>>do you know if they played the Championship Course or the Struie Course?<<

The championship course. The first time I was there the Struie course wasn't even a full 18 holes.

Once I was traveling w/ two friends (besides Dornoch, I'd arranged rounds for them at the Old Course, Carnoustie, Prestwick and Troon) and the plan was for me to video their first couple of holes and then take off for half a day touring around -- then to come back at lunch time to pick them up and then we'd go to Dunrobin or up the coast or something. So I went as far west as the Falls of Shin/Loch Shin and raced back to pick them up . . . and the guys were giddy like little kids. They LOVED the course and had booked another tee time for the late afternoon. Grrrr - I could have stayed out all day LOL - but that is how much they enjoyed Royal Dornoch (of course it was a glorious weather day -- not sure if they'd have loved it quite so much w/ rain blowing sideways)

You will be there in June so there will be tee times into the evening since it will be light very late.

Any thoughts on where to stay in or around Aberdeen? I want to start booking hotels and I'm trying to figure out those first days.
On the first day, we will arrive in the afternoon. If we allow 3 nights, that will give us two full days in the area before moving on the Speyside. Ideas on how to break up those first days? Maybe one or two nights in Aberdeen proper and another night elsewhere?

The Marcliffe at Pitfodels is a good, boutique hotel on the outskirts of Aberdeen; frequented by, " the Donald" before he had his own place at the Menie Estate. ( that might not be a recommendation, of course!); however, it is a good hotel. Good food and wine.

PS I'd be tempted to say the 3 nights in Aberdeen before heading off: plenty to do in the area.

As far as golfing is concerned, lots in the area, including, if course Trump International - suppose to be world class- and Hazelhead Course Number I - a municipal course designed by Dr Alister MacKenzie, who also designer the course at Augusta ( it's not quite kept as well as the Augusta course!).

I wouldn't stay in Aberdeen -- Id stay somewhere on Deeside -- Ballater is a good place to start your search. Without re-reading the whole thread - I forget if you've mentioned a budget

Regarding golf, as much as my husband would like to play, we don't intend to bring his clubs and other gear (shoes, etc) as we like to travel light. So rentals would have to be added to the cost. I don't know if it will happen this time, but we may visit a few courses just to check them out. He wants to return on a golf-centric trip at another time with friends.

janisj-I like the idea of Ballater. perhaps the first night in Aberdeen central, just because we will be jet lagged and exhausted coming from the West Coast. Then pick up a car and go from there. In terms of budget the Deesude Inn in Ballater works for us. I prefer to keep it under $150-$200 a night, unless a special place like a castle, or a high cost area like London.

Sorry if it's already been answered, but are you flying into Aberdeen, coming on the train, or driving from Edinburgh?

You might want to look at Banchory for the first night. It's not going to take a lot longer to reach Banchory from the airport than it would central Aberdeen, and it would put you on the Dee in roughly half the time it would take to get to Ballater. You could walk around Crathes Castle before collapsing.

Depending on what time you land (assuming you are flying in) I agree Banchory would be great. I had completely lost the script and thought you were driving over from Inverness midway through your itinerary . . .

I may have lost the flow of where you are going but if your husband wants to check out a few courses you could also look at Cruden Bay which is 20 something miles north of Aberdeen. It is a classic.

The Course ? Cruden Bay Golf Club

Cruden Bay is wonderful.

There is a Scottish word for towns like Banchory: " twee"!

And Crathes is" OK", more a fortified house than a real castle.

If you want castles, What about Dunnotar? The walk from Stonehaven swimming pool along the sea front to the harbour then along the coastal path to Dunnotar and back is much better than anything you would get at Crathes, especially if you combine it with something to eat in Stonehaven harbour.

>>And Crathes is" OK", more a fortified house than a real castle. If you want castles, What about Dunnotar?<<

Dunnottar is a given. Crathes is a lovely house - and as much, if not more, about the grounds
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Crathes


Stonehave


Dunnottar


Crathes gardens
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Sorry the Stonehaven photo is so large - Not sure how to re-size.

This is what makes the internet awesome. Thank you all for the comments and recommendations so far.
Here is a new wrinkle. I'm considering flying into Edinburgh instead of Aberdeen.
Here’s why; last year, one of the things we’d wanted to do but did not have time for, was a “falconry experience” north of Edinburgh. If we fly to EDI, we can drive to one, do the experience the next day and be on our way from there. This isn’t a mandatory thing, but rather something we are considering. There are at least 3 such places in Fife. There is also one between Aberdeen and Speyside so there's a chance we could also go there.

We arrive at LHR on a Monday morning at 10:05 am into Terminal 3. We want to catch a connecting flight to EDI or ABZ. Inverness doesn't work at all with our timing. Both flights, Edinburgh or Aberdeen, are out of Terminal 5.

There is a flight to EDI at 1:05 PM- this gives us a 3 hour cushion. We would then pick up a car and drive to somewhere close to whichever falconry experience we book.
The flight to ABZ is at 11:40 pm. The next one is at 2:15 PM and doesn't arrive until almost 4pm. I’d rather not wait 4 hours if we can avoid it. But I don't know if the 11:40am flight allows enough time. According to this website it should take 90 min, so that seems risky. https://www.heathrow.com/flight-connections We should have carry on luggage only so we won’t have to wait for bags.

Thoughts?

There is a wonderful Falconry Center near Huntly which is between Aberdeen and Dufftown, so no need to fly into EDI just to get falconry.

​​​​​​​https://www.huntly-falconry-centre.com

Yes, I saw that one too. But can we make that 11:40 flight to Aberdeen?

I've made T3 > T5 connections in 90 min or less on a number of occasions; the main problem would be any queues you'd have with immigration at T3. These are unpredictable, but as you're traveling during a peak period, it might make for a slightly hectic transfer. Checked luggage wouldn't be a problem; on US > xLHR > EDI/ABZ you'd collect luggage at the ultimate destination anyway. By the way, what airline are you using and from where?

A 1:15 departure from Heathrow (barring ATC delays which are also unpredictable) would put you on the ground at EDI around 2:30, and on the road probably around 3:30. If you're up for driving, you'd be over the Forth by 4:00, and as both the M90 and (if I recall correctly) the A90 are both dual carriageway (divided highway) roads, you could make good time in the general direction of Aberdeen.

But this might be a point when circling back to the overall plan is useful. Do you plan to include any stops in Fife during the trip anyway? If yes, and if you were to fly into ABZ, when would the Fife visits take place? If your plan was to spend the first night positioned so that a falconry experience the next morning is possible, there really isn't any compelling reason I can think of that you couldn't stop somewhere Monday that would give you access either to a Fife or an Aberdeenshire falconry location on Tuesday. The determining factor (to me) would be your comfort level in getting off a couple of planes, one of which has brought you over the Atlantic (from the west coast?) and driving much distance at all on the left side of the road.

Flying most often from Seattle, I've found that I've tended to overestimate my endurance, but now don't push my luck. For Edinburgh I now stay near the airport and plan some evening activity that's nearby, then an early bed helps me hit the road the next morning without feeling too much like death warmed over. I stay at the Dakota Hotel, have dinner either at the hotel, or in South Queensferry, or sometimes at the Cramond Inn (meh food, good beer) on the beach at the west edge of Edinburgh. But as we say, YMMV (your mileage may vary) and if you're up for driving, then taking the 1:15 PM flight to EDI then driving a couple of hours to position yourselves for the next day is fine. But clarify the overall plan for us, if you don't mind.

Gardyloo, hopefully I can answer all your questions.

We are flying Virgin Atlantic from the US and have already purchased the ticket. Any flights to EDI or ABZ would be a separate ticket on BA. We don't plan on checking luggage, but if we did, it would be unlikely we could have it checked through.

The point of flying into EDI would be only if we were planning on doing a Falcony thing in the area. If not, it makes more sense to fly to ABZ, but of course that's the trickier connection at LHR. We did not plan on circling back to Fife.

Our plan is still something along these lines:
Arrive LHR 10:05 am, make connecting flight to EDI (1:05pm) or ABZ (11:40am)
3 nights Aberdeen and surrounding area OR 1 night Fife/2 nights Aberdeen
2 nights in the Speyside area
2 nights in Ullapool
2 nights in Tongue
1 night around Dornoch
Day in Inverness area before dropping can and taking overnight train from Inverness to London
1 night in Winchester (family visit)
1 night airport hotel
return home

Well if you're flying on separate tickets, your connection to Scotland will be "unprotected," meaning that if you miss the flight you're likely out the money as BA would have no obligation to accommodate you on a later flight. In that case I'd probably go with the EDI plan.

I was curious about the falconry plan, so I looked up some operators and found one in Fife that offers brief encounters - Elite Falconry, a little northeast of Kirkcaldy. Is that the place? If so, then I'd stop there after the airport, then continue fifteen minutes or so to Falkland for the night. Falkland is a lovely and extremely historic village with a big and important palace, with plenty of accommodation and dining options. Or if the timing isn't right, it wouldn't be a huge detour the next day to backtrack to the falconry center, then resume the drive north to Aberdeenshire.

Just a quick note -- I mentioned the Falconry centre simply because it is in an area you are planning to visit anyway. It is between Aberdeen and Speyside and on the most likely route you would drive.