Built for Queen Victoria in 1855 as a private residence for the royal family, Balmoral kicked off the revival of the Scottish Baronial style of architecture that characterises so many of Scotland’s 19th-century country houses. In 2020 admission was by advance booking only for an hour-long guided tour of the grounds and the castle ballroom. After the tour there's time to further explore the grounds and gardens without a guide.
Inside the castle, only the ballroom, which displays a collection of Landseer paintings and royal silver, is open to the public. Don’t expect to see the Queen’s private quarters! The main attraction is learning about Highland estate management, rather than royal revelations.
You can buy a booklet that details several waymarked walks within Balmoral Estate – the best is the climb to Prince Albert's Cairn, a huge granite pyramid that bears the inscription "To the beloved memory of Albert the great and good, Prince Consort. Erected by his broken hearted widow Victoria R. 21st August 1862." The walk to Albert's pyramid is open to the public even when the castle is not, starting from the car park by the A93 at Crathie; directions are available on the castle website.
The massive pointy-topped mountain that looms to the south of Balmoral is Lochnagar (1155m), immortalised in verse by Lord Byron, who spent his childhood years in Aberdeenshire:
England, thy beauties are tame and domestic
To one who has roamed o’er the mountains afar.
Oh! for the crags that are wild and majestic,
The steep frowning glories of dark Lochnagar.
Lord Byron, "Lochnagar"
Balmoral is 8 miles west of Ballater, and can be reached on the Aberdeen–Braemar bus.
