Castle in Aberdeenshire

Access to Forbes Castle from Aberdeen is via the A944 out of Aberdeen heading west towards Alford. Turn right at Whitehouse onto the B992 (signposted Keig and Insch). Continue for three miles to where the road crosses the river Don (Keig Bridge). The entrance to Castle Forbes is 200 yards past the bridge. Castle Forbes is situated in the Vale of Alford, Aberdeenshire. For almost six hundred years it has been the seat of the Chief of Clan Forbes.The cvastle now on the site was built in 1815 by the 17th Lord Forbes. The catsle is set on the 6,000-acre Forbes Estate with views across the river Don. Castle Forbes provides luxury accommodation, and is available for weddings, special dinners, meetings and other corporate events. The former dairy building beside the castle has been converted into a perfumery. The castle grounds also has a stone circle dating back to 3,000 BC, where there is now an area dedicated to natural burials.

Ravenscraig Castle is situated on the bank of the River Ugie just north-west of Inverugie. It was the seat of the barony of Torthorston, held by the Cheynes family, and passed to the Keiths in the mid 14th century. The existing castle was built in 1491. It is in a corner of a triangular moated enclosure which has traces of an enclosing wall which may be part of an earlier castle. The castle was originally called Craig of Inverugie, although has been known as Ravenscraig since the 16th century. The castle has a large tower house with walls 10 feet thick at the base, and a wing projecting to the south. The entrance leads into a once-vaulted passage between two cellars through to the north wall where there are remains of a wide straight stairway up to a round lobby at the north-east end of the hall. James VI visited the castle in 1589 to attend the marriage of the laird's daughter.

Cluny Castle was built in 1604. Major extensions and renovations in the 19th century turned in into a large mansion in the castellated style designed by John Smith. This extract from a paper in 1832 gives an idea of the extent of the renovations …"The house that John Smith designed for Colonel Gordon was considerably more ambitious than either of the two proceeding schemes for enlargement. Like them its starting point was the old Z castle, and indeed Smith preserved to a certain extent the fantastic profile of the 1604 building so that even today Cluny is one of the oddest houses in the north-east, with the most extraordinary array of turrets and towers. His scheme involved building a replica of the old tower someway to the east of its predecessor and linking the two by a central block."

Crathes Castle is located on the A93 from Aberdeen, heading towards Banchory. Crathes Castle is a 16th century tower house castle with beautiful formal gardens, located near Banchory in Aberdeenshire. The castle and grounds are presently owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland and are open to the public. The castle estate cover 530 acres of woodlands and fields, including nearly four acres of walled garden. Ancient topiary hedges of Irish yew dating from 1702 separate the gardens into eight themed areas. The castle contains a significant collection of portraits, and still has original Jacobean painted ceilings in several rooms. Crathes is built on land given as a gift to the Burnett of Leys family by King Robert the Bruce in 1323. (Along with the land, Robert the Bruce also gave them the jeweled ivory Horn of Leys, which is now on display in the Great Hall of the castle.) The castle construction started in 1553 and was completed in 1596. The East-west wing was added in the 18th Century. Crathes Castle was the ancestral seat of the Burnetts of Leys family until gifted to the National Trust for Scotland in 1951. A fire damaged portions of the castle (in particular the Queen Anne wing) in 1966. Legends The Green Lady's Room is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a lady carrying a baby. The ghost of the woman and baby has been seen crossing the room before vanishing near the fireplace. Sightings first appeared in the 18th Century when workmen renovating the room uncovered skeletons under the hearthstone. The Green Lady of Crathes Castle is not often seen these days - it is said that when she is seen a member of the Burnett family will die.

There are two access trails to Dunnottar. The shortest is a 800 metre path with several staircases from a car park on the coastal road off the A92. The other is a three kilometre walk from Stonehaven Harbour along a path that heads south along the cliff top to the castle. This path is narrow and steep in parts and has expansive sea views. Dunnottar Castle is situated in a dramatic setting on a cliff top near Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. The castle fortress is now in ruins, but still an impressive sight. The castle remains includes the keep, the barracks, lodgings, stables and storehouses, chapel and drawing room. The Castle was the home of the Earls Marischal once one of the most powerful families in the land. The last Earl was convicted of treason for his part in the Jacobite rising of 1715, and Dunnottar was seized by the government. The buildings were much neglected until 1925 when the 1st Viscountess Cowdray started restoration work. The Castle is open to visitors. During the 9th Century King Donald II was killed defending Dunnottar Castle from a Viking invasion. The Vikings seized and destroyed the Castle. In the 12th Century Dunnottar Castle became a Catholic settlement. At various times, William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose and the future King Charles II, all stayed at the Castle. When Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland in 1650, Scottish Crown Jewels, the 'Honours of Scotland' were stored at Dunnottar Castle. Cromwell's army attacked the castle, and a small garrison held out for eight months and saved the jewels from destruction. The crown, sceptre and sword are now in Edinburgh Castle. In 1685,167 Covenanters were imprisoned in the Whig's Vault below one of the buildings in the Quadrangle. Some took the oath of allegiance and were released, others died of starvation or died trying to escape. The rest were transported to the colonies. Legends The site of the Castle was of significance to the Picts. The spirit of a Pictish "green lady" has been seen in the brewery at the Castle. She is said to be looking for her "lost children" who are the Picts who converted from her religion to Christianity around the 5th Century AD.

Castle of Park near Cornhill in Aberdeenshire is a privately owned sixteenth-century tower house built in 1563 by George Gordon, used today for conferences, holidays and events. The castle's handsome exterior with turrets, crow-stepped gables and traditional harled walls is typical of the vernacular baronial architecture of the northeast Scottish countryside. Built by a member of the great Gordon family who dominated northeast Scotland throughout the medieval and early modern periods, the castle is one of a remarkable concentration of tower houses in Aberdeenshire. The county's Castle Trail encompasses over seventy historic sites, and from the great state-cared castles of Crathes and Craigievar to numerous privately owned tower houses like Castle of Park, Aberdeenshire offers the finest concentration of historic castle architecture in Scotland.

Kinnairdy Castle is situated in the Deveron Valley at Bridge of Marnoch, between Turriff and Keith, Aberdeenshire. It is tower house dating back to the 14th century, originally built by the Innes family. The castle is owned again by the Innes family. The castle consists of a stone tower which dates to around the 14th century . Kinnairdy is available as self catering accommodation for up to eight people. Kinnairdy Castle is owned by Colin Innes, Baron of Aberchirder, and is looked after by a resident caretaker. The present castle replaced a wooden motte and bailey structure in the 14th century. During the latter part of the 14 century Kinnairdy came into the ownership of the Innes family. In 1627 Sir Robert Innes, the 20th chief, sold Kinnairdy to Sir James Crichton of Frendraught. In the 17th century it was taken over by the Gregory family, although the change of hands involved a legal dispute and murder of one of the Gregory sons. Kinnairdy Castle was the 17th century home of the Gregory family, an academic family that produced 12 professors including David Gregory, the inventor of the barometer. In 1704 the Gregory family sold the Castle to Thomas Donaldson, a merchant in Elgin, who transformed Kinnairdy from a mediaeval fortress to a 17th century style country house. Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, (Lord Lyon King of Arms 1945 - 69) bought it in 1923.

Leslie Castle is a restored Scottish tower house situated in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, at coordinates 57.31235, -2.66624, near the village of Leslie in the Garioch district. It stands as one of the more remarkable examples of a fully restored and privately inhabited Scottish baronial castle, a category that is rarer than it might seem — many castles of this type have fallen into ruin or been converted into institutional uses. What makes Leslie Castle particularly special is that it was painstakingly brought back from near-total dereliction to become a fully functioning private home, and it is also available to guests as an exclusive-use rental property, allowing visitors to experience the extraordinary sensation of staying within the walls of a genuine seventeenth-century Scottish tower house. The origins of Leslie Castle are rooted deep in the history of one of Scotland's oldest and most distinguished noble families. The Leslie family, from whom the castle takes its name, were a powerful Aberdeenshire dynasty with roots stretching back to the twelfth century. The lands of Leslie were granted to a Flemish nobleman, Bartholomew, who came to Scotland in the reign of King Malcolm IV, and his descendants took the surname Leslie from the place itself. The family rose to considerable prominence in Scottish affairs, and the Leslies of this lineage produced notable military commanders and churchmen over the centuries. The present tower house structure dates primarily from around 1661, though it was built upon or near the site of an earlier fortification. Like many Scottish tower houses of the period, it reflected the transitional architecture of an era moving away from purely defensive structures toward something more comfortable and domestic, while retaining the imposing vertical character that made such buildings visually commanding. By the twentieth century, Leslie Castle had fallen into serious disrepair and was essentially a roofless ruin, its walls intact but its interior devastated by time, neglect, and the elements. The restoration was undertaken by David Leslie, a member of the Leslie family, beginning in the 1980s and continuing through the early 1990s. This was a tremendous undertaking — not merely a cosmetic renovation but a comprehensive structural and historical reconstruction that sought to return the building to something close to its seventeenth-century appearance while making it genuinely habitable. Period-appropriate materials and craftsmanship were employed throughout, and the result is a castle that feels authentically old rather than artificially historicised. The restoration won considerable admiration among architectural conservation circles and stands as a model of sympathetic private reconstruction. Physically, the castle presents the classic profile of a Scottish Z-plan or L-plan tower house, with thick rubble-stone walls, small deeply-set windows, and the characteristic stepped crow-step gables that punctuate the Aberdeenshire skyline. The stonework has the rough, honest texture of local granite, weathered to subtle shades of grey and silver, and the building sits with a solidity and rootedness that makes it seem almost grown from the land rather than constructed upon it. Inside, the rooms are furnished with period antiques and tapestries, open fireplaces dominate the principal rooms, and the atmosphere is one of warmth and genuine historical character rather than museum-like sterility. The narrow turnpike stair winds upward through the tower in the traditional manner, and the upper rooms command views across the surrounding Aberdeenshire countryside. The landscape surrounding Leslie Castle is quintessential Aberdeenshire — gently rolling agricultural land interspersed with patches of woodland, the wide skies of the northeast of Scotland overhead, and in the distance the rounded shoulders of the Grampian hills. The area around the village of Leslie and the broader Garioch district is farming country, quiet and largely undramatic in the best possible sense, with a timeless quality that makes the presence of a centuries-old castle feel entirely natural. The River Gadie flows through the broader district, and the countryside in every direction has the kind of unhurried, working-landscape character that rewards slow exploration. Nearby points of interest include the town of Inverurie, which lies roughly ten miles to the east and serves as the main local centre, as well as a scattering of other castles and Pictish standing stones that make Aberdeenshire one of the richest areas in Scotland for historical exploration. For those wishing to visit or stay, Leslie Castle operates primarily as a venue for exclusive private hire, meaning it is not generally open to casual visitors dropping in unannounced. However, it has been made available through specialist Scottish castle rental agencies, making it an exceptional option for groups wishing to book the entire property for a stay of several nights. The experience of having the castle entirely to oneself — cooking in its kitchen, sitting beside its fires, sleeping in its furnished bedrooms — is genuinely unlike any hotel stay. Access to the general area is straightforward: the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road passes not far away, and the village of Leslie itself is reachable from Inverurie or from the Insch direction. The nearest railway station is at Insch, on the Aberdeen to Inverness line, though a car is effectively essential for exploring this part of rural Aberdeenshire. One of the more quietly fascinating aspects of Leslie Castle is what it represents in the broader story of Scottish heritage. Scotland has hundreds of ruined tower houses mouldering in fields and farmyards, and the decision to restore one with such dedication and to then live in it — and make it available for others to experience — is an act of genuine cultural stewardship. The Leslie name itself travelled far beyond Aberdeenshire: members of the family served as generals in the armies of Sweden and other European powers during the Thirty Years' War, and the clan's reach extended across centuries of Scottish ecclesiastical and military history. To stay within the walls of this particular castle is to sit at a physical intersection of all that history, in a building that was old when the Jacobite risings were young, surrounded by a landscape that has changed relatively little in the centuries since.

Kildrummy Castle is located near Kildrummy, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The castle was the seat of the Earls of Mar and was built in the 12th century and is one of the most extensive castle from this period to survive in eastern Scotland. Kildrummy Castle is shield-shaped in plan with a number of towers. The flat side of the castle overlooks a steep ravine. On the opposite side of the castle the walls come to a point, which was once defended by a massive twin-towered gatehouse. The castle also had a seven storey tall keep, called the Snow Tower which contained the main living quarters. There was also a Great Hall at the rear of the castle, and a chapel on the east side. Extensive earthworks protected the castle, including a dry moat and the ravine. Most of the castle foundations are now visible, along with most of its lower-storey walls. Archaeological excavations in 1925 uncovered decorative stone flooring and evidence of battles. Today, the castle property is owned by Historic Scotland. A hotel (the Kildrummy Castle Hotel) has been built on the old estate, overlooking the ruins. Kildrummy Castle underwent siege numerous times in its history, first in defence of the family of Robert the Bruce in 1306, and again in 1335 by David of Strathbogie. In 1435 it was taken over by James I, becoming a royal castle until being granted to Lord Elphinstone in 1507. The castle passed from the Clan Elphinstone to the Clan Erskine before being abandoned in 1716 after the failed Jacobite rebellion.

Licklyhead Castle is a historic tower house situated in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, located near the village of Auchleven in the Garioch district. It is a relatively little-known example of Scottish baronial architecture, a modest but evocative fortified dwelling that speaks to the proud, turbulent history of the northeast Scottish lowlands. Unlike the grand showpiece castles that draw large tourist crowds, Licklyhead offers something quieter and more intimate — a genuine connection to the rural aristocratic life of medieval and early modern Scotland. The castle is a private property and not generally open to the public, which has helped preserve both its atmosphere and its structural fabric over the centuries. The castle dates from the sixteenth century, constructed in a period when the tower house was the dominant form of fortified domestic architecture across Scotland. The Aberdeenshire landscape is dotted with such structures, and Licklyhead fits neatly into that tradition of local lairds asserting their status and security through stone. The castle is historically associated with the Leslie family, one of the notable noble families of the region, though ownership passed through various hands over the centuries as estates were bought, sold, and inherited. Like many such properties, it experienced periods of occupation, neglect, and partial restoration, and its survival into the present day is something of a minor miracle of Scottish architectural heritage. Physically, Licklyhead Castle is a compact L-plan or Z-plan tower structure, typical of the Scots baronial style that flourished in this part of Scotland. The masonry is of local granite, the same uncompromising grey stone that defines so much of Aberdeenshire's built environment, and it gives the building a severe, enduring quality entirely in keeping with the climate and culture of the northeast. The tower rises to several storeys, with the characteristic crow-stepped gables and narrow windows of the period. Seen from a distance across the surrounding farmland, it presents a silhouette that has changed little in hundreds of years, which is part of what makes encountering it feel unexpectedly moving. The surrounding landscape is quintessential Aberdeenshire — rolling agricultural land in the Garioch valley, a region sometimes called the granary of the north for its productive farmland. The River Urie flows through the broader valley, and the countryside is a patchwork of arable fields, shelter belts of beech and sycamore, and scattered farmsteads. The hills of the Bennachie range are visible to the south and west, with the distinctive summit of Mither Tap providing a dramatic backdrop that has dominated this landscape since long before the castle was built. Bennachie itself is a place of significant historical and spiritual importance to the people of Aberdeenshire, and its presence gives the whole area a grounded, storied quality. The nearest settlement of any size is Insch, a small market town a few miles to the northwest, while Inverurie lies to the southeast and serves as the main service centre for the Garioch district. Inverurie has good rail connections to Aberdeen, and the city of Aberdeen itself is roughly thirty kilometres to the southeast, making the area reasonably accessible despite its rural character. The roads in this part of Aberdeenshire are narrow and winding in places, and visitors exploring the area by car should be prepared for single-track lanes with passing places. The castle itself, being private, is best appreciated from nearby public roads or footpaths rather than approached directly. Because Licklyhead is a private residence and not a managed heritage attraction, there are no formal visiting facilities, no entry fees, and no set opening times. Visitors who have a particular interest in Scottish tower houses or Aberdeenshire history can appreciate the exterior from a respectful distance without causing any disruption. The surrounding area rewards exploration in its own right, with walking routes on Bennachie offering some of the finest hill walking in the northeast, and the broader Garioch being rich in Pictish stones, prehistoric sites, and other historic castles. The best times to visit the general area are late spring through early autumn, when the days are long and the countryside is at its most accessible, though the stark winter landscape has its own austere beauty entirely appropriate to a medieval tower house of this character.

Balmoral Castle is a large Scottish baronial estate and working royal residence located in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, within the Cairngorms National Park. It serves as the private Scottish home of the British Royal Family and is one of the most famous royal residences in the world, having been closely associated with the monarchy since the mid-nineteenth century. Unlike Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle, which carry formal constitutional functions, Balmoral is cherished as a genuine private retreat where successive sovereigns have come to relax, walk the hills, and engage with the Highland landscape. The castle and its grounds are partially open to the public during the summer months, making it both an active royal household and a popular heritage attraction drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The estate's royal connection began in 1848 when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert first leased the original castle on the site. Albert fell so deeply in love with the landscape — drawn partly to its resemblance to the Thuringian forests of his native Germany — that in 1852 the couple purchased the estate outright. Finding the existing structure too small, Albert commissioned Aberdeen architect William Smith to design an entirely new castle in the Scottish baronial style, and the present building was completed in 1856. Victoria described Balmoral as her "dear paradise in the Highlands" and spent increasing amounts of time there, particularly after Albert's death in 1861, when it became a place of profound personal solace. The estate covers roughly 50,000 acres, encompassing moorland, forests, farms, and the River Dee, and has been expanded and developed by successive monarchs. King Edward VII, George V, and George VI all hunted and fished there extensively, and the estate became deeply embedded in the annual rhythm of royal life. Queen Elizabeth II was famously devoted to Balmoral and spent several weeks there each summer and autumn; it was at Balmoral in September 2022 that she died, making the estate a place of immense recent historical significance. The castle itself is a confident and picturesque example of Victorian Scottish baronial architecture, built from pale Invergelder granite that gives it a distinctly silvery-grey complexion in bright light and a more brooding, atmospheric tone beneath overcast Highland skies. It features a main tower rising to around thirty metres, multiple turrets, crow-stepped gables, and crenellated parapets — all hallmarks of the romanticised Highland aesthetic that Albert and Victoria were instrumental in popularising. The formal gardens surrounding the castle include rose beds, herbaceous borders, and an orangery, laid out with Victorian precision and maintained to a high standard. For visitors permitted inside during the open season, the ballroom is typically the centrepiece, housing an exhibition of artworks, tartan furnishings, and royal memorabilia that captures the distinctive Victoriana aesthetic that still pervades much of the interior. The wider estate sits in one of Scotland's most celebrated landscapes. The River Dee runs through the valley below, cold, clear, and quick over its granite bed, famous for Atlantic salmon fishing. The Cairngorm mountains rise to the south and west, their rounded plateau summits often capped with snow well into spring and sometimes dusted again by early autumn. Lochnagar, the dramatic peak immortalised by Byron in verse and by the late King Charles III in a children's story, looms strikingly above the estate to the southwest and lends the surroundings a sense of wild grandeur. The nearby village of Crathie is home to Crathie Kirk, the small Church of Scotland church where the Royal Family worship when in residence and which is itself a draw for visitors. The town of Ballater, roughly eight miles to the east, offers hotels, restaurants, independent shops, and a strong community identity shaped by its proximity to the royal estate. Visitors typically arrive between April and July, which is the period during which the castle grounds and ballroom are open to the public — the estate closes when the Royal Family arrives in residence, usually in late July or August. Access is from the A93 road, which runs through Royal Deeside and is served by Stagecoach buses from Aberdeen; the nearest railway station is Ballater in spirit, though the historic branch line was closed in 1966 and the nearest active rail connections are at Aberdeen or Aviemore, both of which require onward travel by road. The estate entrance is well signposted, and there is a visitor centre, café, gift shop, and a programme of guided tours and land rover safaris available in season. The terrain is partly accessible for visitors with mobility considerations on formal garden paths, though the wider estate walks are naturally more rugged. Spring and early summer offer the most reliable mix of mild weather and long daylight hours, while the surrounding landscape takes on spectacular purple tones during the heather flowering season in August. Among the more fascinating threads running through Balmoral's history is the extraordinary influence it had on how Scotland itself came to be perceived culturally. Victoria and Albert's enthusiastic adoption of tartan, Highland dress, and baronial aesthetics — which they expressed most lavishly at Balmoral — did much to rehabilitate the image of the Highlands after the trauma of the Clearances and the earlier suppression following Culloden. The interior of the castle, which visitors glimpse through the ballroom exhibitions, is famously saturated in Royal Stewart and Dress Stewart tartan, covering carpets, curtains, and upholstery in a manner that can seem almost overwhelming. John Brown, the Highland servant who became Victoria's close companion after Albert's death, is closely associated with the estate, and his complex relationship with the queen — the subject of enduring speculation — played out largely within these grounds. The estate also contains a number of cairns erected by Victoria to commemorate family events and bereavements, scattered across the hillside above the castle and forming a kind of private memorial landscape that speaks to the deeply personal meaning the place held for the Queen who made it famous.

Craigston Castle is a remarkable tower house and country estate located in Aberdeenshire, in the heart of rural Scotland. Sitting near the village of Turriff, it is one of the most distinctive and least-altered early seventeenth-century castles in Scotland, a country that is by no means short of such structures. What sets Craigston apart is precisely its integrity — unlike many Scottish castles that have been heavily restored, remodelled, or ruined beyond recognition, Craigston survives in a state of considerable authenticity, preserving architectural details and interiors that offer a genuinely vivid window into the life of a Scottish lairdly family across four centuries. It remains a private residence and has been in the continuous ownership of the Urquhart family and their descendants since it was built, making it one of the longest continuously family-owned properties of its kind in Scotland. The castle was built between 1604 and 1607 by John Urquhart, known as the "Tutor of Cromarty," who was a man of considerable wealth and ambition in the northeast of Scotland. The design is attributed to a Scottish master mason, and it follows the Z-plan tower house tradition popular in Aberdeenshire during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, though Craigston has its own idiosyncratic character that distinguishes it from more formulaic examples of the type. The most extraordinary feature of the exterior is the magnificent carved freestone panel above the entrance archway, which depicts two knights in armour flanking a central figure and is considered one of the finest examples of Renaissance sculptural decoration on any Scottish castle of the period. This carved panel has survived intact and is deeply unusual in its quality and ambition for a relatively remote Aberdeenshire lairdship. The Urquhart family produced a number of notable individuals, among them the extraordinary Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty in the seventeenth century, the polymath, eccentric, and celebrated translator of Rabelais into English — a man so singular that legend holds he died laughing upon hearing of the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Standing in front of Craigston Castle in person, one is immediately struck by its compactness and the confident upward thrust of its massing. It is not a sprawling palace but rather a tightly composed vertical structure of pale grey granite rubble walls rising to corbelled turrets and a central linking arch between the main tower and the flanking wing. The carved entrance panel commands attention even from a distance, its figures weathered but still legible and full of expressive energy. The stonework has accumulated centuries of patina and lichen, giving the walls a textured, organic quality that photographs struggle to capture. The atmosphere around the castle is one of quiet and deeply felt antiquity; there are no crowds, no audio guides, no cafés. On a still day the surrounding fields and woodlands produce a profound hush, broken only by birdsong and the occasional sound of wind moving through the trees on the estate. It is the kind of place that rewards slow attention. The surrounding landscape is quintessentially Aberdeenshire — rolling agricultural land, broad skies, and a patchwork of fields separated by shelter belts of beech and ash. The estate itself includes parkland and mature trees that provide a handsome setting for the castle without overwhelming it. The nearby town of Turriff is a modest but pleasant market town a few miles to the south, and the wider region is rich with other historic sites including Delgatie Castle, Fyvie Castle (a magnificent National Trust for Scotland property a short drive away), and the grounds and gardens of Duff House in Banff. The River Deveron flows through the broader valley and is noted for its salmon fishing. This part of Aberdeenshire, sometimes called Formartine or the Howe of Turriff, is off the main tourist trail and retains a genuine rural character, which makes visiting it feel like a discovery rather than a scheduled attraction. Visiting Craigston Castle requires some planning, as it is a private home and is only open to the public on a limited basis, typically through guided tours offered on certain days during the summer months. Prospective visitors are strongly advised to check the current access arrangements in advance, as opening times can vary from year to year. The castle is accessible by car via the A947 road between Aberdeen and Banff, turning off near Turriff, and the approach is through quiet country lanes that require careful navigation. There is no public transport directly serving the castle. The best time to visit is during the summer open days when the interior, with its remarkable collection of family portraits, period furniture, and original interiors, can be experienced alongside the exterior. The landscape is also at its most welcoming between late spring and early autumn, though the castle in winter or a stormy grey September has its own austere drama. Among the hidden pleasures of Craigston is the persistence of its human story across an unbroken family line. While most Scottish castles of comparable age have passed through multiple ownerships, been institutionalised, or fallen into ruin, Craigston retains the feeling of a place that has been cared for by people who belong to it. The interiors reportedly preserve furnishings and fittings accumulated by successive generations of the same family, giving the house a layered, personal quality quite unlike that of a museum. The carved panel above the door, which has inspired scholarly debate about its exact iconographic meaning and the identity of its maker, remains one of the great small mysteries of Scottish Renaissance art. For those interested in Scottish history, vernacular architecture, or simply in places that have managed to remain quietly themselves through the upheavals of centuries, Craigston Castle is a destination of exceptional and underappreciated quality.

Drum Castle is situated near Drumoak in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The castle is on a ridge overlooking the River Dee, about ten miles from Aberdeen. It was the seat of the chief of Clan Irvine from 1323 to 1975. The castle is surrounded by late 18th century gardens, including a rose garden and arboretum containing trees from all regions of the British Empire. The castle is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to the public during the summer. The chapel and dining hall are available for hire for weddings and corporate functions. The castle hosts a number of local events such as classic car rallies and musical fetes. Drum Castle was built as a tower house in the 13th century. It is believed to be one of the three oldest tower houses in Scotland. It was extended in 1619 when a large wing was added. Further renovations and alterations were made in Victorian times. The castle and its grounds were granted to William de Irwyn in 1325 by Robert the Bruce, and remained in the possession of Clan Irvine until 1975.

Pitullie Castle is a ruined tower house near Rosehearty in Aberdeenshire, a fragment of agricultural history in the landscape of northeast Buchan. The castle ruin stands in the middle of a field in the characteristically flat, open agricultural landscape of this part of Aberdeenshire, where the proximity of the North Sea and the fertile soils of Buchan supported a dense pattern of estate farms and tower houses throughout the medieval and early modern periods. The surrounding Buchan coast with its dramatic clifftop scenery, fishing harbours and the ruins of Slains Castle, said to have inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula, provides the most dramatic heritage landscape of the region. The town of Fraserburgh nearby, with its historic Kinnaird Head Lighthouse and the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, provides the main heritage attraction of this corner of northeast Scotland.

Castle Fraser is a well-preserved elaborate five storey tower building near Inverurie, built from local granite. Castle Fraser has a Z-shaped architecture with a main rectangular building and two towers at diagonally opposing corners of the rectangle. This was a popular style of Scottish castle. The Entrance Hall has a display of weaponry. The castle was originally known as Muchall-in-Mar. The Frasers began construction in 1575 and the castle was completed in 1636. The castle stands in over 300 acres of open woodland and farmland, including a walled garden. It is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to tourists during the summer months. It can also be hired for weddings and corporate events. The Arts Castle Fraser has recently been used as a backdrop for some of the scenes shot in the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Academy Award winning film "The Queen", starring Helen Mirren. Legends Legend has it that a Princess was murdered in The Green Room, and then her body was dragged down the castle stairs leaving a trail of blood. The bloodstains could not be scrubbed away and were covered with wood panelling. It is said she still walks the castle at night and unexplained ghostly piano music has been heard in the castle at night.