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The dining room at Kildrummy Inn, with iron chandeliers under the beams, tables laid with glasses and candles and gilt-framed Highland paintings on the walls.
Aberdeenshire

Kildrummy Inn

A family-run inn of 1828 on the A97 in upper Donside, with two AA Rosettes, a place in the Michelin Guide, a whisky snug and four bedrooms.

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Welcome

Kildrummy Inn stands on the A97 in upper Donside, about 35 miles west of Aberdeen, and it has been an inn since 1828, when the Society House at Kildrummy was offered for lease on the route of the Lord Forbes coach.

David and Sophie Littlewood bought it in 2013 and run it as a family business: David is chef patron, with head chef Alexandria Hay in the kitchen, and Sophie looks after the front of house. The cooking is built on local, seasonal produce, the menu changes very often, sometimes daily, and the inn holds two AA Rosettes and a place in the Michelin Guide. Start with a dram in the whisky snug, where the malts sit in little lit niches along the walls, then go through to the dining room. Tasting menus are served from Wednesday to Saturday and are booked ahead for the whole table. Dogs can join you on the terrace, and there are four bedrooms if you'd like to stay.

Not farKnock Castle15 milesSee itKnock Castle
Before you go

Open Wednesday to Sunday; closed in January.

Book a table through its own site.

Where
On the A97 just outside Kildrummy, by Alford, AB33 8QS.
Open
Wednesday to Saturday, lunch 12pm to 3.30pm and dinner 5pm to 8pm; Sunday 12pm to 7pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Closed
From 2 to 24 November 2026, from 25 to 27 December, and for January, reopening on 5 February 2027.
Tasting menus
Wednesday to Saturday, booked ahead and taken by the whole table.
Dogs
Not inside, but welcome with you on the terrace in fine weather.
Parking
Free, at the inn.
Phone
019755 71227

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday
noon–3.30pm, 5pm–8pm
Thursday
noon–3.30pm, 5pm–8pm
Friday
noon–3.30pm, 5pm–8pm
Saturday
noon–3.30pm, 5pm–8pm
Sunday
noon–7pm

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Where it is

On the A97 just outside the hamlet of Kildrummy, about 35 miles west of Aberdeen, AB33 8QS.

Close byKildrummy and upper Donside.
  1. Kildrummy Castle's D-shaped ruin seen from the air above its ravine.Kildrummy CastleThe great ruined castle of the Earls of Mar on Donside, built about 1250 above the ravine of the Black Den, called the noblest of northern castles, besieged in the Wars of Independence.Under a mile as the crow flies
  2. The roofless kirk of St Mary at Auchindoir among its gravestones and trees.St Mary's Church, AuchindoirA roofless church of the late 1200s near Rhynie, with a Norman doorway and a carved sacrament house.5 miles as the crow flies
  3. A Pictish stone at Rhynie, its incised symbols faint on the pink granite.Rhynie Pictish StonesThree carved Pictish stones by the old kirkyard at Rhynie, under Tap o' Noth.7 miles as the crow flies
  4. Visitors among a steam engine and old cars in the Grampian Transport Museum.Grampian Transport MuseumAn independent transport museum in Alford, open for over forty years, with cars, motorbikes, buses, steam engines and more, open daily from spring to late October.7 miles as the crow flies
  5. Two little green engines of the Alford Valley Railway with red buffers, outside the engine shed.Alford Valley RailwayA two-foot narrow-gauge railway in the Howe of Alford, running for about two miles from the old Alford station to Haughton Country Park, reopened by the community on summer weekends.7 miles as the crow flies
  6. The steep grassy side of the Doune of Invernochty mound against the sky.Doune of InvernochtyA huge earthwork castle mound at Strathdon where the Water of Nochty meets the Don, raised by the Earls of Mar in the late 1100s, one of the finest Norman mottes in Scotland.7 miles as the crow flies
  7. Stone arched bridge over a river, sunlight filtering through bare treesPoldullie BridgeA high single-arched bridge of 1715 over the River Don in Strathdon, built by John Forbes of Inverernan just before he rode out for the Jacobites.8 miles as the crow flies
  8. Craigievar CastleCraigievar CastleA pink-harled tower house on a hillside south of Alford, finished by William Forbes about 1626 and barely changed since, said to have inspired Disney's Cinderella Castle.8 miles as the crow flies
Directions
A stone farmhouse with dormer windows stands beside a picnic bench within a wooden fence enclosure.GlenkindieTornahatnachSleeps 5 · 1.5 miles
A stone house with three dormer windows and a yellow front door sits behind a lawn, terracotta pots flanking the entrance.GlenkindieGreenstyleSleeps 6 · 1.5 miles
A stone cottage with green-framed dormer windows and matching door stands behind a gravel drive, trees and open fields beyond.GlenkindieDalgrassickSleeps 4 · 1.5 miles
A stone farmhouse with a gabled dormer window sits behind a timber picket fence, trees shading the drive.GlenkindieHome FarmSleeps 6 · 1.5 miles
A stone farmhouse with a slated roof and green door sits behind a lawn, a timber garden room extending to one side.GlenkindieChapeltonSleeps 6 · 1.5 miles
Stone cottage with lit doorways and slate roof at dusk, forest behindRestaurantsSteading Bar6.6 miles
The green front of the Alford Heritage Museum under its painted sign, in the old auction mart.AttractionsAlford Heritage Museum7.3 miles
Road sign reading "Lost" with an arrow, surrounded by bare winter shrubsAttractionsThe Famous Lost Sign7.3 miles
A herd of red deer on the grass at Tullynessle, a stag at the front and forest behind.ActivityTullynessle Deer Farm7.8 miles

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The Daily for 22 October, from Scotland with love. An aerial view of the Kylesku Bridge curving across a sea loch at sunset, Sutherland

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the inn, and when each is next free.

A stone farmhouse with dormer windows stands beside a picnic bench within a wooden fence enclosure.Tornahatnach
  • Sleeps 5
  • In Glenkindie
  • 2 miles from Kildrummy Inn
Free 18–21 NovA stone house with three dormer windows and a yellow front door sits behind a lawn, terracotta pots flanking the entrance.Greenstyle
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Glenkindie
  • 2 miles from Kildrummy Inn
Free 22–25 NovA stone cottage with green-framed dormer windows and matching door stands behind a gravel drive, trees and open fields beyond.Dalgrassick
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Glenkindie
  • 2 miles from Kildrummy Inn
Free 2–5 NovA stone farmhouse with a gabled dormer window sits behind a timber picket fence, trees shading the drive.Home Farm
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Glenkindie
  • 2 miles from Kildrummy Inn
Free 28–31 OctPlaces to stayEvery stay in AberdeenshireAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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