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Aberdeenshire's best
places to stay.

It’s 02:45 in Aberdeenshire.
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Places to stay in Aberdeenshire

Where would you like to wake up?

Every one of these is somewhere we would book ourselves: steadings and a stone bothy on the Glen Dye estate under Clachnaben, estate cottages on Donside, a Victorian hunting lodge on the River Gairn next door to Balmoral and an old inn on the edge of the forest with its own sauna. Choose a kind of place to start, or swipe through them all.

Cosy, and all your ownCottagesSteam under the starsHot tubsThe dog comes tooDog friendlyMiles from anywhereRemoteFor a special occasionLuxury
Every place

All our places to stay in Aberdeenshire.

Swipe through them all, and choose one to see it, the nights it is free and how to book.

All of Scotland
The Coach House→
No 2 Steading Cottage→
Greenstyle→
Cuttieshillock→
Old School Cottage→
No 5 Steading Cottage→
Laggan Cottage→
North Lodge and River Cabin→
Inverenzie Cottage→
Woodend→
Tornahatnach→
Garden Cottage→
Faunoran House→
Rowan Cottage→
Butler's Lodge→
Home Farm→
Dalgrassick→
The Bothy, Glendye→
West Millfield→
No 4 Steading Cottage→
The Corner House→
Joiner’s Cottage→
Chapelton→
Gamekeeper’s Cottage→
Gairnshiel Lodge→
The Hay Loft at Glendye→
Not sure where to start?

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Tell us when and who is coming, and see the places in Aberdeenshire that are free and fit.

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Or go straight toFree this weekendFor the two of usFor a familyWith a hot tubWith the dog
TonightToday

Gairnshiel Lodge is free tonight.

A former Victorian hunting lodge for sixteen in Glen Gairn near Ballater, let whole, with Balmoral for a neighbour. Sleeps 16, in Aberdeenshire.

Free dates25 Oct – 5 Nov8 – 18 Nov21 – 26 Nov28 – 30 NovBook Gairnshiel Lodge
Free soonTodayAberdeenshireLaggan Cottage31 Oct – 11 NovAberdeenshireNo 5 Steading Cottage25 – 26 OctAberdeenshireGamekeeper’s Cottage25 – 26 Oct

Places with nights free in the next few weeks.

The dates under each one are free. Choose a place to see it and book.

Opens 1 December13 minutes ago

Braemar Caravan Park has four new lodges, the Hoosies, taking their first guests from 1 December.

They stand on the Invercauld Estate at the edge of the village, and each has a double and a twin bedroom. Stays are three, four or seven nights, and booking is open now.

Read about it
Friday to Sunday55 minutes agoAberdeenshireThe Coach House30 Oct – 1 NovAberdeenshireNo 5 Steading Cottage30 Oct – 1 NovAberdeenshireGairnshiel Lodge30 Oct – 1 NovAberdeenshireOld School Cottage30 Oct – 1 NovAberdeenshireJoiner’s Cottage30 Oct – 2 NovAberdeenshireHome Farm30 Oct – 2 Nov

An autumn weekend in Aberdeenshire, while the bracken turns.

Each one shows the next weekend it has free. Choose one to see it and book.

See every place to stay
From Issue 7 of Hidden Scotland magazineIssue 71 hour ago

Made of Crovie: Growing up on the edge of the ocean

Jamie Ellington remembers a 1980s childhood in Crovie, the single row of fishing cottages squeezed between cliff and sea on the Aberdeenshire coast, with rockpools and fishermen at the door.

Read the story
In Issue 13The magazine

The Art of Staying Put

Places to stay in Scotland you won't need to leave.

Read it in Issue 13
Did you know2 hours ago

When a Belgian family took on Gairnshiel Lodge, in Glen Gairn near Ballater, they gutted it until only the granite walls were left.

Maarten and his parents, Eric and Hilde, took on the old hunting lodge in 2015. Maarten had studied interior design, and he worked on the house with the designer Nathalie Van Reeth. Everything came out but the stone. What went back in was chosen piece by piece, and there isn't much of it. There's a 1950s bench by the French designer Charlotte Perriand and a wardrobe fronted with a pair of Chinese doors bought in Antwerp. There's also a steel desk that was left outdoors for almost a decade so it would weather. The lodge opened to guests in the spring of 2018, and Hilde still bakes the bread.

See Gairnshiel Lodge · Aberdeenshire
From our collectionsA collection5 hours agoAberdeenshireGarden CottageAberdeenshireRowan CottageAberdeenshireNo 2 Steading CottageAberdeenshireOld School CottageAberdeenshireGreenstyleAberdeenshireCuttieshillockAberdeenshireHome FarmAberdeenshireInverenzie CottageAberdeenshireButler's LodgeAberdeenshireGairnshiel Lodge

Historic Places to Stay in Aberdeenshire

Old buildings have the best stories, and the glens of Aberdeenshire are full of them. These are the historic places to stay, from an old inn where troops rested during the Jacobite Rising to a head gardener's cottage in a walled garden.

See the whole collection
Sleeps tenFive bedroomsStays of two nights or moreA closer look6 hours ago

Inside Faunoran House.

Faunoran House stands in Crathie on Royal Deeside, a short walk from the gates of Balmoral, in a wood of silver birch where pheasants come down to the pond. It is a granite house of steep slate gables, the newest of the Gairnshiel houses, run by a Belgian family who took over Gairnshiel Lodge in 2015. Inside, old and new sit side by side.

Free dates23 – 28 Oct1 – 22 Nov25 Nov – 23 Dec27 – 31 DecSee Faunoran House
Before Christmas7 hours ago

A couple of weekends still free at Gamekeeper’s Cottage before Christmas.

The weekends of 4 and 11 December. Every other weekend before Christmas is booked. Sleeps six, in Aberdeenshire.

Free dates4 – 6 Dec11 – 13 DecBook Gamekeeper’s Cottage
Base yourself8 hours agoAberdeenshireKnock CastleAttractionAberdeenshireInverenzie Cottage4 miles awayAberdeenshireGairnshiel Lodge5 miles awayAberdeenshireLaggan Cottage5 miles awayAberdeenshireOld School Cottage5 miles awayAberdeenshireFaunoran House5 miles away

Where to stay near Knock Castle.

The roofless 16th-century tower house of the Gordons on a knoll west of Ballater, reached by a short walk up a farm track from the road through Glen Girnock.

See Knock Castle
From our collectionsA collection10 hours agoAberdeenshireGairnshiel LodgeAberdeenshireLaggan CottageAberdeenshireNo 4 Steading CottageAberdeenshireThe Coach HouseAberdeenshireFaunoran HouseAberdeenshireNo 5 Steading Cottage

Places to Stay in Aberdeenshire for a Group

Whether it's a family reunion, a big birthday or a crowd of friends heading for the hills, Aberdeenshire has some wonderful places to gather everyone under one roof. Here are our favourites, from an old toll house by a bridge to a whole hotel of your own.

See the whole collection
Sleeps twoOne bedroomA hot tubA closer look11 hours ago

Inside The Bothy, Glendye.

The Bothy is a little stone cottage for two on the Glen Dye estate, south of Banchory, right beside The Old Lodge, which dates from the 1700s and is the oldest house on the estate by some way. Inside, one bright green room holds the kitchen, a wooden table and a velvet armchair by the wood-burning stove, and the bedroom has a king-size bed against deep blue walls. \nOutside is the best of it.

Free dates27 – 30 Oct2 – 4 Nov9 – 10 Nov13 – 16 NovSee The Bothy, Glendye