Doune (Gaelic) 'An Dun' which means 'The Fort'

The quaint village of Doune lies by the River Teith. The main attraction of the village is Doune Castle which was built in the late 14th century and is one the best preserved medieval castles in Scotland. It is built partly as a fortress and partly as a manor. Part of Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed here and it use to be rumoured that the inspiration for Fawlty Towers came from a stay at one of the local hotels (rumoured but not proven!) used during the filming.

Doune has many local shops, bars and hotels, and is well positioned as a base for exploring the Trossachs and Perthshire. Callander and Stirling are within 15 minutes drive, Bridge of Allan is only 10 minutes away and access to the M9 is within 5 minutes.

Worth visiting is the memorial statue to the great soldier, and founder of the SAS, Sir David Stirling on the B824 Doune to Bridge of Allan road, near his former family home of Keir House. It records the war-time achievements of Stirling who was the founder of the SAS. Stirling commanded the unit in the African theatre of World War II, where its activities behind enemy lines considerably hindered the activities of the forces of the German General Rommel.

Historically, Doune was well known for its manufacture of pistols. However, due to a rise in competition with cheap production coming from Birmingham, this ceased. It is widely believed that it was a Doune pistol which fired the first shot of the American war of independence. Some of these pistols can now be found in the museum of Edinburgh.

The town is popular with hill climbers and hosts a round of the British Hill Climb Championship each year. The Doune Speed Hill Climb is a prestigious hill climb course and not for the faint hearted!

Doune Map