my collection of leaflets and shuffling backwards and forwards, pausing now and then to finger a woolly coo. I imagine it's par for the course when you're a tourist. Being a visitor brings with it a license to make a complete nuisance of yourself by asking lots of stupid questions, like, 'Where can I buy strawberries in the town?' If you wish to really annoy the staff you could perhaps take some time rearranging their book shelves or asking if Rob Roy was a hero or villain. Word of caution though: they keep a claymore under the counter for just such occasions, and it can be difficult having fun when missing vital bits of your anatomy, like ears.
THE OLD RAILWAY PATH TO KILMAHOG
This is a short stroll in the countryside. It's only about a mile or so there, and the same back. While the mountainous scenery is wonderful, you have the added incentive of a splendid inn at Kilmahog. Just bear in mind that you have to leave the path when it hits the A821 road, and turn right towards Kilmahog. Watch out for cars on the short stretch of road.
This is a short stroll in the countryside. It's only about a mile or so there, and the same back. While the mountainous scenery is wonderful, you have the added incentive of a splendid inn at Kilmahog. Just bear in mind that you have to leave the path when it hits the A821 road, and turn right towards Kilmahog. Watch out for cars on the short stretch of road.
BEN LEDI
This is a mountain. If you don't know what a mountain is then stay well away, and even if you have perhaps heard the word 'mountain' in passing conversation but have not yet grasped how to unfold your map or turn the curious thing on top of your compass, then stay well away. For this is a serious mountain, and I only mention it for you fit folk out there who have already walked up mountains, been knee deep in bogs, and who know what a cleg feels like when it draws blood through the shirt on your back. Even if you are wondering whether you can or cannot attempt such a thing, then still stay well clear. Mountains are not for idiots. (Goodness, for a moment there I almost came over all serious.) For those of you able and up to such a task, the reward is, as you well know, indescribable, and at times deeply personal. Ben Ledi is almost 900 metres high. The walk there and back from Callander will take you a whole day. And when eventually you reach ground level the ale in the Lade Inn will be like nectar from the gods.
This is a mountain. If you don't know what a mountain is then stay well away, and even if you have perhaps heard the word 'mountain' in passing conversation but have not yet grasped how to unfold your map or turn the curious thing on top of your compass, then stay well away. For this is a serious mountain, and I only mention it for you fit folk out there who have already walked up mountains, been knee deep in bogs, and who know what a cleg feels like when it draws blood through the shirt on your back. Even if you are wondering whether you can or cannot attempt such a thing, then still stay well clear. Mountains are not for idiots. (Goodness, for a moment there I almost came over all serious.) For those of you able and up to such a task, the reward is, as you well know, indescribable, and at times deeply personal. Ben Ledi is almost 900 metres high. The walk there and back from Callander will take you a whole day. And when eventually you reach ground level the ale in the Lade Inn will be like nectar from the gods.
LOCH VENACHAR
This is a loch. While mountains are generally high and dry with a smattering of wet places, lochs are invariably always wet. Very wet. To walk around it would probably be too much for most folk, but it might be possible to hire a bicycle in Callander and cycle to the Brig o' Turk, and back. Such a journey would be of the order of 16 miles, so even on a bicycle it's a fair distance. It will take you through forests at the edge of the loch, and into the shadows of Ben Ledi. And if you return via Kilmahog, well... you know what refreshing goodies await you. (NOTE - Bicycles can be hired from Mounter Bikes, up a low arched pend off Ancaster Square, beside the Rob Roy and Trossachs Visitor Centre. They also have an excellent leaflet with a map showing cycle routes in and around the area).
This is a loch. While mountains are generally high and dry with a smattering of wet places, lochs are invariably always wet. Very wet. To walk around it would probably be too much for most folk, but it might be possible to hire a bicycle in Callander and cycle to the Brig o' Turk, and back. Such a journey would be of the order of 16 miles, so even on a bicycle it's a fair distance. It will take you through forests at the edge of the loch, and into the shadows of Ben Ledi. And if you return via Kilmahog, well... you know what refreshing goodies await you. (NOTE - Bicycles can be hired from Mounter Bikes, up a low arched pend off Ancaster Square, beside the Rob Roy and Trossachs Visitor Centre. They also have an excellent leaflet with a map showing cycle routes in and around the area).
STRATHYRE
This is neither a mountain or a loch. It is in fact a pleasant higgledy-piggledy mixture of the two, each feature tastefully crafted by the Great Green-Eyed Goblin and arranged to give panoramas around a village of the same name. The fit amongst you could perhaps cycle on the walk/cycleway that runs from Callander to Balquhidder (or even on to Killin and beyond). You'd need to be well prepared for such a journey, with maps and a knowledge of what to expect en route. If you're not a cyclist, then buses towards Strathyre and Balquhidder are infrequent, if at all. Check with the local tourist office when you get into Callander. Paying for a taxi is always an option, and if there are a few of you it may be just as cheap as a bus. I know that the owner of the Kingshouse Hotel at Balquhidder runs a taxi service. [SEE STRATHYRE PAGES]
This is neither a mountain or a loch. It is in fact a pleasant higgledy-piggledy mixture of the two, each feature tastefully crafted by the Great Green-Eyed Goblin and arranged to give panoramas around a village of the same name. The fit amongst you could perhaps cycle on the walk/cycleway that runs from Callander to Balquhidder (or even on to Killin and beyond). You'd need to be well prepared for such a journey, with maps and a knowledge of what to expect en route. If you're not a cyclist, then buses towards Strathyre and Balquhidder are infrequent, if at all. Check with the local tourist office when you get into Callander. Paying for a taxi is always an option, and if there are a few of you it may be just as cheap as a bus. I know that the owner of the Kingshouse Hotel at Balquhidder runs a taxi service. [SEE STRATHYRE PAGES]
THE ROB ROY WAY
This is a long-distance footpath which runs for about 79 miles from Drymen to Pitlochry. As with all long-distance paths it may be regarded as a great adventure encompassing a number of days, where one is presented with the opportunity to see mountains and lochs up quite close, to sup ale and slurp soup in far-flung places where men used to wield claymores and rustle cattle, and to acquire a fine collection of blisters. (NOTE - cattle do not generally make rustling noises when scrunched up like an empty bag of crisps. The term 'rustle' means to steal cattle. Not that I am suggesting for one moment that Rob Roy McGregor ever indulged in such a thing. If you're still not sure if he was a hero or a villain then return to the Rob Roy and Trossachs Visitor Centre in Callander and badger them some more. (How To Annoy Tourist Office Staff, Lesson 463y - 'And one more thing, can you tell me where I might find some nice rustly cattle to listen to?')) The section of the Rob Roy Way north of Callander passes along the side of Loch Lubnaig on its way to Strathyre (Callander to Strathyre section is around nine miles).
This is a long-distance footpath which runs for about 79 miles from Drymen to Pitlochry. As with all long-distance paths it may be regarded as a great adventure encompassing a number of days, where one is presented with the opportunity to see mountains and lochs up quite close, to sup ale and slurp soup in far-flung places where men used to wield claymores and rustle cattle, and to acquire a fine collection of blisters. (NOTE - cattle do not generally make rustling noises when scrunched up like an empty bag of crisps. The term 'rustle' means to steal cattle. Not that I am suggesting for one moment that Rob Roy McGregor ever indulged in such a thing. If you're still not sure if he was a hero or a villain then return to the Rob Roy and Trossachs Visitor Centre in Callander and badger them some more. (How To Annoy Tourist Office Staff, Lesson 463y - 'And one more thing, can you tell me where I might find some nice rustly cattle to listen to?')) The section of the Rob Roy Way north of Callander passes along the side of Loch Lubnaig on its way to Strathyre (Callander to Strathyre section is around nine miles).
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