Inchmahome Priory
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park
What is it?
A 13th century Augustinian monastery set on an island in the Lake of Menteith, one of 22 major lochs in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
Why it is special?
This was a functioning monastery for more than 300 years and it has a place in Scottish history as a sanctuary for Scottish royalty.
King Robert Bruce visited Inchmahome three times, and the young Mary Queen of Scots was brought to the priory in 1547 for safety when she was five, following the Scots defeat at the Battle of Pinkie near Edinburgh.
The loch is now a haven for wildlife, you can spot ospreys, which nest in nearby Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, catching fish here. The island itself is home to many special, ancient trees including three gnarled sweet chestnuts which are probably more than 400 years old and up to 6m in diameter.
The lake also provides some of the best fly fishing for rainbow and brown trout in central Scotland.
Tell us something we didn’t know
This year the Lake of Menteith hosted a winter festival during the big January freeze when the ice was thick enough for skating, sledging and curling. However a hoped-for revival of the Grand Match curling spectacle, the first to be held on the lake for 30 years, was called off due to safety concerns.
Frozen Britain - lake's winter festival
How to get there
It’s about 6km east of Aberfoyle off the A81. Catch a ferry from the Port of Menteith to the island. Hail the boatman by turning round a sign on the pier (it doesn’t run in bad weather during the winter months).
By public transport, Stirling railway station is 15 miles away. A summer bus service, the Trossachs Trundler, links Callander and Aberfoyle. It calls at Port of Menteith.
