The Best Places to Stay in Aberdeenshire

Scotland's north-east has more castles per square mile than anywhere else in Europe. There are over 260 of them across Aberdeenshire alone, hence the nickname: Castle Country. Dunnottar sits on a 160-foot cliff above the North Sea near Stonehaven. Craigievar is pink, with turrets, and is said to have inspired Walt Disney's Cinderella castle. Slains Castle, up the coast at Cruden Bay, is the one Bram Stoker walked past on holiday before writing Dracula in 1897.

Then there's Royal Deeside, the stretch of valley running west from Aberdeen along the River Dee. Queen Victoria bought Balmoral in 1848 and the royal family have been coming back every summer since. Ballater and Braemar are the two main villages along the way, both worth a wander. A mile from Balmoral itself is Royal Lochnagar distillery, founded the same year Victoria moved in, and granted its royal title after she popped down for a tour.

Head north of Aberdeen and the coast takes over. 165 miles of it in total, with fishing villages tucked into cliff-edge harbours all the way up to the Moray Firth. Crovie is the famous one, a single row of houses with their backs to the cliff and the sea on the doorstep. Pennan is just along the way, where they filmed Local Hero in 1983. Gardenstown, Portsoy, Pennan, Crovie. All worth the detour.

What makes Aberdeenshire work as a place to stay is the mix. Coastal villages, castle ruins, working farms, Victorian spa towns and the granite city of Aberdeen itself. You can spend a week here and barely scratch the surface. Below are our pick of the places to stay, from exclusive-use lodges on sporting estates to cottages for two on the Buchan coast.