Aboyne

Aboyne makes a quiet, well-placed base for exploring Royal Deeside, with a small but useful choice of hotels and guesthouses around the village green and river. The Boat Inn is the obvious pick for anyone who wants to be in the thick of it, a riverside inn with ensuite rooms, log fires and a beer garden looking over the Dee, all within a few minutes walk of the shops and the loch. Beyond the inn, Aboyne and its surrounding countryside have a scattering of bed and breakfasts and small guesthouses, many run out of traditional stone houses, offering a more personal alternative to a hotel stay and often generous with local knowledge on walks, fishing beats and the best times to visit Glen Tanar.

Self-catering cottages are common in and around the village, ranging from converted farm steadings to modern lodges with views towards the Cairngorm foothills, and these suit visitors planning a longer stay built around walking, cycling the Deeside Way, or fishing the Dee. Families and larger groups will generally find more choice by widening the search slightly to include Ballater, around 10 miles west, or Banchory, a similar distance east, both of which have a wider spread of hotels while still keeping Aboyne itself within easy reach for day trips.

Booking ahead is worth doing around the first Saturday in August, when the Aboyne Highland Games draw visitors from across Deeside and beyond and the villages limited accommodation fills up quickly. Outside of the games, Aboyne tends to be considerably quieter than Ballater or Banchory, which suits visitors after a low-key Deeside base rather than a lively one.

Aboyne rewards a slower pace of visit, most of what makes it worth staying for is within walking or short driving distance of the green.

• Aboyne Highland Games - held on the first Saturday in August and known as one of the most traditional Highland Games in Scotland, with a programme dating back to 1867 covering piping, dancing, heavy events and tug o war on the village green.
• River Dee - fast, clear water running along the villages southern edge, good for salmon fishing (permits available locally) and watching canoeists tackle one of Scotlands great salmon rivers.
• Loch of Aboyne - a shallow loch just north of the village used for sailing and windsurfing in summer and, in cold enough winters, curling; a quiet spot for a walk regardless of the season.
• Aboyne Golf Club - an 18-hole parkland course laid out beside the loch, with views across to the Cairngorm foothills.
• Glen Tanar Estate - a working Deeside estate a few miles south-west of the village, with a network of way-marked trails through Caledonian pine forest, the Braeloine visitor centre, red squirrels, and cycling and horse-riding routes into the hills.
• Deeside Way - the long-distance path and cycle route follows the line of the old Deeside railway through Aboyne, linking the village to Banchory and Ballater along quiet, largely traffic-free ground.
• Craigievar Castle - a distinctive pink harled tower house a short drive north of Aboyne, one of the best-preserved 17th-century castles in Scotland and cared for by the National Trust for Scotland.
• Bellwood Park - a small riverside park in the village, a good spot to stretch your legs before or after exploring further afield.

The Boat Inn, a riverside pub with rooms on the edge of the village, serves locally sourced pub food alongside a beer garden overlooking the Dee. The Black Faced Sheep, a long-standing cafe and restaurant in the centre of Aboyne, is known for its baking, cakes and hearty daytime menu. For something different there is Nurtaj, an Indian restaurant, and The Golden House, a Chinese takeaway, while Aboyne Fish and Chips covers the classic option; Morningdog Coffee, a local roaster based near the village, supplies several of these outlets and sells its beans directly too.

Aboyne sits at the edge of some of Aberdeenshires best camping and outdoor country, with the River Dee, the Loch of Aboyne and the pine forests of Glen Tanar all within easy reach of the village. Scotlands right to roam, set out in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, means wild camping is generally permitted on unenclosed land across the area, pitch well away from roads and houses, keep to small groups, leave no trace, and be prepared to move on if asked by an estate or landowner, since much of the ground around Aboyne is managed sporting and forestry land rather than open hill. Glen Tanar Estate in particular asks wild campers to be considerate given its conservation status as a national nature reserve, and lighting fires is best avoided altogether given the amount of dry pine forest nearby.

For a more straightforward option, established campsites and touring caravan parks can be found along Deeside around Aboyne, Ballater and Banchory, offering pitches with proper facilities for tents, campervans and caravans, generally open from spring through autumn. Glamping has also taken hold in this part of Aberdeenshire, with pods, bothies and yurts increasingly available on farms and estates around the Dee valley, giving a warmer alternative to canvas without losing the sense of being out in Deesides forests and glens.

Late spring to early autumn is the best window for camping here, when the days are long and the hills are at their most walkable, though this is also midge season, still, damp evenings from June through August can bring them out in force, so repellent and a head net are worth packing. Autumn brings spectacular colour through Glen Tanars birch and pine woods and along the Dee, with cooler nights but far fewer midges, while winter camping is only for the well-prepared given how cold and changeable conditions can turn this close to the Cairngorms.