Day Trips from Craigendarroch

[phil1ben]

We are staying at Craigendarroch for the first time in mid-May for three nights. Could others who have stayed there describe sights they went to see, day trips they took or restaurants/pubs that they enjoyed. From Craigendarroch we are headed to Edinburgh. Thanks in advance.

 

[Magus]

We are going for 4 nights in Nov so also interested

 

[spdhanr]

We own there but never visited. I am interested too. TIA

 

[GMan82]

Haha I’ll add my interest. Will be there memorial day week.

I hear there’s a castle nearby that might be open. In addition, hiking trails are plentiful and the concierge messaged me back saying they could easily point me down some good paths. Also, there are distilleries to visit for tastings too!

 

[Sandy VDH]

Balmoral Castle is nearby. It is the privately owned residence of the queen. It was purchased by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort, in 1852, after leasing it for almost 4 years. Thus it has been passed down and is currently owned privately by QEII. The Grounds are open April thru July but close when the Queen is in residence in August.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balmoral_Castle
https://www.balmoralcastle.com/about.htm

 

[Conan]

If you're OK driving an hour to the coast, we enjoyed a brief stop at Stonehaven Harbour, then a mile or two more to park and explore the abandoned castle Dunnottar on foot.
https://www.dunnottarcastle.co.uk/2018/03/17/origins-of-dunnottar-castle/

I took these pictures:

Stonehaven

Dunnottar

 

[Bxian]

The town where the resort is located is within walking distance. We walked to town and purchased delicious lamb chops from a location that prided itself on being "the Queen's butcher." Best lamb chops I have ever had. There was a decent pub downtown when we were there. There is also a walking path along the River Dee. There was a distillery either on (or very near) Balmoral Castle property where you could do tastings: https://www.malts.com/en-row/distilleries/royal-lochnagar/. We also visited the Famous Grouse distillery on the way to Craigendarroch from Edinburgh. I suspect that it is no more than an hour away. After staying at Craigendarroch, we continued on to the Isle of Skye for several nights-spectacular place, but not sure if you would want to do a round trip or not in one day.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I just released my Dunkeld and Craigendarrock reservations for June, I got a deal on air to Fiji that I could not pass on. So it looks like Scotland has moved off to 2020 for me. Oh well.

 

[Tazzik]

I'll second the idea of making the trip to the coast to see Dunnottar. That place was amazing, and it might have been my favorite castle we visited on our trip. The setting was just incredible. As others have also said, Balmoral is another one worth visiting, as it is pretty close to where you are staying.

 

[brp]

OK, priorities are clearly askew. No one seems to have mentioned Scotch tasting!!! No specific suggestions as there are no bad choices, but as a general idea...

On a trip some time back, we did visit several of the above suggestions (Balmoral ad Dunnottar castles, Stonehaven) and I can recommend those as well...if there is time left after the scotch tasting...

Cheers.

 

[King86]

Hi everyone new to the forum just accquired a week in craigendarroch but i have been going for over 30 years since i was 2 if you habe any interests or things u think u wld like to see give me a message id be here all day writing things down lol il do my best to help you out with interests and must see's thanks darren

 

[King86]

Dependin on age interests if u have kids travelling with you etc i will know something for everybody im guessing so please dont hesitate and il get back to you as soon as i can

 

[alwysonvac]

Welcome Darren, please feel free to just post your tips here in this thread for future reference. We’ll just point folks back to this thread when the topic comes up again.

 

[King86]

Welcome Darren, please feel free to just post your tips here in this thread for future reference. We’ll just point folks back to this thread when the topic comes up again.

Hi and thank you for the welcome ok il post here lol il go geographically starting local and then branchung further afield im currently getting ready to leave ona family break so when i gt time this evening pnce ive arrived il post as much as i can it may take 2 or 3 posts lol

 

[alwysonvac]

Hi and thank you for the welcome ok il post here lol il go geographically starting local and then branchung further afield im currently getting ready to leave ona family break so when i gt time this evening pnce ive arrived il post as much as i can it may take 2 or 3 posts lol

Thanks that would be wonderful. It can wait until you’re back from your family break.

There’s a sticky thread at the top of the HGVC forum for “HGVC Detailed Resort & Affiliated Information“. Here’s what we have so far on Craigendarroch Lodges Post #62

 

[MelanieB]

I've never stayed at Craigendarroch itself, but we have stayed with my husband's family who live very nearby. When we last stayed my children were 6 and 9 and there were younger cousins involved, so that was a major factor in our activities.

We visited:
Braemar Castle - built by the 2nd Earl of Mar in 1628 and a key site in the Jacobite uprisings. On the day we visited they were staging a re-enactment of the call to arms for the second uprising, and had various activities on the grounds throughout the day.
Scolty Tower - A relatively easy walk with young kids and nice panoramic views of the surrounding countryside (but otherwise not much to see here).
Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve - A short walk from the visitor centre here takes you to the Burn O'Vat, a large cauldron-shaped cavern that can be entered through a crack in the rocks. My kids loved this place, particularly climbing up the boulders on the far side of the vat!

The furthest of these (Scolty) is within a 45 minute drive of Craigendarroch.

 

[King86]

We are staying at Craigendarroch for the first time in mid-May for three nights. Could others who have stayed there describe sights they went to see, day trips they took or restaurants/pubs that they enjoyed. From Craigendarroch we are headed to Edinburgh. Thanks in advance.

hi there i am going to reply to this thread with things to when i return from holiday but if you are going to edinburgh after craigendarroch i would suggest a day stop in dundee it has been voted in top cities to visit in the world by linely planet and top 10 coolest places to visit by national geographic we have so much to offer as a small city full of history the new v & a museum is now open we have the jute verdant works museum the mcmanus gallery the discovery ship and visitor centre and one of the oldest wooden frigate war ships in the world called the unicorn also an extimct volcano in the middle of the city which offers beautiful panoramic views of the tay and the surroinding area all these are within a 10 min walk of each other dundee has had a 2 billion pound regeneration at its waterfront not to mention there is some good retail therapy and places to eat check it out on google or summin i love me hometown and think it really is a hidden gem

 

[2disneydads]

I'll second the idea of making the trip to the coast to see Dunnottar. That place was amazing, and it might have been my favorite castle we visited on our trip. The setting was just incredible. As others have also said, Balmoral is another one worth visiting, as it is pretty close to where you are staying.

So I'll be a third in favor of Dunnottar Castle. My daughter and I did a driving tour two years, and Dunnottar Castle was the surprise of the trip. It is atmospheric and beautiful, and the countryside around Stonehaven is very pretty. There is a lot of see at the castle. It's well worth the drive over to see it.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[alwysonvac]

Hi and thank you for the welcome ok il post here lol il go geographically starting local and then branchung further afield im currently getting ready to leave ona family break so when i gt time this evening pnce ive arrived il post as much as i can it may take 2 or 3 posts lol

Thanks that would be wonderful. It can wait until you’re back from your family break.

There’s a sticky thread at the top of the HGVC forum for “HGVC Detailed Resort & Affiliated Information“. Here’s what we have so far on Craigendarroch Lodges Post #62

hi there i am going to reply to this thread with things to when i return from holiday but if you are going to edinburgh after craigendarroch i would suggest a day stop in dundee it has been voted in top cities to visit in the world by linely planet and top 10 coolest places to visit by national geographic we have so much to offer as a small city full of history the new v & a museum is now open we have the jute verdant works museum the mcmanus gallery the discovery ship and visitor centre and one of the oldest wooden frigate war ships in the world called the unicorn also an extimct volcano in the middle of the city which offers beautiful panoramic views of the tay and the surroinding area all these are within a 10 min walk of each other dundee has had a 2 billion pound regeneration at its waterfront not to mention there is some good retail therapy and places to eat check it out on google or summin i love me hometown and think it really is a hidden gem

@King86 - just a friendly reminder.
You were going to reply when you got back from holiday.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Reviving old post...We are visiting Craigendarroch in late August.

1) We are planning day trips from Craigendarroch and don't mind driving up to 2 hours. Is a week too long to stay there? or should we shorten and stay elsewhere? (we don't play golf)

2) Any other places to visit? Updates from this old post given Covid?

3) We have a limited kitchen unit so will need to eat out most of the time. Are there recommended places to eat at the resort or in town?

 

[alexb]

Alexandra hotel,

 

[alexb]

Clachan is good

 

[alexb]

Farquharsons in Braemar is good for food and has large outdoor area

 

[alexb]

Darroch learg hotel is very good put expensive but you would probably have to book now to get a reservation it is booked weeks in advance.

 

[bcjenkins]

1) We are planning day trips from Craigendarroch and don't mind driving up to 2 hours. Is a week too long to stay there? or should we shorten and stay elsewhere? (we don't play golf)

In my opinion, a week is not too long to stay at Craigendarroch, particularly if you love the outdoors and the sightseeing that 2-or-so hours of driving offers. A day trip here and a day trip there... and the week flies by.

If you're in a unit with a small fridge and microwave, cooking is the only limiting factor (in my opinion). My wife and I enjoy cooking at least one meal at the property, and that can be challenging with just a microwave. Restaurants on the property aren't amazing, but they aren't terrible, either. There are several dining options in Ballater (walking distance) and elsewhere nearby, as others have already noted.

We'll be there again in June 2022, and we're looking forward to it.

 

[alexb]

We are there june 2022 as well great time to be there before the school holidays