Aberdeenshire
The fascinating Scottish Lighthouse Museum provides an insight into the network of lights that have safeguarded the Scottish coast for over 100 years, and…
Must-see attractions in Aberdeenshire
Moray
Scotland's oldest independent museum is an old-fashioned cabinet of curiosities, a captivating collection artfully displayed in a beautiful, purpose-built…
Moray
One of Scotland's underappreciated treasures, Duff House is home to an art gallery with a superb collection of Scottish and European art, including…
Aberdeen
Overlooking the nautical bustle of Aberdeen harbour is the Maritime Museum, centred on a three-storey replica of a North Sea oil-production platform,…
Moray
As well as housing a selection of distillery memorabilia (try saying that after a few drams), the Whisky Museum holds ‘nosing and tasting evenings’ in the…
Aberdeen
This excellent museum records the history of one of the British Army's most famous fighting units, described by Winston Churchill as 'the finest regiment…
Moray
Based in a historic icehouse that used to store ice for preserving local salmon catches, this wildlife centre is one of the best land-based dolphin…
Aberdeenshire
A pleasant, 20-minute walk along the clifftops south of Stonehaven harbour leads to the spectacular ruins of Dunnottar Castle, spread out across a grassy…
Aberdeenshire
This museum houses a fascinating collection of vintage vehicles, including a Triumph Bonneville in excellent nick, a couple of Model T Fords (including…
Forvie National Nature Reserve
Aberdeenshire
Coastal sand dunes extend north from Aberdeen for more than 14 miles, one of the largest areas of dunes in the UK, and the least affected by human…
Aberdeen
Marischal College, founded in 1593 by the 5th Earl Marischal, merged with King's College (founded 1495) in 1860 to create the modern University of…
Aberdeenshire
Designed in Georgian style by William Adam in 1732, Haddo House is best described as a classic English stately home transplanted to Scotland. Home to the…
Aberdeen
Behind the grand facade of Aberdeen Art Gallery (closed for a major redevelopment until early 2019) is a cool, marble-lined space exhibiting the work of…
Moray
The Findhorn Foundation is an international spiritual community founded in 1962. There’s a small permanent population of around 200, but the community…
Aberdeen
This late-medieval turreted town house was occupied in the 17th century by the provost (Scottish equivalent of a mayor) Sir George Skene. It was also…
Aberdeenshire
Named after Donald Dinnie (1837–1916), a famous Aberdeenshire athlete and strongman, this pair of granite boulders weigh 733lb (335.5kg) in total. Dinnie…
Aberdeenshire
The impressive 16th- to 17th-century Castle Fraser, 16 miles west of Aberdeen, is the ancestral home of the Fraser family. The largely Victorian interior…
Moray
On the western side of Findhorn Bay is Culbin Forest, a vast swath of Scots and Corsican pine that was planted in the 1940s to stabilise the shifting sand…
Aberdeenshire
Though a magnificent example of Scottish Baronial architecture, Fyvie Castle is probably more famous for its ghosts, including a phantom trumpeter and the…
Moray
This impossibly picturesque village lies about 3 miles southwest of Portsoy. The main attractions are the 13th-century St Tarquin's Church, with its…
Aberdeenshire
The atmospheric, 16th-century Crathes Castle is famous for its Jacobean painted ceilings, magnificently carved canopied beds, and the ‘Horn of Leys’,…
Aberdeen
The 15th-century St Machar's, with its massive twin towers, is a rare example of a fortified cathedral. According to legend, St Machar was ordered to…
Moray
Many people think that the ruins of Elgin Cathedral, known as the 'lantern of the north', are the most beautiful and evocative in Scotland; its octagonal…
Aberdeenshire
A superb example of the original Scottish Baronial style, Craigievar has managed to survive pretty much unchanged since its completion in the 17th century…
Moray
The centrepiece of Macduff's aquarium is a 400,000L open-air tank, complete with kelp-coated reef and wave machine. Marine oddities on view include the…
Moray
Hidden in a fold of the hills 5 miles west of Aberlour, Knockando is a rare survival of an 18th-century woollen mill that has been lovingly restored to…
Aberdeenshire
Castle St (beside the Huntly Hotel) runs north from the town square to an arched gateway and tree-lined avenue that leads to 16th-century Huntly Castle,…
Aberdeenshire
Nine miles west of Alford lie the extensive remains of this 13th-century castle, former seat of the Earl of Mar and once one of Scotland’s most impressive…
Glenfiddich Distillery Visitor Centre
Moray
Glenfiddich kept single malt alive during the dark years. The distillery is big and busy, but the handiest for Dufftown, and foreign languages are…
Moray
A line running for 11 miles from Dufftown to Keith sees trains hauled by 1950s diesel motor units running on weekends from Easter to September, plus…
Moray
This distillery has an excellent, detailed tour with a proper tasting session. It’s on the main street in Aberlour. Tours begin at 10am and 2pm daily in…
Moray
Macallan is famous for making excellent sherry-casked malt whiskies; a new distillery and visitor centre opened in 2018. The 1¾-hour tours (maximum group…
Moray
Built in 1834 as a workshop, icehouse and storage space for nets and equipment, the bothy now houses a museum that records the history of salmon fishing…
Moray
Small, friendly and independent, Glenfarclas is 5 miles south of Aberlour on the Grantown road. The in-depth Connoisseur's Tour (Fridays only July to…
Moray
Fordyce Joiner’s Workshop has a collection of traditional woodworking tools and machinery, and stages woodwork demonstrations by a master joiner.
Moray
Here you can watch the fascinating art of barrel-making during a 45-minute guided tour. It’s a mile south of Craigellachie on the Dufftown road.
Aberdeen
On the northern side of Union St, 300m west of Castlegate, is St Nicholas Church, the so-called 'Mither Kirk' (Mother Church) of Aberdeen. The granite…
Moray
The local museum covers wildlife, geology and history, and Banff silver – from the late 17th century until the 1880s the town supported two dozen…
Aberdeen
It was here that Bishop Elphinstone established King's College, Aberdeen's first university (and Scotland's third), in 1495. The 16th-century college…
Moray
Findhorn Heritage Centre, housed in a former salmon-fisher’s bothy at the northern end of the village, records the history of the settlement. The beach is…
