Leith Hall – A Walled Garden and Lunch on Upper Donside
A few hours.
The route
Leith Hall is a laird's house near Kennethmont, with a walled garden that climbs to a moon gate and a footpath out to its ponds.
This is an easy late morning round the garden and the estate, then a drive down through upper Donside for a long lunch at the Kildrummy Inn.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book lunch at the Kildrummy Inn
Book a table for lunch online through the Kildrummy Inn's website or on 019755 71227.
The day
Kennethmont
A walk up through the walled garden to the moon gate and out along the footpath to the ponds, then a long lunch at an inn on upper Donside.
Leith Hall
An attraction
Leith Hall stands just west of Kennethmont, by the B9002. The house was begun in 1650 and grew round its courtyard over two centuries as the home of the Leith-Hay family, and has been run by the National Trust for Scotland since 1945. The garden and the estate are open every day of the year. Climb the walled garden past its herbaceous and catmint borders and the rebuilt rock garden to the moon gate at the top, which looks out over the hills. Beyond the lawns, a footpath leads to the ponds, and a bird hide by the upper pond is the place to watch for grey herons and other waterbirds. In autumn the garden has a display of specimen acers.
About 20 min by car
Kildrummy Inn
Lunch
Lunch is at the Kildrummy Inn, on the A97 at Kildrummy. Its kitchen is in the Michelin Guide, with two AA rosettes, and cooks with what is local and in season. Lunch is served Wednesday to Saturday from noon to 3.30pm, and the Sunday menu from noon to 7pm. The inn is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, from 2 to 24 November 2026, from 25 to 27 December and through January.
If it rains
The garden and the trails are all out of doors, so on a wet day keep the walk short and go on to lunch at the Kildrummy Inn, which is under a roof.
On the way
- Rhynie Pictish Stones
The stones stand in the car park of Rhynie's old kirkyard, a short lane east of the A97 at the south end of the village. The larger one carries a beast's head, a mirror and a comb.
Make it a weekend
More days out in Aberdeenshire.
Photographs by Lia Bruce, Paul Kohn and Kildrummy Inn via Google