Huntly – A Gordon Palace, a Tubing Slope and Lunch at Dean's
A few hours.
The route
Huntly Castle and the town's Nordic centre stand a few minutes' walk apart by the River Deveron, on the northern edge of Huntly.
The castle is the roofless palace of the Gordons, its walls carved with their names and coats of arms, and the centre has a slope where families slide down on big rubber rings. Lunch is across the town at Dean's.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book Huntly Nordic and Outdoor Centre: tubing
Book a family tubing session on Live Life Aberdeenshire's website or app: £24.15 for a family of up to five.
Book Huntly Castle tickets on Historic Environment Scotland's site.
The day
Huntly
It's a morning of old stone and fast slides for the whole family, with a palace to explore, an hour on the tubes and a warm bistro to finish in, all within a mile and a quarter of each other.
About four hoursAbout 0.5 miles on foot
Huntly Castle
An attraction
Huntly Castle stands at the end of Castle Avenue, on the northern edge of the town where the Bogie runs into the Deveron, with a car park beside it. There's free parking, too, on Castle Street behind the police station, from where the avenue leads down to the castle. The steep grassy mound to the west is the motte of the first castle here, raised around 1180. The palace's south front, remodelled for the first Marquis of Huntly, still stands to its full height, with his name, George Gordon, and his wife's, Henriette Stewart, cut in giant letters along the top and dated 1602. In the courtyard a tall carved panel of coats of arms climbs the wall above the main door, and inside are great carved fireplaces, one dated 1606, and the cellars underneath. An hour is plenty.
About 5 min on foot
Huntly Nordic and Outdoor Centre
From the castle it's about six minutes' walk west to the Huntly Nordic and Outdoor Centre, which calls itself Britain's only purpose-built all-weather centre for cross-country skiing. Only disabled visitors drive up to its door. Beside the ski track is a slope for tubing, where you sit in a big rubber ring and slide to the bottom. Its hourly family sessions take up to five people and are booked ahead, and little ones can ride on a grown-up's knee. Under-16s need an ordinary cycle helmet, not a full-face one: the centre has only a handful to hire, so bring one from home if you can. The slope is kept wet and the rings can be damp, so come dressed for a soggy slide on a cold day.
Dean's of Huntly
Lunch
Walk back to the car, and Dean's of Huntly, the home of the town's shortbread, is five minutes' drive south across Huntly, just off the A96, with a free car park off Steven Road. Lunch in its bistro runs from a bowl of soup to a burger, with home baking to follow. There are toilets, highchairs and baby changing, a ramp and a lift, and dogs are welcome in the upstairs booths. The gift shop sells the shortbread, factory seconds too.
If it rains
The castle is a roofless ruin with its cellars under cover, and the tubing slope is out of doors: on a wild day, ring the Nordic centre on 01466 794428 before setting off. Dean's is all under one roof.
The Bank Café & Restaurant, a restaurant in Huntly.
Make it a weekend
More days out in Aberdeenshire.
Photographs by Huntly Nordic and Outdoor Centre and Tobias Bärwald via Google