Hidden Scotland
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Villages
in Aberdeenshire.

It’s 22:19 in Aberdeenshire.
Aberdeenshire

Cottages at the foot of the cliffs.

Some of Scotland's most striking villages are tucked into Aberdeenshire's coast. On the north shore, rows of fishermen's cottages sit on narrow ledges between the cliffs and the sea, reached by steep roads that test the brakes. Inland there's the oldest village on Deeside, and a Highland village where the Clunie Water meets the Dee, home to the most famous Highland games of all. On the south coast, a harbour town has grown out from its old quarter round the quay. Park at the top and walk down.

Braemar→
Kincardine O'Neil→
Pennan→
Banff→
Stonehaven→
Gardenstown→
Crovie→
Village of the day20 hours ago

Kincardine O'Neil.

The oldest village on Deeside, on the north bank of the Dee, with the roofless Auld Kirk of a medieval travellers' hospital at its heart.

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Lunch19 hours agoAberdeenshireThe Platform and Annie's Cakery0.7 milesAberdeenshirePortsoy Ice Cream6.2 milesAberdeenshireBumble and Brae7.0 miles

Lunch near Banff.

The three good places closest to it: The Platform and Annie's Cakery, Portsoy Ice Cream and Bumble and Brae.

See Banff
From our guide17 hours ago

Stonehaven.

The harbour town of Stonehaven lies just 15 miles south of Aberdeen and has grown over the centuries from a modest fishing village into a bona fide beach resort, complete with an Olympic-sized open-air pool, a lively cultural calendar, and some excellent seafood options. If it’s open, call in at the Tolbooth Museum, set in an old storehouse on the waterfront.

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Stay16 hours agoAberdeenshireFaunoran House7.6 milesAberdeenshireGairnshiel Lodge10.5 milesAberdeenshireLaggan Cottage10.5 miles

Stay near Braemar.

The three good places closest to it: Faunoran House, Gairnshiel Lodge and Laggan Cottage.

See Braemar
Autumn12 hours ago

What Crovie looks like in autumn.

A single row of fishermen's cottages on a ledge between the cliffs and the sea on Gamrie Bay, reached only on foot, the fishing ended by the great storm of 1953.

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From the magazine11 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 10Issue 10Spring / Summer 2025

Nikki Bruce, a ceramic artist in Stonehaven on the Aberdeenshire coast, makes pottery shaped by the rock pools where her children played beside the Highland Boundary Fault.

Nikki grew up in nearby Catterline, the village made famous by artists like the painter Joan Eardley, and spent hours at its rock pools, watching the fishermen come home with full boats. 'I wanted a similar experience for my family'. When she settled in Stonehaven, they spent lots of time at the Cowie rock pools, where the fault's rock formations can be seen on the beaches and cliffs. Now the craggy rocks, smooth pebbles, barnacles, shells and seaweed shape the form, the marks and the colours of her work, both useful and sculptural, made in a green-hued garden studio.

Read the full story in Issue 10
In Aberdeenshire9 hours ago

Tarland's toy shop and post office has won the Extra Mile award at Aberdeenshire's first Heart of the High Street Awards.

The shop has served the village for nearly twenty years.

Photograph: Paul Mulvenna on Google MapsRead about it
Quiz8 hours ago

What is the lowest temperature ever recorded in the UK, reached at Braemar in Aberdeenshire?

From our guide6 hours ago

Fittie (Footdee).

There’s nowhere quite like Fittie. The atmospheric old fishing village – officially named Footdee – sits at the southern end of Aberdeen Beach, within walking distance of the city centre. Its neat stone cottages were the work of John Smith, the 19th-century architect responsible for Balmoral Castle.

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From our guide3 hours ago

Gardenstown.

Less than a mile from Crovie as the gull flies, Gardenstown is another spectacular coastal village on the north coast. Its residences are scattered across sandstone cliffs, its harbour dates back to the 1720s, and its streets draw in visitors with craft stores, galleries and more.

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From our guide1 hour ago

Pennan.

Looking out across the wide seas of the Moray Firth, and reached via a narrow road that worms its way down the cliffside, is the seaside village of Pennan. It found fame after appearing on screen in the 1980s BAFTA-winning comedy classic Local Hero, directed by Bill Forsyth.

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From our guide19 minutes ago

Cullen.

The iconic, smoked-haddock soup known as Cullen Skink was created right here in the seaside village of the same name. Once you’ve devoured a bowl of the stuff, take time too to wander Cullen’s brightly painted cottages and fabulous sandy beach.

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