Must-see attractions in 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…

Scotland's oldest independent museum is an old-fashioned cabinet of curiosities, a captivating collection artfully displayed in a beautiful, purpose-built…

One of Scotland's underappreciated treasures, Duff House is home to an art gallery with a superb collection of Scottish and European art, including…

Overlooking the nautical bustle of Aberdeen harbour is the Maritime Museum, centred on a three-storey replica of a North Sea oil-production platform,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

This museum houses a fascinating collection of vintage vehicles, including a Triumph Bonne­ville in excellent nick, a couple of Model T Fords (including…

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…

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…

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…

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…

The Findhorn Foundation is an international spiritual community founded in 1962. There’s a small permanent population of around 200, but the community…

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…

Named after Donald Dinnie (1837–1916), a famous Aberdeenshire athlete and strongman, this pair of granite boulders weigh 733lb (335.5kg) in total. Dinnie…

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…

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…

Though a magnificent example of Scottish Baronial architecture, Fyvie Castle is probably more famous for its ghosts, including a phantom trumpeter and the…

This impossibly picturesque village lies about 3 miles southwest of Portsoy. The main attractions are the 13th-century St Tarquin's Church, with its…