Fettercairn – A Whisky Tour and a Royal Arch in the Mearns
A few hours.
The route
Fettercairn is a village of reddish sandstone at the foot of the Cairn o' Mount road, in the Howe of the Mearns.
A whitewashed distillery stands on its edge, and an arch over the main street marks Queen Victoria's night here. A tour and a dram come first, then a wander round the Square, and lunch is at a fruit farm's café near Fordoun.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book Fettercairn Distillery's Taste of Fettercairn tour
Book a tour time on the distillery's website: walk-in places are limited and tours can be full on the day.
The day
Fettercairn
A whisky tour, a royal arch and lunch on a fruit farm in the Mearns.
About three and a half hours
Fettercairn Distillery
An attraction
Fettercairn Distillery stands on the north-west edge of the village, its whitewashed buildings bright against the farmland. Park in the distillery's own car park on Distillery Road. Sir Alexander Ramsay, the laird of Fasque, converted an old cornmill into a distillery here, and it opened in 1824. The Taste of Fettercairn tour takes about an hour and a quarter, round the distillery and on to a tasting of three of its single malts. It costs £20, or £7.50 for ages 8 to 18. Whoever is driving can take their drams away to enjoy later.
The Royal Arch, Fettercairn
It's a two-minute drive into the middle of the village. Leave the car in the free Cross Car Park. The tall sandstone arch over Main Street went up in 1864, to mark the night Queen Victoria and Prince Albert spent in Fettercairn in September 1861, on an outing from Balmoral over Mount Keen. The stay was meant to be quiet, yet crowds of villagers gathered to cheer the royal couple as they left. The mercat cross in the middle of the Square doubled as the village stocks. A groove down the west side of its shaft is one ell long, a standard length for traders.
17 min by car
Castleton Farm Shop & Cafe
Lunch
It's 17 minutes' drive north-east to lunch at Castleton Farm, a family fruit farm a mile and a half from Fordoun. Its café and conservatory look out over the countryside, and lunch is served from 11.45am: homemade dishes with gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan choices, and a children's menu. The cakes are made from scratch, and the strawberry tarts are the café's famous ones. There's farm-themed play equipment for children just outside the conservatory. You needn't book, though you can on 01561 321155. The farm shop sells food made with the farm's fruit, local produce and gifts.
If it rains
On a wet day, the tour and lunch are under cover; the arch and the Square are outdoors.
Photographs by Sujata Rana and Gert Bolten Maizonave via Google; G Laird (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons