Crathes Castle – Painted Ceilings, Yew Hedges and Lunch
A few hours.
The route
With its pink granite tower crowned by turrets and little pointed roofs, Crathes looks exactly like a castle in a storybook.
Inside it's just as good, with painted ceilings and the ivory Horn of Leys that Robert the Bruce gave the Burnett family. Below it lies a walled garden of huge clipped yews, and lunch is in the café in the old courtyard.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The day
Crathes
It's a morning out on Deeside at one of the north-east's best-loved castles. Climb the tower through its painted rooms, wander the walled garden among the clipped yews, then sit down to a warm lunch in the courtyard.
About three hoursAbout 0.5 miles on foot
Crathes Castle
An attraction
Crathes is just east of Banchory: turn up the long drive off the A93 to the estate's pay car park beside the courtyard, which is free to National Trust for Scotland members. From April to October the castle, garden and café open every day from 10am to 5pm. Tickets can't be booked: buy them in the shop, and small groups go into the castle every 10 minutes, first come first served, so arrive near opening time. At the time of writing a ticket costs £18 for adults, £14 concessions and £40.50 for a family. The Horn of Leys hangs in the great hall, and upstairs the rooms are lined with oak panelling under ceilings painted with bright Renaissance figures and verses. The upper floors are reached only by narrow spiral stairs, but the ground floor is step-free. Afterwards wander the walled garden, behind yew hedges planted as early as 1702 and clipped into great green drums. Dogs are welcome in the estate, the shop and the café, though not in the castle or the walled garden.
Café 1702 at Crathes Castle
Lunch
Lunch is at Café 1702 in the courtyard beside the car park. It serves hot and cold food, home baking and extreme hot chocolates for the children. It keeps the castle's hours: 10am to 5pm every day from April to October, and 10am to 4pm over the winter, with Thursday to Sunday only in January. Dogs are welcome inside, with water bowls and dog biscuits. If it's full, try the Milton Brasserie, 1.3 km east along the A93.
If it rains
All of the castle is under a roof, and so is the café, so a wet morning only shortens the walk round the walled garden.
