The Farang Life
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Our Philosophy
  • Destinations
    • America
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • New York
      • Washington
    • Central America
      • Costa Rica
      • Dominican Republic
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Czech Republic
      • France
      • Greece
      • Hungary
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Portugal
      • Scandinavia
        • Denmark
        • Norway
        • Sweden
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
      • The United Kingdom
        • England
        • Scotland
      • Vatican City
    • South East Asia
      • Cambodia
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Philippines
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • The Middle East
      • Israel
      • Palestine
    • Oceania
      • Fiji
      • New Zealand
  • Travel Tips
  • Where We’ve Been
  • Contact Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy

The Farang Life

  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Our Philosophy
  • Destinations
    • America
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • New York
      • Washington
    • Central America
      • Costa Rica
      • Dominican Republic
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Czech Republic
      • France
      • Greece
      • Hungary
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Portugal
      • Scandinavia
        • Denmark
        • Norway
        • Sweden
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
      • The United Kingdom
        • England
        • Scotland
      • Vatican City
    • South East Asia
      • Cambodia
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Philippines
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • The Middle East
      • Israel
      • Palestine
    • Oceania
      • Fiji
      • New Zealand
  • Travel Tips
  • Where We’ve Been
  • Contact Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
EuropeScotland

Explore Crathes Castle in the Aberdeenshire of the UK

by kylebvick July 23, 2017
July 23, 2017
Explore Crathes Castle in the Aberdeenshire of the UK

Crathes castle has turrets, gargoyles, 16th-century painted ceilings and ancient, great yew hedges. This castle is nestled on a hilltop on the grounds including a walled garden where the hedges are from the 17th centuries. In the right season blooming poppy hills around the castle for a gorgeous fairytale view. There is a 16th century tower house with a maze of turrets, and towers for a great view of Aberdeenshire. There are 6 nature trails on the castle grounds where you can try to spot deer, squirrels, woodpeckers, buzzards and herons. There is also a shop and a cafe on the grounds you can visit. Crathes Castle is right up the road from Drum Castle and is on the same bus route. These are two great castles to visit on the same trip. This is the second closest castle outside of Aberdeen city and is a great day trip outside of the city.

Read my full blog about Drum Castle here.

Read my full Aberdeen City Guide blog post here. 

How to get there

Crathes castle is about 17miles and around 30 minutes outside of the city.  In Scotland, you buy bus passes based on zones and how far you want to go outside the city. Make sure you look up what zone the castles you want to visit are in and buy the right ticket. Crathes castle (Crathes, Banchory AB31 5QJ, UK ) is off road A93, which is on bus line 201, the orange line in the bus zones. When the bus stopped, I had about a mile and a half walk to Crathes castle.

Map and Bus chart to get to Crathes Castle from Aberdeen here.

Cost

  • Adult £13.00
  • Family £30.00
  • One adult family £25.00
  • Concession £10.00

Hours

  • 1 Jan–4 Jan 2019, closed
  • 5 Jan–31 Mar, Sat & Sun, 11.00–16.00
  • 1 Apr–31 Oct, daily, 10.30–17.00
  • 1 Nov–22 Dec, Sat & Sun, 11.00–16.00
  • Jan 2020–Mar, Sat & Sun, 11.00–16.00

Nature Trails

This castle is one of the best with how many miles of nature trails it includes on its property with different view points. There are so many gorgeous woodland trails to explore. The trails with information and maps are below.

East Trail

This is a 1.5 mile nature trail that takes around 1 hour. This is an easy to moderate walk in an unsurfaced woodland. This trail covers the southern half of the estate under old sycamore trees. There is a loop to see the quarry. The path takes you to the picturesque mill pond. Trail map here.

The Coy Burn Trail

This trail is almost 2 miles long and takes around 1 hour. This is also an unsurfaced peaceful woodland trail as it comes along the River Dee. This is where there is Atlantic salmon. There is lots of Scots pine, birch and alder trees you walk beneath. There is water wildlife to see, herons, grey wagtails and dippers. Trail map here.

The North Trail

This trail is 1 and a fourth miles and takes around 45-60 minutes. The trail goes through a Scots pine plantation with views to Banchory and beyond. There are sweet singing birds and lots of red squirrels to see in autumn. Trail map here.

The Ley Way

This is a 4 mile trail that takes 2-3 hours. This is a more legitimate hike on the property grounds rather than a simple nature walk and is a moderate hike. This is the longest trail on grounds and includes some of the other trails. Trail map here.

The West Trail

This trail is the shortest being 3/4 of a mile. It takes between 30-45 minutes. This trail has Caroline’s Garden with exotic and native plants and beech trees on rocks. You walk under oak and birch trees and lots of growing fungi. There is a steep granite outcrop with a beautiful viewpoint. Trail map here.

The Viewpoint Trail

This is the other shortest and easiest trail being 1/4 of a mile and taking 15-30 minutes. The trail comes to a viewpoint over Dee Valley that is beautiful. The woodland is filled with flowers and grasses here in the spring and summer. Trail map here.

View this post on Instagram

With over 530 acres of woodlands and fields at the estate; visit this October to see the Autumnal changes on the trails! #aberdeenshire #outdoors #autumn🍁

A post shared by Crathes Castle (@crathes_castle) on Oct 13, 2017 at 1:22am PDT

Go Ape

There is an adventure center with a treetop rope trail on the grounds of the castle nearby. This is a one of a kind activity great for kids. They have a beautiful wooden playground and a large wooded play area.

  • Play at Wild Wood Adventure- Ascend the Green Lady’s Tower, climb up the rock face challenge and ride the zip wire. Open year round except for January, February and December 10:30am-5pm.

Tips

  • Free garden tours are open April to October, every Wednesday at 2pm.
  • The castle is open for guided tours during winter weekends. Guided tours take place at 11am, 12 noon, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm.

Castle Photo Diary

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
kylebvick

previous post
Visit Drum Castle, Aberdeen Scotland
next post
Dublin in a Day

You may also like

Saebo, Quaint Fishing Village on the Hjarundfjord &...

September 5, 2017

Top 5 Fjords to Explore in Norway

September 4, 2017

Alesund, Art Nouvea Town on the Geirangerfjord &...

September 3, 2017

Hiking Troll Tunga Fjord Guide in Odda Norway

September 1, 2017

Brussels, Belgian Beer & Chocolate and Cobblestone Streets

August 26, 2017

Amsterdam, the Venice of the North

August 26, 2017

Stockholm, Land of IKEA and modern Scandinavian Design

August 23, 2017

Lund, Camping with Sweden’s Right to Roam on...

August 22, 2017

Copenhagen, One of the Coolest Cities in Scandinavia

August 22, 2017

Prague,”City of a Hundred Spires”

August 19, 2017

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

About Me

About Me

Cait and Kyle Vick

Hi there, we are the Vicks. We love traveling around the world and taking photos to document beauty in every country and culture! We are currently living in Thailand as English teachers traveling SE Asia. We have been to 43 countries across 4 continents and can't wait to explore more!

Country Count: 43

Austria
Cambodia
Costa Rica
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Fiji
France
Greece
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Laos
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Palestine
Philippines
Portugal
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
United Kingdom
United States
Vatican
Vietnam

Countries Visited Without Blogs (In Progress)

Taiwan
Japan
South Korea
Russia
Ukraine
Mexico
Poland
Germany
Canada

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Instagram Slider

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Categories

  • America (50)
  • Arizona (1)
  • Asia (39)
  • California (32)
  • Central America (2)
    • Costa Rica (1)
  • Colorado (1)
  • Destinations (62)
    • South East Asia (62)
      • Cambodia (5)
      • India (5)
  • Dominican Republic (1)
  • Europe (43)
    • Austria (1)
    • Belgium (1)
    • Czech Republic (1)
    • Denmark (1)
    • England (2)
    • France (1)
    • Greece (4)
    • Hungary (3)
    • Netherlands (1)
    • Norway (4)
    • Portugal (1)
    • Scotland (4)
    • Spain (1)
    • Sweden (2)
    • Switzerland (3)
    • The United Kingdom (2)
  • Fiji (1)
  • Indonesia (9)
  • Ireland (2)
  • Israel (6)
  • Italy (11)
  • Laos (3)
  • Malaysia (2)
  • New York (1)
  • New Zealand (2)
  • Oceania (3)
  • Palestine (3)
  • Philippines (2)
  • Scandinavia (7)
  • Singapore (4)
  • Thailand (29)
  • The Middle East (6)
  • Travel Tips (8)
  • Uncategorized (1)
  • Vietnam (3)
  • Washington (16)

Recent Posts

  • Koh Phangan, Home to the Bohemian Escape, “Secret Beach”
  • Koh Samui, Thailand’s Second Largest Island in the Gulf
  • Chiang Rai, City of Temples
  • Pai, the Hippy Gem of Mae Hong Soon Province
  • Phuket Weekend Guide

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Archives

  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • November 2013
  • July 2012

About Me

About Me

Hi there, we are the Vicks. We currently live in Thailand as English teachers and are traveling SE Asia.

Follow Me

Facebook

Instagram Slider

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Instagram Slider

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

LATEST TRAVEL TIPS

Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

@2017 - PenciDesign. All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by PenciDesign


Back To Top