The Fife Arms – an Art Tour and Afternoon Tea in Braemar
A few hours.
The route
The Fife Arms has stood at the bridge in the middle of Braemar since 1856.
Since its restoration it has been filled with art, from a Picasso in the drawing room to a ceiling painted after the colours of Scottish agates. Its Art Afternoon Tea begins with a guided tour of the collection's highlights and ends with sandwiches, scones and cakes from the hotel's own pastry chefs.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Darroch Learg in Ballater, 13 miles away.
Book the Fife Arms afternoon tea
Book the Art Afternoon Tea on the Fife Arms' website before you go: Monday to Thursday at 12.30pm, from £60 a head at the time of writing, a guided tour of the hotel's art and then afternoon tea.
The day
Braemar
An unhurried afternoon under one roof: the paintings and the extraordinary rooms of the Fife Arms with someone who knows them, then afternoon tea.
About two and a half hours
The Fife Arms
The Fife Arms stands on Mar Road at the bridge over the Clunie Water. Park in the village: the Balnellan Road car park, just over the bridge, is free, with a voluntary payment by phone; the Mews car park is free; and there's accessible parking across the road from the hotel. The Art Afternoon Tea starts at 12.30pm, Monday to Thursday, with one of the staff showing you the highlights of a collection of more than 16,000 pieces. In the drawing room, Picasso's portrait of Françoise Gilot hangs under Zhang Enli's ceiling, painted after the colours of Scottish agates. The lobby has a Lucian Freud and Queen Victoria's own watercolour of a stag, and reception has Richard Jackson's Red Deer Chandelier of glass antlers.
The Fife Arms afternoon tea
Afternoon tea
Tea follows the tour, served in the lobby, the drawing room or the Clunie Dining Room, which is wrapped in a mural by the Argentinian artist Guillermo Kuitca. The hotel's pastry chefs make it all: savoury bites, buttermilk scones with clotted cream and jam, and small cakes and tarts that change with the seasons. A children's tea is made on request. Dogs aren't allowed in the drawing room or the Clunie. For something simpler, Gordon's Tea Room on Mar Road does scones and cake from Wednesday to Sunday.
If it rains
All of it is under one roof: only the walk from the car park is out in the weather.
