Scotland in May

Old Oct 23rd, 2005, 01:11 PM
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Scotland in May

We will be staying in a timeshare in the Highlands (not far from Aberdeen)in mid May. What kind of weather can we expect and what are the "must see" things in the area. We will have a car.
Thanks in advance!
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Old Oct 23rd, 2005, 01:26 PM
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Are you at Craigendarroch?

Weather should be pleasant (but could be awful). Temps mid to high teens. Not too much rain (but this is Scotland).

Confirm location and we can do itineraries...
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Old Oct 23rd, 2005, 09:36 PM
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If it IS Craigendarroch - you will LOVE it. It is in Ballater - not actually that close to Aberdeen, approx 40 miles up the Dee.

The units are very posh/large with all mod cons and it is a convenient base for Royal Deeside/Balmoral/Braemar, Glenshee, Aberdeen, the Castle trail, and even over to the Whisky trail/Dufftown/Inverness.

If it isn't Craigendarroch - well let us know where . . . . . .
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Old Oct 25th, 2005, 04:43 PM
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If it's Craigendarroch you'll be well inland. Mid May there will still be some showers but you'll get a lot of crystal clear days, blue skies and fluffy white clouds, even some snow on the highest hills to enhance your holiday snaps. As Sheila has hinted, nothing is certain when it comes to May weather in Scotland. Be prepared for two or three days of non stop rain, but pack the sun block just in case.
Within a two hour drive from here there are enough "must sees" to last a year. Do you have any particular interests?
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Old Nov 5th, 2005, 12:18 PM
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Yes we will be at Craigendarroch, so good to hear that it is a lovely place. We love to golf (although I'm not sure we will have our clubs with us but would be willing to rent), love to drink wine, enjoy rafting and hiking and beautiful scenery with lots of photo ops. Neither my husband or I drink Whiskey but we will probably drive some of the Whiskey trail just because we are there. Please advise us of any "must see" things or places in that area. We will have a car.
Thanks... Tana
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Old Nov 5th, 2005, 03:40 PM
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It is Whisky. Drop the e - otherwise you'll have to hop over to Ireland.

As for golf - Ballater has a lovely course along the river and it is practically across the road from your resort.

There will be no shortage of wonderful scenery no matter which direction you go, Some places to visit would include Balmoral castle and Crathie church just up the road to the west, and a bit farther up the same direction is Braemar Castle.

"Castle trail" properties to the east would include Crathes, Craigevar, Castle Fraser and several others. And a bit farther along is some glorious coastal scenery - Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven, Slains Castle and Cruden Bay (BTW a FABULOUS golf course at Cruden Bay)

To the north there is Huntly Castle, Corgarff Castle, Dufftown (Glenfiddich distillery and Balvenie Castle right next door), Elgin, and Nairn (more golf courses).

Then NE w/i easy reach are Inverness - the town istelf is no big deal but in the area are enough things to fill a day or two (Culloden, Clava Cairns, Ft George, Crathes Castle, Brodie Castle, Loch Ness/Urquhart Castle)

And south you would drive through some amazing scenery throughGlen Shee.

If you at all enjoy gardens DEFINITELY visit Crathes and Cawdor - both are typical Scotish Tower houses with the most beautiful gardens.
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Old Nov 5th, 2005, 04:57 PM
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Janisj,
Thanks so much for the info. We are going to have a GREAT trip!
Tana
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Old Nov 5th, 2005, 05:16 PM
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Hi,
We stayed three days at Huntly in early June this year - mixed weather, but one lovely day we spent doing, as Monty Python used to say, "something completely different". We love the castles and have seen many but on this day we visited the NE Falconry Centre, between Huntly and Dufftown. Here they have a wonderful collection of birds of prey, American eagles, golden eagles, white tailed sea eagles, hawks, falcons and owls, and they work them for you. My son was on a high all day after handling a Harris Hawk and an Eagle Owl on his wrist, stroking their feathers. If you are interested in birds, it is a good morning.
In the afternoon we picked up a leaflet from the TIC called the "Stone Circle", in the same style as "Whisky Trail" and "Castle Trail". This led us to Pictish Symbol stones, stone circles, hillforts and cairns. Fascinating. To an Australian these things are unimaginably old, even more so than castles. So there are lots of alternatives.
Have a great time in Scotland, one of my favourite places.
Rosemary
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Old Nov 5th, 2005, 08:37 PM
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Yes - the Falconry center is great - 1/2 way between Huntly and Dufftown. One time I stopped there it was just before closing time and the skies just opened up. So we made a quick, wet dash among the bird shelters and the staff came out and said they were so sorry we wouldn't get much value for our entrance fee. We were the last ones there and they came back and said go inside the cafe - and they brought in one of the larger owls. We had a ball flying the owl from one side to the other inside the office/cafe bldg. It is amazing that a bird that size weighs so little.
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Old Nov 6th, 2005, 08:46 AM
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OK; On Deeside itself, you have the National Trust place at Mar Lodge, and the glorious Linn of Dee. You can walk up mountains or just go for a stroll.

Your nearest distillery open to the public is Royal Lochnagar, just past the main gate to Balmoral. I took some Fodorites there in May and was impressed by how they do it.

Ballater's a very pretty town with some very nice shops. Have a look for the Royal warrants and see if you can figure out what Lizzie (or Chick, or Chooky) buys there. There's a very nice little free exhibition about Victoria in the Tourist Office which is in the old station building.

Gen Muick, on the other side of the river is a very nice walk.

Glentanar Estate, again on the south side of the river, but further east, is also magnificent. Before you get there you can go and see the waterfall at Burn o' Vat; and walk round Loch Dinnet which is a Ramsar site for waterfowl.

You pass the Deeside Gliding Club, where I believe you can hire trainng flights. More later.
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