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Town in Scotland
Photo: Kevin Rae, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Dunblane (Gaelic: Dùn Bhlàthain) is a market and commuter town, with a population of 9410 in 2016. It's nowadays regarded as part of the city of Stirling in Stirlingshire, although historically it was in Perthshire. It grew up around its cathedral (now demoted to a parish church) and became a spa town during the 19th century, when the Dunblane Hydro Hotel was built to cathedral-like proportions. In the late 20th century good rail and road connections turned it into a commuter town, within an hour of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
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A large church that has not been a cathedral since the Presbyterians abolished bishops. Mostly Gothic dating from the 13th century, restored late 19th. Note the woodwork of the 15th-century choir stalls, and the memorial in the nave to the massacre of 1996.
Volunteer-run museum about the cathedral and town. Exhibits include memorabilia of the Murray tennis players, the Jacobites, the "Atlantic Wall" a D-Day training mock-up, and 6000 communion tokens - only citizens in pious good standing were permitted to take communion, and were issued with a metal token to prove it.
Cosy 9-bedded hotel in town centre, formerly church accommodation and containing the "Secret Chapel". It's unstaffed, so you rely on the access code working. and it feels a bit hollow.
Pleasant small hotel just off A9 bypass, with five rooms en suite. Dogs welcome.
Doubletree by Hilton
4-star spa hotel in an iconic 1870s building overlooking the town, now part of the Hilton chain, with restaurant The Kailyard. Generally clean and efficient, some guests have jibbed at pricey Wi-Fi, dreary decor, and the late check-in time. Pets accepted in some rooms, extra fee.
15-room luxury hotel in a Victorian mansion owned by the tennis player Andy Murray, renovated in 2023. It gets great reviews for accommodation, service and restaurant.
By rail
Trains run from Edinburgh M-Sa every 30 min and hourly on Sunday, taking just over an hour via Falkirk.
By bus
Scottish Citylink Bus M8 runs from Glasgow Buchanan Station via Cumbernauld, Stirling and Bridge of Allan to Dunblane (one hour), continuing to Perth and Dundee.
By road
From the south follow M9 to its terminus at Jcn 11, then B8033 into town. From the north follow A9 south.
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