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Stirling

The Golden Lion Hotel

Stirling's old coaching inn on King Street, open since 1786, where Robert Burns scratched verses on a window.

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Welcome

The Golden Lion is Stirling's old coaching inn, a tall stone hotel on King Street in the city centre, and it has been taking in travellers since 1786, when it opened as Wingate's Inn.

In the days of the stagecoach it was the principal hotel in Stirling, with coaches leaving from the pend behind it for Perth and for Glasgow.

Its most famous guest was Robert Burns. On 26 August 1787 he stayed here after visiting Stirling Castle, then in a sorry state, and scratched some angry verses about the lost Stuart kings on a pane of glass in his bedroom; when the lines caused offence he came back in October and smashed the pane with his riding crop. A plaque remembers the visit. Today it is a comfortable city-centre hotel with rooms, a Regency ballroom and Cronies bar and restaurant, which serves meals all day along with malt whiskies, Scottish gins and ales.

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The Daily for 1 November, from Scotland with love. A misty lane runs past slate-roofed cottages toward a wooded hillside.
Not farGleneagles14 milesSee itGleneagles
Before you go

A hotel open all year, with Cronies bar and restaurant serving all day.

8 to 10 King Street, Stirling. Book rooms and tables on 01786 475351.

Rooms
All year.
Cronies
Meals all day.
Where
8 to 10 King Street.

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
Open all day and night
Tuesday
Open all day and night
Wednesday
Open all day and night
Thursday
Open all day and night
Friday
Open all day and night
Saturday
Open all day and night
Sunday
Open all day and night

Eaten here? Tell others what to order and when to go, and the best go on this page with your name.

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Where it is

8 to 10 King Street, Stirling, FK8 1DQ.

Close byIn Stirling.
  1. Caffe Pompei's dark blue frontage and awning on King Street, Stirling.Caffe PompeiAn Italian café on King Street in Stirling, with Lavazza coffee, paninis and a counter of Italian pastries and cakes.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Tinsel and TartanTinsel and TartanStirling's Christmas shop on Spittal Street, open all year, full of decorations and ornaments with a Scottish twist.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Mint Cafe Patisserie & Sweets shopfront with pavement tables on a cobbled streetMintA mint-green café on cobbled Baker Street in Stirling's Old Town, known for crêpes, waffles and cakes.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. A framed drawing of Stirling above tins of biscuits.Made in StirlingA shop and gallery on King Street selling the work of local artists and makers, with exhibitions and workshops.Under a mile 1 min by road
  5. Shopfront sign reading "Unorthodox Roasters" with a pink bird logoUnorthodox RoasterThe Stirling café of the Kinross coffee roasters, on Friars Street, with pour-over coffee, flat whites and cakes.Under a mile 1 min by road
  6. The cobbled curve of Bow Street climbing towards Stirling's Old Town.Stirling City CentreThe old burgh below the castle, where Broad Street has held a market since 1226, and the busier shopping streets below.1 mile 5 min by road
Directions
Sandstone building shopfront with "Indian Cottage" signage above large windowsRestaurantsIndian Cottage0.3 miles
The Bite East sign above the restaurant's windows.RestaurantsBite East0.4 miles
The Book Nook's shopfront on Upper Craigs, with purple doors and window boxes.ShoppingThe Book Nook Stirling0.4 miles
A castellated sandstone castle wall with corner turrets rises above a terraced lawn and flowerbeds.ShoppingStirling Bagpipes0.4 miles
The Stirling Smith's columned front in its garden, framed by trees.AttractionsThe Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum0.4 miles
Blue sign for The Portcullis mounted on a stone building, flags flying belowRestaurantsThe Portcullis0.4 miles
A distinctive stone folly shaped like a giant pineapple rises against a pale sky, arched windows set into its base.AttractionsThe Pineapple0.4 miles
Darnley Coffee House's stone front on Bow Street, its name in blue script above the door.CafeDarnley Coffee House0.5 miles
Stone pyramid monument rises above gravestones in a hillside cemeteryAttractionsThe Star Pyramid0.5 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the hotel, and when each is next free.

A grand stone mansion with multiple gables and chimneys stands behind a lawn set with wicker chairs, seen through overhanging leaves.Cromlix
  • To stay
  • In Kinbuck
  • 8 miles from the Golden Lion
Check datesA landscape view of Whitehill on its hill: the steadings, the farmhouse and its red-roofed wing in low sun across a field of young crop.Whitehill Farm House
  • Sleeps 8
  • In Auchterarder
  • 16 miles from the Golden Lion
Free 9–13 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in StirlingAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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