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Scotland Travel Search Engine: Scotland Travel and Tourism Directory

Scotland > Scotlands Castle & Whisky Country (Grampians & North East Coast) > Grampian Highlands

Aberdeen is also the gateway to Royal Deeside, the lovely valley of the River Dee where Prince Albert built Balmoral Castle as a summer home for Queen Victoria in the mid 19th century. The area was also the setting for the movie Mrs Brown.

The scenery includes outstanding birchwoods and Scots pines as well as the Royal Lochnagar Distillery and the Braemar Heritage Centre.


In the lower stretches of Deeside (between Banchory and Aberdeen) are the fine castles and gardens of Drum and Crathes.


The well-signposted Castle Trail points visitors to the very best castles like Fyvie Castle in the north - a five-towered fortress steeped in five centuries of Scottish history. Tomintoul, the highest village in the Highlands is reached by a winding road through the wild, heathery hills of the Grampians. Drum Castle was given to William de Irwin, the standard bearer by Robert the Bruce in 1324 and remained in his family up until 1974, when the owner gave it to the National Trust of Scotland. It is a wonderful place to spend time, beautiful grounds and a great collection of furniture and objets d'art. Robert the Bruce gave the Burnett family lands north of the Dee, however it was not until 1552 when Alexander Burnett decided to build Crathes Castle. Both the castle and its garden are well worth a visit.

Balmoral is one of the most famous castles as it is one of the present Queen's favourite homes to visit. Purchased by 1852 by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert for £31,000, today parts of the castle are open to the public and exhibit paintings, royal heraldry, carriages and much more.


Braemar is a popular resort town located amidst beautiful scenery. The castle, built in 1628 is interesting, however, the Royal Highland Gathering (games) is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of all the Scottish Highland Games, plus it is great fun. Held each year on the first Saturday in September the events include Pipe Bands, pipers, Highland dancers, plus numerous athletic activities amongst them Tossing the Caber. These famous games are steeped in history. It is said that his reign 1058-1093 Malcolm III called the Clans to the Braes O'Mar to find the hardiest soldiers and the quickest messengers. His wife Margaret may have read about the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece. The games themselves can be traced back to 1816, with the first athletics competition held in 1832.


Nearby is the unique Malt Whisky Trail, which features seven distilleries with excellent visitor facilities. The Speyside Cooperage demonstrates the craftsmanship of whisky barrel making. The heart of malt whisky land is Glenlivet, where there is an information centre. The Glenlivet distillery was founded in 1746 at which time it was an illegal still. In those days army troops were garrisoned nearby to try and stamp out the illegal distilling of whisky, (thankfully they failed).


Dufftown is famous for being the capital of Scotland's malt whisky area. An old ditty frequently used by locals and politicians sums up the area and their pride;
Rome was built on seven hills
Dufftown stands on seven stills



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