An Aberdeenshire Staycation Funnily enough, I’ve had more free time than usual these days. Usually my year would be punctuated by fun trips travelling to new places but that’s not really possible right now, so what better time to be making the most of the places we have here on our doorstep? It can be so easy to become complacent about the place where you live but there’s probably a lot more beauty around you than you give it credit for. At the moment I’m staying with my parents up in Peterhead which is a small fishing town on the most north easterly corner of Scotland. Over the last few months, having to make outdoor plans in order to hang out with people I’ve been exploring a lot of walking spots along the coast. Aberdeenshire has so many great places to visit, so I’m going to tell you about my favourite spots along the north coast of Aberdeenshire. Each of these spots are within at most an hour from one another so it could be a single day trip if you were coming from farther away and wanted to see them all.
Bow Fiddle Rock – between Portknockie and Cullen. I would recommend parking in Cullen then walking towards Portknockie over the top of the viaduct, then walking back over Cullen beach. Then when you get back you can treat yourself to an ice cream from the famous The Ice Cream Shop in Cullen.
Findlater Castle – between Cullen and Sandend There’s a car park that you can navigate to then it’s a short walk along the path until you can see it from above. There are a couple of paths down and it can be a bit steep, so I’d recommend you wear some decent shoes and be prepared to take your time going down. The castle structure is partially visible and some of it has become one with the hill but there’s a couple of rooms you can get into and imagine yourself as Merida looking out over the sea.
12
Pitfour Lake – near Mintlaw Just outside Mintlaw and across the road from Aden Country Park is the beautiful Pitfour Lake. It makes for a great wee walk as you can loop around the lake, seeing the swans, ducks and the boathouse as you go.
