Craigievar Castle

Craigievar Castle is one of Scotland's most beloved tower houses, standing six storeys high on a wooded hillside in rural Aberdeenshire, around 30 miles west of Aberdeen. Its distinctive pink harled walls, soaring turrets, corbelled balconies and crow-stepped gables make it the archetype of the Scottish Baronial style, and it is often said to have inspired the silhouette of Walt Disney's fairy-tale castles.

Completed in 1626 for the Aberdeen merchant William Forbes, known as Danzig Willie, the castle remained in the same family for more than three centuries before passing to the National Trust for Scotland. The interior is remarkably unaltered, with original oak panelling, a Great Hall featuring an elaborate Renaissance plaster ceiling and a magnificent heraldic fireplace, plus a fine collection of Forbes family portraits and Jacobite memorabilia.

Visitors can join guided tours of the upper floors, where narrow stone stairs spiral up to the medieval-style battlements with sweeping views over the Howe of Cromar towards the Cairngorms. The surrounding estate includes waymarked woodland walks through mature beech and Scots pine, a Victorian walled garden and family-friendly trails, making it a rewarding half-day stop on any tour of Royal Deeside.