Fordyce Castle is a beautiful little place in the middle of a small village near Cullen and Portsoy. You actually stay in the west wing rather than the tower, but it still dates back to around 1700. The tower itself dates back to the 1500's and is currently inhabited by Robert and Fiona Ogilvie McVeigh-Crabbe, aka Baron and Lady Fordyce.
The rooms are gorgeous and full of character. The bed is a wonderful 4 poster, with period carving. The facilities are great, with a fridge, freezer, washing machine, dishwasher, everything you could need. Downstairs is a fairly large kitchen and a twin bedroom, upstairs is the bathroom (complete with roll top bath), the main bedroom and the sitting room, with tv, dvd player and freeview.
We spent a week here over new year and had the most wonderful time. The walking is wild and rugged, there isn't much in the way of pubs, so we had to travel (so a car is obviously an essential item well, you wouldn't get here without one!) or we ate in. Fordyce itself doesn't even have a pub, but we brought a few bottles of fizz and a couple of pizzas with us and spent the long dark nights in front of the fire.
It's within easy reach of the Spayside area of whisky production, and there are many distilleries within an hours drive, many of which you can tour. Otherwise there are a few great whisky shops around, and it's not far from the famous Craigellachie Hotel. So, if you're like me and like a wee dram, it's absolute heaven!
It's only an hour or so down to Aviemore, where we got to feed reindeer, what could be better at Christmas time than feeding reindeer in the snow??
It was the most relaxing place I have been to for ages, we had such a wonderful new year. I could happily have spent the rest of my life there but I couldn't afford it. However, we will definately return, so if you fancy a week in the wilds of Scotland over next new year, book early, or I may beat you to it! read more