Places to Stay in Aberdeenshire with a View
Lochnagar over the Dee, the Moray Firth from the sofa and Bennachie from a hot tub. These are the places to stay in Aberdeenshire with a view, from a country house above Ballater to a cottage on the sea wall at Gardenstown.
Curated and written by Hidden Scotland
Updated 13 November 2026. Across Aberdeenshire.
You draw the curtains in the morning, and there's Lochnagar, with snow still on the corries above the Dee. Aberdeenshire keeps its best views for the people who stay. On Royal Deeside every bedroom of a country house above Ballater looks south to the hill or west up the valley to Invercauld. At Tarland the lawn runs out to the Grampian Mountains, and near Bennachie the hot tubs face the hill itself. Up on the coast the villages sit under the cliffs. At Pennan, an inn has rooms looking straight out to sea, and at Gardenstown a cottage's picture window is so close to the Moray Firth that you might see dolphins from the sofa. And in Stonehaven, there's a wall of glass over the bay.
More infoBallaterDarroch LeargHotelA country house hotel on the slopes of Craigendarroch, above Ballater. Every bedroom has a view, south over the Dee to Glen Muick and Lochnagar or west up the valley to Invercauld.
More infoBallaterLaggan CottagePlace to stay · Sleeps 8A cottage on the Gairnshiel estate near Ballater, looking over rolling hills, where the old shed by the water is now a cabin for two with a view of the river.
More infoGlenkindieGreenstylePlace to stay · Sleeps 6A cottage at Glenkindie, on Donside, with a window seat that looks across the fields to Kildrummy Castle.
A country house hotel in seventeen acres of gardens at Tarland, with ten bedrooms and cottages in the grounds. Its lawn runs out to a view of the Grampian Mountains.
Lodges on a farm near Bennachie, each with a deck and a hot tub facing south over the paddocks to the hill.
An inn under the cliffs at Pennan, the village from Local Hero, with three rooms named after its characters. Two look out to sea, and Happer's Room is for stargazing.
A cottage on the sea wall at Gardenstown with a picture window two metres square looking over the Moray Firth. Dolphins can be seen from the sofa.
Cottages and apartments by the shore near Pennan. Tore View looks over the old stone bridge to the cliffs, and Shore View looks straight out to the shore.
Two apartments over Stonehaven Bay, each with a long balcony and a wall of glass facing the beach. The Penthouse, at the top, has the better view.
Where these are
More of Aberdeenshire
Castle country, a quiet dramatic coast
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