I am having a difficult time with our plans to see both Blair Castle and Glamis Castle. We surely would see them on different days! At first, I was going to skip Blair, but now I might want to see it.

Do you think seeing Blair one day and Glamis the next is overkill? Are they similar inside? If so, which one is more interesting overall? Seeing both of them will take time away from seeing Craigievar or Crathes or Drum or Fraser, etc. I am trying to decide if we want to devote an extra day to Blair vs. seeing the other castles just west of Aberdeen.

Any recommendations?

Ginny

gopack: You have run into the typical Scotland problem. Every day one finds another new site (or several) to include. You simply can't see/do everything. Sure you <i>could</i> see both. But you'll probably need to drop something else.

Instead of rushing from here to there to wherever - just accept that you have to make some tough decisions and skip something. Your previous plan was fine - or adding Blair is fine, or doing something entirely different is fine.

I (me personally) would try to do a bit less and enjoy them more. You'll get back to Scotland, just make it a longer trip next time

Copy and paste the following link as it includes pictures and reviews on the likes of Glamis and other Castles you may be contemplating visiting. It does not unfortunately include Blair Castle but you can then decide if you wish to see the others after clicking on and looking at the photographs.

www.frommers.com/cgi-bin/WebX?128@@.eed91a1

Glamis is my favorite castle. I love the Macbeth references and it is beautiful. I usually see about 3 castles a trip. You have to decide where your priorities are though!

We were able to see both Blair and Glamis Castles and they are very different. There were bagpipers playing at Blair which was a nice touch. Glamis was on our way to Edinburgh so it was a convenient stop. There was a guide at Glamis to give details of the history and the tea room there is nice. We also saw Balmoral because of its proximity to the Glenlivet Distillery which was a must see for DH. There is only one room to visit at Balmoral which is disappointing but the garden and grounds are gorgeous.

Is is Craigievar that might be closed for construction right now?

The castles on your list that I have visited are Crathes and Blair. Blair is a medieval castle that has been added to over the years. The interior on view is fairly extensive and interesting. There is a really nice cafteria/tea shop - not cheap but very nice food. You can also walk up the road from the castle to the old town and see some church ruins.

Crathes is a manor house-type castle with fabulous gardens. It is smaller than Blair and its old part is 16th century.

Braemar is closed for sure but there is some question whether Craigevar is closed. On another thread Sheila mentioned she might be able to check that out later in the week.