I'm sitting in an NBA game so just a VERY quick comment - many sites are closed now. In June most will close a 5 PM, Some at 5:30 or 6

Thanks to all of you for the help so far.

I'm about to take the final steps and book everything. I just need a little confirmation that this is a great route and I made good choices

We are doing London-Edinburgh by train, from what i read it is a lovely route and is Worth the extra time
2 days and 1/2 in Edinburgh
1 day trip to Stirling
1 day trip to St-Andrews
1 day Drive to Aberdeen, Dunnotar castle
1 day , Craigievar Castle, Kildrummy Castle (open to suggestion on this day)
1 day Tolquhon Castle, Gleinfiddich distillery, may be the north east falcony center, may be Duff house, may be spend evening along the coast (suggestion?) (I was reading about Moray Firth Coastline,can i see it in this area? is Fraserburgh the place to go?)
fly out from Aberdeen

Aberdeen seems like a nice town to be our base and spend our evening for the last 3 days, and it seems pretty near what we planned for our day. any thoughts?
Did I miss anything major in this area? I guess what I really need to know for now anyway is that 5 night in Edinburgh and 3 nights in Aberdeen is a good plan.

Aberdeen is unfortunatly where the oil industry is based and while there are no towering flaming towers it is the least Scottish town you could choose.

WOW.
Am i glad I asked! Any suggestion?

>>Aberdeen is unfortunatly where the oil industry is based and while there are no towering flaming towers is the least Scottish town you could choose
Which is why it's perfectly reasonable to stay in the outskirts and tour the area to see castles and whatever else you're there for. Aberdeenshire is thick with castles. We stayed in Maryculter just outside the city, which meant we didn't have to deal with city traffic.

Any thoughts on Elgin? Seems charming, and close to my interest point ?

Please clarify -- nights, not days

You say 2.5 days in Edinburgh -- I assume that means 3 nights. If so, you are planning on 2 day trips out of those 2.5 days. So no time at all IN Edinbrugh. If you don't plan any time in the city there is no need to pay the higher room rates of Edinburgh when you could stay near Stirling and/or Sy Andrews. Western Fife would be a good base for both.

I would not base in Aberdeen for what you want to see you would have city driving, parking issues, and long drives most days. Elgin is fine but a long way from some of your wish list. If you want to visit the 'Castle Trail', Dufftown, etc. someplace more central like Alford would fit better.

But do clarify your Edinburgh plans . . .

I'm spending 5 nights total in Edinburgh, of which 2.5 days will be used to visit Edinburgh, 1 day in stirling and 1 day in st-andrews

I was may be thinking about sleeping in a castle in Stirling instead of heading back to Edinburgh... not sure if it was worth it

and then, 3 nights in the Aberdeenshire for the castles and whisky

OK -- then 5 nights Edinburgh, and 3 nights up north. That makes more sense.

You can't sleep in Stirling Castle

Broomhall Castle is in stirling and is an hotel. I was looking to sleep in a castle and found this one in Stirling but I fear the "castle feeling" is faint..

Broomhall isn't really a castle (though it does sort of looks like one) I've driven through Menstrie many times but never stopped in. It's a house that was built in the late 19th century and was a school etc for a century and rebuilt as a hotel about 30 years ago. AFAIK the actual bedroom are hotel-ish, not castle-ish. It does get pretty good reviews.

janisj makes an important point. You need to be careful with places that have castle in their name. Many seem to take advantage of first time travelers by naming their hotel or even B& B, Castle blah, blah etc. when their is little or no evidence of a castle. They may be nice places to stay but definitely not a castle.