Angus

Glamis and Clova – A Castle, Barrie's Birthplace and a Glen

A day by car, from Dundee station and back.

The route

North of Dundee, the farmland of Strathmore runs up to the foot of the Angus Glens, and this day out takes a castle, a town and a glen in the order the road meets them.

The morning belongs to Glamis Castle, the childhood home of the Queen Mother, with a guided tour, the gardens and lunch in the old castle kitchens. A short drive on is Kirriemuir, where J.M. Barrie was born: his birthplace is here, with a sweet shop that has made rock for nearly 200 years and the camera obscura he gave the town. From there the road runs north, turning aside to the memorial to Captain Scott and Dr Wilson, then up Glen Clova, for tea or an early dinner at the hotel. There's no long walk in the day; Corrie Fee, at the end of the road in Glen Doll, is one to come back for.

Before you go

Book a table at the Glen Clova Hotel
The hotel is the place for a meal in the glen and recommends booking ahead, for dinner above all.
Book Glamis Castle
A day or two ahead in summer and at weekends; the ticket is for the day, not a timed tour.

The day

Castle, town and glen

A day north from Dundee, from the towers of Glamis to the village of Clova, far up its glen. The morning is the castle and its gardens, and the afternoon is Kirriemuir, the town of J.M. Barrie and Peter Pan, with the hill above it. Then comes the drive up the glen to Clova, with the hills closing in on either side. Leave Dundee at about half past nine.

2 hr 20 min at the wheelAbout 70 miles by carAbout 0.5 miles on foot

Glamis Castle
An attraction
It's 30 minutes' drive north from Dundee to Glamis. The gates at the end of the village open onto an avenue almost a mile long, the castle straight ahead. This was the childhood home of the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret was born here in 1930. The rooms are seen on a guided tour. Then walk the Italian Garden and the walled garden, and have lunch in the Castle Kitchen. Shakespeare made Macbeth Thane of Glamis, though the oldest part of the castle dates from the 1400s.
More about Glamis Castle
13 min by car
The Star Rock Shop
A shop
It's 13 minutes' drive north on the A928 to Kirriemuir, where J.M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, was born. Park on Bellies Brae, beside the statue of Bon Scott, the AC/DC singer who spent his first years in the town. Then walk up through the centre, where Peter Pan has a statue of his own, to the Roods. The Star Rock Shop has made rock for nearly 200 years; the story goes that a mason who lost his sight began it in 1833. The original flavour is a light lemon.
More about The Star Rock Shop
6 min on foot
J.M. Barrie's Birthplace
An attraction
Walk 6 minutes from Bellies Brae, less from the shop, to Brechin Road and the cottage where Barrie was born in 1860, the ninth of ten children. Upstairs, the rooms are set out as they were in his childhood, and next door, at number 11, an exhibition tells the story of his books and plays. In the yard is the wash house where he put on his first play at the age of seven. It's said to have given him the idea for the Wendy house.
More about J.M. Barrie's Birthplace
6 min on foot back to the car, then 5 min by car
Kirriemuir Camera Obscura
Back at the car, it's 5 minutes' drive up to Kirrie Hill and the cricket pavilion Barrie gave the town, which he opened in 1930. In its turret room is a camera obscura, one of only three in Scotland, with a view right round the countryside to the hills of the Angus Glens. It opens on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays from late March to mid-October and shuts at about 4pm, so be there by half past three. A bright day shows it best. Volunteers run it, along with Cafe Obscura downstairs, where there's coffee, scones and filled rolls. Barrie is buried in the cemetery on the hill.
12 min by car
The Scott and Wilson memorial
Drive 12 minutes north on the B955, past Cortachy. At Dykehead, where the roads into Glen Clova and Glen Prosen part, turn left at the sign for Prosen. About a mile and a quarter on, on a bend, stands a granite memorial to Captain Scott and Dr Wilson, said to have planned their expedition to the South Pole at a cottage nearby. Bruce Walker's carving, commissioned in 2012, shows the two men with their ponies, dogs and penguins. A small car park lies just round the bend.
22 min by car
Glen Clova
Back through Dykehead, it's 22 minutes' drive up Glen Clova. Near Gella the road divides to run up both sides of the glen: the local rule is up by the left and home by the other. It's narrow: take it slowly. The roads meet again at Clova, where the Glen Clova Hotel is the place for a meal. Book a table for tea or an early dinner, then stroll two minutes to Clova Kirk. Dundee is about an hour's drive home, by the other road and the A90 past Forfar.

If it rains

Most of the day is under a roof: the castle's rooms and the Castle Kitchen, the Star Rock Shop, Barrie's Birthplace and, at the end of it, the fire in the hotel's Climbers' Bar. The Camera Obscura wants a bright day, so in rain or low cloud go up Kirrie Hill for the coffee and not the view. If the hills are lost in cloud, leave the glen for a clearer day and drive 13 minutes from Kirriemuir to Forfar instead, where the Meffan is a free museum and gallery, open from 10.30am to 4pm, Wednesday to Monday, from April to October. Dundee is 28 minutes' drive from there.

Worth a detour

Corrie Fee
9 minutes' drive past the hotel, the public road ends at the Glen Doll car park, where the Corrie Fee Trail climbs through the forest to a great bowl carved by glaciers, now a National Nature Reserve. Forestry and Land Scotland give it as 4¼ miles (6.9 km) and two and a half hours there and back, on uneven gravel with a long steady slope and rocky steps at the end. That is too long to fit after Glamis and Kirriemuir, so keep it for a day of its own, or go straight from Glamis to Clova, about 45 minutes' drive, and leave Kirriemuir for next time. Storm damage can close trails at Glen Doll, so check Forestry and Land Scotland's page for the glen before you go. Parking is £3.