Braemar – Highland Games History and Lunch at the Flying Stag
A few hours.
The route
The Braemar Gathering has been held for almost 200 years and is among the best-known Highland games in the world.
Its story is told in a pavilion at the edge of the games park, through costumes, trophies and photographs, with a lifting stone round the back for anyone who fancies a go. Lunch is a short walk into the village, under the winged stag in the Fife Arms' public bar.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book a table for lunch at the Flying Stag on the Fife Arms' website, or ring 01339 720202 for six or more.
The day
Braemar
Among the costumes, trophies and old photographs of the Braemar Gathering, the day starts with the story of the games. Then comes a try at the Inver Stone and a few minutes' walk into the village for lunch at the Fife Arms.
Braemar Highland Games Centre
An attraction
The Highland Games Centre fills the Duke of Rothesay Highland Games Pavilion, on Broombank Terrace at the edge of Braemar's games park, and its car park is free. Adults are asked for a £5 donation, children from 5 to 11 for £1, and under-fives go free. In the eight-sided hall under its decorated ceiling, costumes, photographs and papers from the Braemar Royal Highland Society's archive tell the Gathering's story. The gallery beside it looks out on the games park and explains how a caber is tossed, and its cabinets hold Highland games trophies and tankards. Behind the Pavilion, to the right, the Inver Stone can be tried at any hour: lift it while the Pavilion is open, tell the staff, and your name goes on its Roll of Honour. The café inside serves hot drinks, scones and biscuits.
About 6 min on foot
The Flying Stag
Lunch
Leave the car at the Pavilion and walk into the village. Lunch is in the Flying Stag, the Fife Arms' public bar. Above the counter hangs James Prosek's stag with a ptarmigan's wings. The menu runs from fish and chips and burgers to pies and curries, and the bar pours local beer and Scotch whisky. There's a children's menu, dogs are welcome, and it's wheelchair accessible.
If it rains
Both stops are under a roof, with a short walk between them.
