Aboyne – A Picnic Watching the Gliders
A few hours.
The route
Aboyne's airfield on Royal Deeside is the home of the Deeside Gliding Club, and the big layby beside it has picnic benches where you can sit and watch the gliders go up and come back down.
It's an easy outing with children. Pick up the picnic in Aboyne on the way.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
First
Pick up the picnic
Aboyne is six minutes' drive east of the airfield and Dinnet lies the other way along the same road, so the picnic can be picked up on the way.
- A café
- The Cornerhouse Cafe in Aboyne
- A café
- Spider on a Bicycle in Aboyne's old station
- The supermarket
- The Co-op in Aboyne
- Pizza
- Kite at Dinnet
The day
Aboyne
Pick up the picnic in Aboyne or Dinnet, then eat it at the benches by the airfield while the gliders go up and come down.
About an hour and a half
Deeside Gliding Club
The picnic benches are in the big layby on the A93 beside the airfield, between Aboyne and Dinnet. Lay out the picnic and watch: a small plane tows each glider up into the sky and lets it go, and one by one they come back in to land on the field. Gliders fly only when the weather suits, so ring the club on 01339 885339 before you drive out. Weekends from May to October are usually the likeliest days. It's a working airfield beside a main road, so keep children and dogs in the car park. The nearest toilets are in Aboyne, on Ballater Road. In summer there is sometimes a food van, but bring everything you need.
If it rains
In rain, low cloud or a strong wind there is unlikely to be anything flying, and the benches are out in the open: keep the picnic for a better day.
Photograph by Deeside Gliding Club, Aboyne Airfield GB-0009 via Google