Location: Ballater
Top Things to do in Ballater
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What to do and see in Ballater, Scotland: The Best Things to do Good for Couples
1,446 (2001 census)
Restaurants in Ballater
1. Deeside Nature Activities
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 29 reviews
We offer half- and full-day wildlife-watching tours spotting the region’s charismatic birds, and animals. Luxury Land Rover excursions bordering Balmoral Estate looking for 3 species of Deer, Grouse, Dippers and hopefully a few birds of prey including Peregrine, Osprey and Golden Eagle whilst describing the conservation and land management issues related to typical highland estates.
2. Loch Muick
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 551 reviews
Reviewed By Midhill
Enjoyed the 10 mile walk on a lovely autumn day. The tree colours were beautiful and the Loch and surrounding area stunning. It’s a flat walk with a few rough paths to navigate , just the place to get away from it all.
3. Ballater Golf Club
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 89 reviews
Founded in 1892, this scenic 18-hole golf course offers its toughest challenge on its opening six holes, which include two difficult par threes.
Reviewed By TamC223 - Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Great food and drink in lovely surroundings served by pleasant and efficient staff. Fantastic for watching golfers on the 18th green while eating or enjoying a drink. Prices are very reasonable. Open to non members and fairly relaxed dress code for a golf club.
4. Royal Lochnagar Distillery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 990 reviews
Neighbouring Balmoral Castle, Royal Lochnagar is the perfect place to discover how Scotch Whisky is made. Watch as our team of operators tend to our traditional mashtun, gleaming copper stills and fill casks at our traditional distillery, which retains much of its original charm. The tour ends with a dram of the award-winning Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old Single Highland Malt. Following Scottish Government guidelines through their phased re-opening approach, the time has come to open our doors and welcome back our visitors from 26th April 2021. To ensure the health and wellbeing of our employees and visitors, we will be implementing a number of precautionary measures. Find out how we are keeping you safe on our website before you visit us.
Reviewed By fionaBan - Peterculter, United Kingdom
I took my mum and dad here to tour this magnificent gem in Royal Deeside. It was fantastic. A small distillery which allows you to get an appreciation for the art of whisky making. We were greeted with a very warm welcome by Eric, followed by an amazing tour of the distillery by Alex who was so helpful and friendly showing us around patiently answering our list of questions and we shared stories which made the tour feel really personal then afterwards we enjoyed a wee dram. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Royal Lochnagar and I’d like to thank both Alex and Eric for making out time there so special.
5. Craigendarroch
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 65 reviews
Reviewed By margaretclark268 - Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Staff were really friendly and helpful as we had booked for use of the pool, sauna steam room we all had a lovely time we had the pool to ourselves for at least an hour before other people came in after about 3 hours enjoying the facilities we had a meal there which was really good and even arranged a lovely vegan meal for myself. Would highly recommend this to everyone lovely place the grounds and lovely places to take walks
6. Balmoral Castle
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1,468 reviews
Balmoral is the Scottish home of the British Royal Family in Scotland and in 2019 the grounds, gardens and exhibitions are open to the Public on a daily basis from 1st April until 31st July. Admission charges include parking, access to the formal and vegetable gardens, the exhibitions in the stable area and largest room in the Castle, the Ballroom. The Ballroom Exhibition is the only room in the Castle available for viewing. Please note that other rooms within the Castle are Her Majesty The Queen's private rooms and as such are not open to the public. An audio tour is included in the admission price and guides visitors around the formal and production gardens as well as a number of other exhibitions located within the stable block. This tour is available in English together with Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish translations.You can also enjoy the waymarked walks and visit our spacious self service cafe and gift shops, which sell a wide range of Balmoral souvenirs.
Reviewed By cazroper84 - Bromborough, United Kingdom
We visited Balmoral this week and we loved every minute of the experience! What an absolute privilege to be given access to part of the Queens’ PRIVATE residence and for only £15 per person. Our tour guides, Kathleen and Gavin were excellent. They were extremely knowledgable and their good humour kept things fun and light hearted, whilst very informative. The fact that we only saw one room in the castle didn’t matter as the information and stories provided in the stable house and grounds was plentiful. We arrived at 11am and didn’t leave until 3.30pm as we were allowed to walk around the grounds freely. We loved the history of the estate and the fact that we were able walk in the footsteps of The Queen and Queen Victoria before her was exhilarating! Lastly...we have to thank Gavin for advising us of the best spot to camp in our motorhome overnight! What a view to wake up to...overlooking the river Dee in the Cairngorms National Park! Brilliant!
