Glamis Castle – A Guided Tour and Lunch in the Old Kitchens
A few hours.
The route
Glamis Castle stands at the end of an avenue almost a mile long, all pink sandstone and pepper-pot turrets, in the Angus countryside north of Dundee.
Take the guided tour of its rooms and wander through its gardens, then have lunch in the Castle Kitchen, the restaurant in the castle's old Victorian kitchens.
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 Nàdair, 6 miles away. Sleeps 6; next free Fri 4 Dec to Sun 6 Dec.
Book Glamis Castle tickets and a table at The Castle Kitchen
Book tickets online a day or two ahead for any day from late March to 1 November, when the castle opens daily (Thursday to Sunday from 5 November to 20 December), and book a Castle Kitchen table for about 12.30pm on the same site.
The day
Glamis
It's a morning at Glamis, in the Angus countryside. The guided tour of the rooms comes first, then the Italian Garden and the walled garden, and lunch in the castle's old kitchens.
About three hoursAbout 1 mile on foot
Glamis Castle
An attraction
The gates at the end of Glamis village open onto the long avenue, with the castle straight ahead, and parking is free with your ticket behind the Pavilion Shop. This was the childhood home of the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret was born here in 1930. The rooms are seen on a guided tour of about 50 minutes, and the ticket isn't for a set time: check in at the Head of Stairs and join the next tour. The tour climbs several staircases and there's no lift. After the tour, walk the Italian Garden and the walled garden. Dogs on leads are welcome in the gardens and grounds, but not in the castle. The castle opens every day from late March to the start of November, with the last tour at 4.30pm and at 3.30pm in the last fortnight of October, then from Thursday to Sunday until just before Christmas.
The Castle Kitchen
Lunch
Lunch is in the Castle Kitchen, in the castle's original Victorian kitchens, so you step indoors straight from the gardens. The menu has soup of the day, open sandwiches and a Glamis venison burger. Book a table for about 12.30pm on the castle's website. Anyone who can't manage the tour's steps can take the gardens ticket and still reach it. Dogs aren't allowed in the restaurant. If it's full, the Old Larder does takeaway.
If it rains
The tour and lunch are under a roof, so only the gardens get wet: keep them short and linger over lunch in the Castle Kitchen.
Where to stay