Drum Castle – Little Oaks and Lunch at the Mains of Drum
A few hours.
The route
Little Oaks is a natural play area in the woods at Drum Castle, built from storm-felled trees, with giant tree structures and carved oak sculptures to climb, swing and slide on, and it's free.
Lunch is 7 minutes' drive away at the Mains of Drum, the garden centre whose top-floor restaurant has a children's menu. It's an easy morning on Deeside for families with young children.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The day
Drum
A morning clambering among the oaks, and a warm lunch upstairs at the garden centre.
About three hours
Drum Castle
An attraction
The turning for Drum Castle is off the A93 just east of Drumoak, and a long drive through the trees leads up to the car park by the castle. It's a pay car park, free to National Trust for Scotland members: check the Trust's page for the charge before going. Little Oaks, the estate's natural play area, is free and open whenever the grounds are, from dawn to dusk every day. It's built from storm-felled trees from the Drum woods, with giant tree structures and carved oak sculptures to climb, swing and slide on. Nobody supervises it, and the ground is uneven, with roots and stones, so wellies are wise after rain. Dogs are welcome on a lead. The toilets, with baby changing, are through the castle's main archway and open when its tearoom does: Thursday to Monday until 1 November, then Thursday to Sunday.
7 min by car
The Mains of Drum
Lunch
The Mains of Drum, the garden centre just along the A93, is 7 minutes' drive on, and lunch is in its restaurant on the top floor. It opens every day from 9am to 4pm, with light lunches from 11.30am, and hot lunches and a children's menu from noon to 3.30pm. Tables are walk-in, and wheelchair access is easy. Dogs may come into the shop downstairs but not the restaurant. If it's full, the tearoom at Drum Castle does soup and sandwiches from noon to 3pm on the days it opens.
If it rains
Little Oaks is out in the woods with no roof, so on a wet morning go straight to the Mains of Drum, where the shop and the restaurant are all indoors.
The Mains of Drum, a café in Drumoak.
Photograph by Drum Castle, Garden & Estate (National Trust for Scotland) via Google