Breaks in Aberdeen
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pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
What are you interested in?
Superb beaches, cliffs/coastal country, walking, from easy/gentle strolls to full-on mountaineering, castles - literarily hundreds of all types, superb archeology incl unique stone circles and carved stones. Solid old towns with bags of character and good places to eat/drink. Aberdeen itself - shops (although the pandemic has left parts a bit thin in places), superb parks, quaint/quirky parts like Old Aberdeen/Fittie and lots of fine Georgian/Victorian architectur.
Places to stay - Full complement of budget hotels, in the centre and out on the fringes on bus routes, plus a god choice of smaller independent places the Ferryhill area has some good choices for Airbnb/b&b and is very walkable to the centre/station.
Superb beaches, cliffs/coastal country, walking, from easy/gentle strolls to full-on mountaineering, castles - literarily hundreds of all types, superb archeology incl unique stone circles and carved stones. Solid old towns with bags of character and good places to eat/drink. Aberdeen itself - shops (although the pandemic has left parts a bit thin in places), superb parks, quaint/quirky parts like Old Aberdeen/Fittie and lots of fine Georgian/Victorian architectur.
Places to stay - Full complement of budget hotels, in the centre and out on the fringes on bus routes, plus a god choice of smaller independent places the Ferryhill area has some good choices for Airbnb/b&b and is very walkable to the centre/station.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
Shamelessly ripped from Tripadvisor where the poster Frances Jane gives some fine suggestions for things to see and do:
Plus good easy walks along the River Dee from near the centre, past the Duthie Park, or to the Tory Battery to watch Dolphins.
Similar walks from the Beach/Donmouth nature reserve through Seaton Park and Old Aberdeen.
Then the Deeside Line walk/cycle way from the Duthie Park out through the leafy suburbs of Cults, Miltimber and Culter. Pushbikes can easily be hired.
Plus good easy walks along the River Dee from near the centre, past the Duthie Park, or to the Tory Battery to watch Dolphins.
Similar walks from the Beach/Donmouth nature reserve through Seaton Park and Old Aberdeen.
Then the Deeside Line walk/cycle way from the Duthie Park out through the leafy suburbs of Cults, Miltimber and Culter. Pushbikes can easily be hired.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
And for Aberdeenshire - many of these places are easy reached by bus from the city:
Stonehaven is an easy bus/train ride away with a good beach, ancient harbour and good cafes, chippers and excellent bar meals at the Marine Hotel (now called 6-degrees North). In season, a little road train runs from the station/town square round the town’s attractions, incl Dunottar Castle, which has an easy (ie flat/downhill) walk along the cliffs to the harbour - with potential to see dolphins, sea eagles, goshawks, puffins and seals along the way. Plus the easy walk along the beach to Cowie and the east end of the highland boundary fault, with quirky gardens, geurilla sculptures etc along e way
However, Moray and the superb North Aberdeenshire coast are maybe better explored from Inverness if you have a car - and this area is a real “hidden gem” and often bypassed by visitors, hellbent on the god-awful rip-off of Loch Ness/Drumnadrochit/Urquhart Castle etc - although Fort Augustus is a nice wee village. Speyside, from Forres to Grantown on Spey is another superb stretch, with great castles - notably Balvenie, Ballindalloch and my favourite, Auchindoun (there is a decent car park up that track!) which gets so few visitors that you would likely have it to yourself but is in the most magnificent setting on an ancient hill fort amidst the hills.
Oh and Distilleries, lots of them. Glenfiddich is the one geared-up for big tourism but it’s not my favourite - Macallan, Glen Grant and Cardhu are all excellent in different ways though. Plus Dallas Dhu nr Forres, which as a closed distillery actually lets you see a lot more than a working one can andthe Speyside Cooperage nr Dufftown makes everything barrel-related really interesting and has a good cafe and the Highlander Inn and Copper Dog pub in Craigellachie or the Malt Shovel in Aberlour are good places to eat/drink.
Similarly, the town of Nairn has left its days of holiday camp hell behind and become a nice, individual place to visit, along with Forres, which has the nearby Logie Estate (where the Digestive Biscuit was invented) with independent shops, good cafe and walks on the Findhorn Gorge:
www.logie.co.uk
Historic Elgin of course with the cathedral and superb ruins of Duffus Castle and Spynie Palace nearby, or Burghead with the best Pictish promontory fort bar none, Little museum, ancient, still working harbour and underground bapistry/well (collect keys from good little cafe/bistro on the High St) and Fochabers - with its excellent chipper and cafe at Gordon Castle Gardens
www.gordoncastle.co.uk
Then the somewhat otherworldly little village of Spey Bay, with walks on the estuarine nature reserve, the Dolphin Centre and sometimes really excellent dolphin watching at the mouth of the river. Or the more quiet/historic but still magical village of Garmouth on the other side of the river - the superb dolphin leaping ident that the BBC used a few years back was shot there. I was standing right beside the crew when they shot it!
Stonehaven is an easy bus/train ride away with a good beach, ancient harbour and good cafes, chippers and excellent bar meals at the Marine Hotel (now called 6-degrees North). In season, a little road train runs from the station/town square round the town’s attractions, incl Dunottar Castle, which has an easy (ie flat/downhill) walk along the cliffs to the harbour - with potential to see dolphins, sea eagles, goshawks, puffins and seals along the way. Plus the easy walk along the beach to Cowie and the east end of the highland boundary fault, with quirky gardens, geurilla sculptures etc along e way
However, Moray and the superb North Aberdeenshire coast are maybe better explored from Inverness if you have a car - and this area is a real “hidden gem” and often bypassed by visitors, hellbent on the god-awful rip-off of Loch Ness/Drumnadrochit/Urquhart Castle etc - although Fort Augustus is a nice wee village. Speyside, from Forres to Grantown on Spey is another superb stretch, with great castles - notably Balvenie, Ballindalloch and my favourite, Auchindoun (there is a decent car park up that track!) which gets so few visitors that you would likely have it to yourself but is in the most magnificent setting on an ancient hill fort amidst the hills.
Undiscovered Speyside - Heritage in Speyside
Undiscovered Speyside, a web site for all things speyside, created by the Speyside Area Forum, communities, whisky, walking, wildlife, fishing, shooting, visitor attractions
www.undiscoveredspeyside.org
Oh and Distilleries, lots of them. Glenfiddich is the one geared-up for big tourism but it’s not my favourite - Macallan, Glen Grant and Cardhu are all excellent in different ways though. Plus Dallas Dhu nr Forres, which as a closed distillery actually lets you see a lot more than a working one can andthe Speyside Cooperage nr Dufftown makes everything barrel-related really interesting and has a good cafe and the Highlander Inn and Copper Dog pub in Craigellachie or the Malt Shovel in Aberlour are good places to eat/drink.
Similarly, the town of Nairn has left its days of holiday camp hell behind and become a nice, individual place to visit, along with Forres, which has the nearby Logie Estate (where the Digestive Biscuit was invented) with independent shops, good cafe and walks on the Findhorn Gorge:
Logie Estate | Logie Steading Visitor Centre | Salmon Fishing
Logie Estate, in the beautiful Findhorn Valley in Scotland, hosts salmon fishing, events & Logie Steading Visitor Centre: a great day out.
www.logie.co.uk
Historic Elgin of course with the cathedral and superb ruins of Duffus Castle and Spynie Palace nearby, or Burghead with the best Pictish promontory fort bar none, Little museum, ancient, still working harbour and underground bapistry/well (collect keys from good little cafe/bistro on the High St) and Fochabers - with its excellent chipper and cafe at Gordon Castle Gardens
Gordon Castle & Walled Garden | Speyside Moray Scotland
Gordon Castle & Walled Garden is a historic garden with shops and a cafe. It provides holiday accommodation and fishing and is a wedding venue.
www.gordoncastle.co.uk
Then the somewhat otherworldly little village of Spey Bay, with walks on the estuarine nature reserve, the Dolphin Centre and sometimes really excellent dolphin watching at the mouth of the river. Or the more quiet/historic but still magical village of Garmouth on the other side of the river - the superb dolphin leaping ident that the BBC used a few years back was shot there. I was standing right beside the crew when they shot it!
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
The Aberdeenshire Castle Trail:
The castles most easily/quickly reached from the city by bus are Drum, Crathes and Dunottar.
The castles most easily/quickly reached from the city by bus are Drum, Crathes and Dunottar.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
Yes, although slower, the coast road takes you through some great country and places, whilst the main A96 road manages to be a bit bland and featureless along most of its length - Although there are a couple of pleasant enough stretches and you son't have to get far off it before finding many other nice places.
I'd also suggest the towns of Portsoy and Cullen for consideration. Portsoy looks a bit plain/nondescript as you go through it from the main road but if you stop (car park at the Loch Soy park) and stroll down to the harbour, it turns into a really attractive historic town centred on an impressive ancient harbour, with a short walk to a lovely bay with the historic salmon bothy/arts venue and museum in between. In fact they have not long finished shooting parts of the next series of Peaky Blinders there - and you may recognise it from a few other appearances in film and TV. Good pub and cafe in the old harbour buildings and the ice cream shop and chipper on the main road are amongst the best in the North East.
Cullen is a strange mix of seventeenth/eighteenth century elegance, nineteenth century industrial remnants and an excellent rocky beach with lots of geological interest - incl impressive formations. Good chipper there too (and a very good one at the nearby village of Portnockie) plus the original Rockpool cafe/restaurant (not the Inverness rip-off) which has a huge reputation in the area.
Here is a link to the Aberdeenshire Archaeological/Pictish trails:
online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk
But there are literally hundreds of other sites - this is only a taste!
Of course you have quite a number of good sites around Inverness to consider as well - most notably the Clava Cairns, which even before Outlander made them famous, were a major archaeological site in their own right. Best time to visit them IMO is very early or later-on in the day when the sun angle is low and the light streams through the trees surrounding them - Really atmospheric, plus the daytime crowds are largely absent.
I'd also suggest the towns of Portsoy and Cullen for consideration. Portsoy looks a bit plain/nondescript as you go through it from the main road but if you stop (car park at the Loch Soy park) and stroll down to the harbour, it turns into a really attractive historic town centred on an impressive ancient harbour, with a short walk to a lovely bay with the historic salmon bothy/arts venue and museum in between. In fact they have not long finished shooting parts of the next series of Peaky Blinders there - and you may recognise it from a few other appearances in film and TV. Good pub and cafe in the old harbour buildings and the ice cream shop and chipper on the main road are amongst the best in the North East.
Cullen is a strange mix of seventeenth/eighteenth century elegance, nineteenth century industrial remnants and an excellent rocky beach with lots of geological interest - incl impressive formations. Good chipper there too (and a very good one at the nearby village of Portnockie) plus the original Rockpool cafe/restaurant (not the Inverness rip-off) which has a huge reputation in the area.
Here is a link to the Aberdeenshire Archaeological/Pictish trails:
News centre - Aberdeenshire Council
But there are literally hundreds of other sites - this is only a taste!
Of course you have quite a number of good sites around Inverness to consider as well - most notably the Clava Cairns, which even before Outlander made them famous, were a major archaeological site in their own right. Best time to visit them IMO is very early or later-on in the day when the sun angle is low and the light streams through the trees surrounding them - Really atmospheric, plus the daytime crowds are largely absent.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Huntley Castle is one of the best castles in that part of the world, and there's one to the north of Aberdeen that is virtually deserted most of the time but has all sorts of exciting features like beehives and four storey towers to explore. Can't remember the name though.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Dp
hash tag
Reaching out
The more we look the more we see there is to do. We will be extending to over a week. We hope to get up to Thurso for a day or two, maybe Falkirk also. Several places we have seen like the odd museum and heritage railway are currently closed ufn. We will need to keep our eyes open.
If you're planning on going to Falkirk, (Falkirk Wheel/Kelpies presumably? 
), can you do that last and get on the train back from Edinburgh? Just it's quite far from Aberdeen/Inverness etc.
Also, Linlithgow is nearby and a nice wee town and the Palace is definitely worth a visit. (And right next to the train station and a very fast journey from there into Edinburgh.)
), can you do that last and get on the train back from Edinburgh? Just it's quite far from Aberdeen/Inverness etc.Also, Linlithgow is nearby and a nice wee town and the Palace is definitely worth a visit. (And right next to the train station and a very fast journey from there into Edinburgh.)
Ditch the car in Falkirk, get a direct train from Falkirk to Linlithgow (lunch/the Palace) then a train into Edinburgh. Job done.That's just what I am thinking!
Answering my next question I see we can take a trip on the wheel
Or maybe you need to do more than one trip!
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
Would that be Drum or Tolquhon? Both are reachable by bus and a short walk. Drum isn’t a ruin and has extensive gardens/ancient woodland to explore and is the easiest/quickest to reach by the main 201 or 202 buses up Deeside.
Good cafe at the Mains of Drum garden centre/shi-shi shop place at the end of the road and the small castle cafe also does good stovies, if you want a proper, rib-sticking Scottish food!
And it’s Huntly Castle - Castle Huntley is a prison nr Dundee! Huntly itself is another fine old town but it has lost prominence as a local hub since the mart moved to Inverurie, so it’s not as busting as it used to be.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
I think it must have been Tolquhon. I love that one.
Apologies for the Huntley/Huntly mistake, it's been a while since I was in your neck of the woods.
Apologies for the Huntley/Huntly mistake, it's been a while since I was in your neck of the woods.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
That's just what I am thinking!
Answering my next question I see we can take a trip on the wheel
Well worth doing! IIRC you can also get a bus straight to the Kelpies/Helix Park nearby.
hash tag
Reaching out
Blimey, just remembered I used to know Iain Phillip, lost touch years ago 
Iain Phillip - Wikipedia
Iain Phillip - Wikipedia
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
That one needs the less frequent, 291 Methlick bus which stops at the road-end for the castle but it would be wise to tell the driver when you get-on. The pub in Tarves nearby used to be very good. Also Pitmedden Gardens, Haddo House and Country Park and the very little visited Prop O’Ythsie monument/viewpoint are nearby.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
The British Art show opens at Aberdeen Art Gallery this weekend and is on all summer. If you're not interested in that sort of thing the permanent collection is one of the best outside London and well worth a visit.
In terms of places around and about Banff beach is really nice. In between Huntly and Keith is coll although there's more to do in Huntly. Would recommend Montrose and Lunan Bay just to the south' also Hospitalfield House in Arbroath.
In terms of places around and about Banff beach is really nice. In between Huntly and Keith is coll although there's more to do in Huntly. Would recommend Montrose and Lunan Bay just to the south' also Hospitalfield House in Arbroath.
If you are considering 'glamping' in Aberdeenshire, i recently stayed at the magical ShepherdsLoch site just south of the wonderfully picturesque Gardenstown. There are about five small lochs there, for swimming, zip wiring, being a hippy, even fly fishing. There's a good website. Enjoy your stay in Aberdeenshire wherever you end up.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
I'd forgotten about lunan bay and the castle there. Not a huge amount of castle left to be fair, but worth a brief explore.
geminisnake
a complex mass of conflicting ideas
If you're using the coastal road stop at Burghhead and go and see the well, the beach at Lossiemouth used to be lovely, if you go to Lunan let me know when you're heading to Dundee and I'll wave at you 
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
Nice little cafe/bistro-type place opened there fairly recently plus a small camp site and independent hostel. Otherwise an excellent beach, as is St Cyrus a bit further north.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
An absolutely outstanding museum IMO - I really enjoyed visiting it and the bleakness of the day I went only served to emphasise the grimness of its history/environment.
The guides going about in full-on prison warder uniform also took a bit of getting used to!
hash tag
Reaching out
Mrs Tag loves a good rasberry. It will just be rasberry season and we all know the best ones come from Scotland. Very daft I know, but rasberry picking may feature if we were to pass a pyo place.
stewartsoftayside.co.uk
Raspberry & Blackberry Growing - Stewarts of Tayside
Natures Juicy Gems, Bursting with Tart-Sweet Flavour Cherised Treasures Nestled amongst our picturesque growing sites you will also find an oasis dedicated to cultivating one of nature’s most cherished treasures: raspberries. A sea of vibrant green is punctuated by the beautiful red jewels of...
stewartsoftayside.co.uk
I'm really jealous of your holiday, hash tagMrs Tag loves a good rasberry. It will just be rasberry season and we all know the best ones come from Scotland. Very daft I know, but rasberry picking may feature if we were to pass a pyo place.
Raspberry & Blackberry Growing - Stewarts of Tayside
Natures Juicy Gems, Bursting with Tart-Sweet Flavour Cherised Treasures Nestled amongst our picturesque growing sites you will also find an oasis dedicated to cultivating one of nature’s most cherished treasures: raspberries. A sea of vibrant green is punctuated by the beautiful red jewels of...
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