Scotland's Castle Trail

Crathes Castle

Scotland's Castles and the Aberdeenshire Castle Trail

Step back in time on Scotland's only Castle Trail. Aberdeenshire is matchless in the richness of its castle tradition, and Scotland's Castle Trail brings together some of the most splendid examples of castellated architecture together on a clearly sign-posted tourist trail. But don't stop there -- there are many gorgeous castles to be explored scattered all across the landscape of Scotland, and each of them worth leaving the beaten track for a glimpse and a photie!

Moneysaving Memberships for Tourists (and Locals!)

Many of the castles in Scotland are owned by the National Trust. I've copied some information below for anyone interested in visited National Trust properties in the UK and elsewhere. It's a great idea if you plan to see a lot of the castles and other historic sites, and it saved us a bundle of money! Much less expensive than paying the individual entrance fees, and the guidebooks are really helpful in deciding which places we wanted to see. Here's the info and some links & phone numbers if you're interested in joining or reading more. We HIGHLY recommend it!

The National Trust also has agreements with a number of other countries.

Crathes

If you’re visiting any of these places and have a valid membership card, you could visit their National Trust facilities for free or at a concessionary rate. Be sure to check that your membership is valid before you go as you will only be allowed access on presentation of a valid membership card.

• Scotland - www.nts.org.uk
• Australia - www.nationaltrust.org.au
• Bermuda - www.bnt.bm
• The Bahamas - www.bahamasnationaltrust.com
• Barbados - www.ccanet.net
• Canada - www.
  

  Tulquhon Castle
  heritagecanada.org
• Cayman Islands - www.caymannationaltrust.org
• Guernsey - www.nationaltrust-gsy.org.gg
• Isle of Man - www.gov.im/mnh
• Jersey - www.nationaltrustjersey.org.je
• Malta - www.dinlarthelwa.org
• New Zealand - www.nationaltrust.org.nz, www.historic.org.nz, www.
  

  Crathes Castle
  qu2.org.nz
• Italy - www.fondoambiente.it

• Free admission to properties of the National Trust and National Trust for Scotland
• The National Trust Handbook
• Three editions of the National Trust members' magazine
• The quarterly Royal Oak newsletter
• Royal Oak also awards scholarships to US residents to study in Britain and sponsors lectures, tours and events in both the US and UK, designed to inform Americans of the Trust's work.

Email: general@royal-oak.

org