Stonehaven & dramatic Dunnottar – Scotland’s exciting east coast
Stonehaven was our destination as we crossed back over the Pentland Firth from Orkney. We had booked on the first ferry of the day (07:45) and headed east toward Aberdeenshire and Stonehaven for the final leg of our two-week Scottish road trip.
You can check out Part 1 here and Part 2 with this link.
It was only later we found out that adverse weather conditions had cancelled sailings for the rest of the day!
Our base for the last four nights of the trip was The Boathouse at the Kriek in Mill of Uras. This was just a few miles outside Stonehaven. The property we rented was quiet, comfortable and ideally located for exploring the coast before heading south and home.
In many ways the Aberdeenshire coast reminded me of the Northumberland coast. Sandstone cliffs, open bays and small fishing villages that seemed to almost tucked away and out of site gave it a familiar feel.
Picture set 1
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Stonehaven & Dunnottar Castle
We spent our first full day in Stonehaven exploring the local area, starting right on our doorstep in Stonehaven itself.
Stonehaven
Although not quite sure what to expect we were genuinely surprised by just how pretty Stonehaven is. The town is based around an historic, sheltered harbour that goes back to the early 1600’s.
The harbour is genuinely pretty, is enclosed by solid stone piers and has colourful cottages lining the waterfront. We took a quiet walk along the harbour walls and really enjoyed the peaceful views there, before heading along the high street to browse the local shops and having a coffee and shortbread in one of the seafront cafe’s. It was lovely during out October visit and I imagine it’s even better on a summers day.
Dunnottar Castle
Honestly Dunnottar Castle is nothing short of remarkable. It’s location is breath taking and it is genuinely incredible, and is just a couple of miles from Stonehaven.
The castle is surrounded by steep drop-offs into the North Sea and is visually stunning. If you are ever travelling or staying in the area I would say this place is an absolute must see.
Check out the pictures below, although I would have to say that I don’t really think anything other than visiting can quite capture the scale of this place.
It must have been truly amazing and formidable in its heyday . The castle as it stands now is a sprawling set of ruins than span the centuries, it’s 14th-century keep was built around 1392, and early Christian records trace a chapel there as far back as the 5th century
By all accounts the castle played a pivotal role in Scottish history, resisting sieges by William Wallace in 1297 and Oliver Cromwell’s forces in 1651, when it famously hid the Honours of Scotland (the Scottish Crown Jewels) from destruction.
Picture set 2
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Coastal Drives near Stonehaven: Fowlsheugh, Catterline & Tod Head
The following days of our stay on the east coast, were spent tracing the coastline further south along the narrow country roads and coastal tracks all easily reached from Stonehaven.
RSPB Fowlsheugh: We stopped off at this RSPB coastal nature reserve to walk the cliff-edge paths. This reserve not so far from Stonehaven is famous for its massive seabird colonies in spring and summer. It was entirely quiet during our visit, probably down to a seasonal thing given the time of year. I think perhaps most of the nesting birds had already moved out to sea. Even so, the dramatic sea cliffs were well worth the fail short but bracing walk.
Catterline Bay: We enjoyed our visit here, it’s a small picturesque little crescent like shingle bay. It’s actually a tiny fishing village that you reach by narrow lanes that branch off from the A92 south of Stonehaven. The beach is only narrow and of shingle rather than sand, but you’re quite likely to get it more or less to yourself. There really isn’t a lot there other than glorious peace and quiet, which suited us perfectly.
Tod Head Lighthouse: The lighthouse is located on the coastline between Kinneff and Catterline. A light was first used there as far back as 1897 and was converted to electricity in 1973, before eventually being decommissioned in 2007.
Gourdon Harbour & St Cyrus
Next up was the small and fairly ‘classic’ working harbour at Gourdon.
The harbour actually dates as far back as 1820 and you can still see traditional fishing boats still land their catches.
We enjoyed our wander around the quayside, before stopping for a very decent ice cream that we ate sat looking out over the harbour.
We also called to St Cyrus National Nature Reserve which made for quite a contrast to the rocky coastline that we had seen so far. There wasn’t much wildlife to see when we were there but the vast sandy dunes, volcanic cliffs an sweeping expanse of beach were impressive
Picture set 3
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Half a Day in Aberdeen before leaving Stonehaven to head for home
On the Saturday, before wrapping up the trip, we drove from Stonehaven to Aberdeen for half a day. It took only 30 minutes or so to drive there and it gave us a chance to wander around the Granite City, take in the impressive grey stone architecture of the historic centre, and grab lunch before heading back to our accommodation to start packing up before the following days long drive back down to Manchester.
Two Aberdeen facts: There’s a building called Marischal College and this is the second-largest granite building in the world and it’s a building where Aberdeen City Council are based – it’s very very impressive and well worth a look if you are ever in Aberdeen. The largest granite building is actually in Spain – the Palacio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial (near Madrid)
The city also has a major port and here’s a quirky fact … the Port of Aberdeen is actually the oldest existing business in the UK having operated continuously since its establishment in 1136 by King David I!
Aberdeen had been the last place we visited on this trip. All in all this had been another really enjoyable trip. Quite a different trip to Scotland but another excellent way to spend a couple of weeks.
Picture set 4
Click any image to open the final clickable/scrollable picture set (there will be one more image based post to follow featuring drone shots from a couple of the locations we visited)
