Eastern Scotland: castles and hiking in Deeside

After following the northern coast of eastern Scotland, our route turned inland towards Loch Kinord, where we stayed for a night. This area is known as Royal Deeside, due to its proximity to the River Dee and to Balmoral Castle, the queen’s famed vacation home.  It was a gorgeous, sunny morning, and we quickly decided upon a day of outdoor activities. Kildrummy Castle is a ruin on a hill with a few information plaques here and there to help you imagine what rooms used to be where.

After being tempted by some hairy coo ear muffs in the gift shop, we hopped back in the car to explore more of the area, often on winding, single-lane roads. Our innkeeper had informed us that morning that Balmoral was closed to visitors, as the queen was there. We stopped at Corgarff Castle, but it was closed for the day as well. Perhaps Her Majesty likes to keep her options open when in the area?

We stopped in the cute little town of Braemar for coffee and tiffin (Scotland is full of insanely good desserts) and then drove to the Linn of Dee for an afternoon hike.

Here the river is surrounded by a lush pine forest with a spongy moss ground.

Easy hiking trails criss-cross through the forest and along the river.

We chose a big rock in the middle of the river (reachable via other rocks) to sit and read for a while, just because we could.

Next it was time to head home to Edinburgh, around a 2.5-hour drive. Our first Highland trip gave us a wonderful peek at what Scotland has to offer travelers, and left us very excited for more.

All of the posts from this trip, a five-day driving route around eastern Scotland:

• Edinburgh to Nairn
• Moray Firth
• Nairn to Speyside
• A Speyside distillery tour
• Highland cows and Banff
• Fishing villages along the northeast coast
• Royal Deeside (this post)