Alloa Tower

📌 Alloa, Clackmannanshire
★★★

The mostly modern town of Alloa is Clackmannanshire’s capital and largest settlement. It couldn’t really be described as a tourist destination, unless you happen to be visiting Alloa Tower: the largest keep in Scotland. The tower dates to about 1368 and is the ancestral home of the Erskine family; Mary, Queen of Scots and her son James VI both spent some of their early years here under their supervision. The interior was transformed from starkly functional to lavishly comfortable over the centuries, and was carefully restored once more before opening as a tourist attraction in 1997. There are good views of the steep southern slopes of the Ochil Hills from the upper floors – albeit beyond an urban wasteland of car parks, supermarkets and office blocks.