A weekend in Callander, Scotland

If you have been reading my latest blog posts, you will notice that they are day trips to different locations in Scotland. However, this one is not a day trip but a weekend trip, specifically a weekend in Callander. The Photographic Society of the University of Edinburgh organises each semester a weekend trip for its members, but since most students have a low budget, it had to be a destination where cheap accommodation was available as well as cheap transportation. Callander, a small town on the edge of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park satisfied all the above.

Getting there

Getting to Callander with public transport may be a bit tricky as you need both a train and a bus, but it is still quicker to get there from Edinburgh than to other National Parks in Scotland. To get there you need to take a train to Stirling and then take bus 1 or 59 from there to get to Callander. Trains leave from both train stations in Edinburgh (Edinburgh Waverly and Haymarket) and the bus leaves from Stance D which is opposite Stirling train station. The bus stops at Callander town centre, just make sure to get off at the War Memorial stop. The total trip should take no more than two hours.

Note: If you want to spend a day extra in Stirling, then check out this blog post: A day trip to Stirling from Edinburgh.

Things to do

Callander mostly offers nature-based activities such as walking, cycling and fishing. For us, walking was our focus point and we decided to follow two walking tours (one per day) that would take us to Bracklinn Falls (the first one) and to Ben Guillipen (the second one). On day 1 we followed this walking route and on day 2 this one. Both routes offer fantastic views!