Golden Oak Hideaway at Strathyre

Blair Drummond is a family safari park just outside Stirling, set in a 120-acre estate with over 300 animals. You can set out on a drive-through safari past the African reserve, home to Grant's zebra and southern white rhinos, the lion reserve and the Asian reserve with Bactrian camels and Père David's deer.

Tip: Tickets are online only and none are sold at the gate, so book ahead, especially at weekends and school holidays when it often sells out.

Stirling Castle is one of the largest and most historically important castles in Scotland. It stands on a volcanic crag with steep cliffs on three sides, and the rock has been fortified since ancient times. Generations of Scottish monarchs enlarged and embellished it, and Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned here in 1542.

Tip: Book your visit online in advance for a set date and time; the Great Hall and Royal Palace are the parts to head for first.

Doune Castle is a medieval stronghold on a wooded bend where the Ardoch Burn meets the River Teith, about 8 miles northwest of Stirling. The earliest identifiable work dates from the 13th century, but it took its present form between 1375 and 1425, when Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany and Regent of Scotland, rebuilt it.

The Kelpies are a pair of monumental steel horse heads between Falkirk and Grangemouth, designed by sculptor Andy Scott. Each stands 30 metres high and weighs around 300 tonnes. They sit either side of a lock and basin at the eastern gateway of the Forth and Clyde Canal, within the parkland known as the Helix.

Tip: Pre-book the guided tour, as tours are subject to availability. Dogs are not allowed on the tour.

Callendar House is a mansion in Falkirk, built around a 14th-century tower house and later extended in the style of a French Renaissance château with Scottish baronial touches. Over its 600-year history it has hosted figures including Mary, Queen of Scots, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Queen Victoria.

Tip: Book afternoon tea in the Drawing Room ahead; the tearoom itself takes walk-ins.

The Dunmore Pineapple is a folly in Dunmore Park, near Airth in Stirlingshire. It sits in the wall of a large walled garden, above a hothouse that was used, among other things, for growing pineapples. The top is a carved stone pineapple, about 14 metres high, crowning an octagonal summerhouse. It was once ranked the most bizarre building in Scotland.

Alloa Tower is a 14th-century fortified keep, the largest surviving one in Scotland. It was built to guard a ferry crossing on the River Forth and became the family seat of the Erskines, Earls of Mar. Mary, Queen of Scots and her son James VI both spent part of their childhoods here.

Tip: No need to book in advance, but the steep, narrow spiral stair to the upper floors and roof walk may not suit everyone.

Innerpeffray is home to Scotland's first free public lending library, a Georgian building beside the River Earn in rural Perthshire. Local people borrowed books here until 1968, and today you can still read the rare books in its collection. Highlights include a Great Bible with woodcuts by Holbein and the original Borrowers' Register, which lets you trace the families who once borrowed from the shelves.

Tip: Follow the Heritage Trail down to the river ford, but take care beside the swift-flowing water.