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Home , Aberdeen Maritime Museum, Clan Brodie, Clan MacNeil, Kisimul Castle, Provost Skene

Year of History, Heritage & Archaeology 2017

Highland Folk Museum, Newtonmore

Harris Tweed, Outer

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Fyvie Castle, Turriff, Aberdeenshire Ideas to inspire Aberdeenshire, , Speyside, the Highlands and the

In 2017 will celebrate and showcase its rich history, heritage and archaeology. From the remains of our earliest settlements going back thousands Events: of years, through the turbulent times of the Middle Ages and on to the Scottish Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival - April/May – Speyside’s malt Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, every area of Scotland has its own whisky traditions go back for centuries and are famous throughout the world. Celebrate this rich history at this unique event which brings tale to share with visitors. whisky novices, enthusiasts and connoisseurs together in honour or 'uisge beatha' - the water of life. www.spiritofspeyside.com In Aberdeenshire you’ll find beautiful Royal Deeside, a favourite holiday spot for the Royal Family since the days of Queen Victoria. Balmoral Castle, the Scottish Braemar Gathering / – May to September – Held home of the Royal Family, is just one of the castles on Scotland’s Castle Trail. on the first Saturday in September, the Gathering is a key event in the There are more castles per acre of land in this area than anywhere else in the UK, calendar of Royal Deeside. The history of Highland Games dates back for centuries and this is just one of the many Highland Games, to be and the Castle Trail helps you to explore 18 of the most famous and dramatic. found around Scotland from May right through to September. www.braemargathering.org, www.visitscotland.com The neighbouring county of Morayshire is steeped in history. There are stunning religious properties to explore and the area has links to Scots king , Asset Management Scottish Traditional Boat Festival – immortalised centuries later in the play by . This is also the June – Each June, the Aberdeenshire community of Portsoy home of the Speyside Malt Whisky Trail, which produces some of the worlds’ best celebrates the region’s maritime and rural history by featuring its crafts, music, art and local produce, as well as the chance to see a loved single malt whiskies. regatta featuring tradional ‘skiffs’. www.stbfportsoy.com The are famous for dramatic landscapes and dramatic events Hebridean Celtic Festival – July – This international Celtic music which shaped Scotland’s history, such as the famous Jacobite rebellion festival takes place in on the and features highlighted in the early Outlander books by author Diana Gabaldon, now a hit musical traditions from visiting international artists and local international TV series. The area’s fascinating folk museums recount the cruelty musicians as well as true Hebrides hospitality. www.hebceltfest.com of the which saw many Highlanders forced off their Celebration of the Centuries – August – Historic Fort George, farmland, many travelling to other corners of the world to seek their fortunes. overlooking the Moray Firth near , is the setting for this annual event which celebrates over 2,000 years of Scottish history Each breathtaking island of the Inner Hebrides has its own unique character. from Pictish times to WWII. www.historic-scotland.gov.uk Here you’ll find ancient standing stones and structures which give fascinating insights into how our Hebridean ancestors must have lived years ago.

For more ideas, contacts and suggested itineraries visitscotlandtraveltrade.com or email us at [email protected] Aberdeenshire, Moray, Speyside, the Highlands and the Outer Hebrides

Day 1 - Aberdeenshire 1 2 3 4 5

SCOTLAND'S CASTLE TRAIL – With – ’S HOUSE – One of GORDON HIGHLANDERS MUSEUM CRATHIE CHURCH – Lying in the over 300 castles, stately homes and The fascinating exhibition at Aberdeen's last Medieval buildings, – Situated in the fashionable west end heart of lovely Royal Deeside, this site ruins dotting its landscape, Aberdeen Maritime Museum enables Provost Skene's House dates from of Aberdeen, in the former home of has been a place of worship since the Aberdeenshire is unsurprisingly visitors to explore the unique history 1545, and contains a series of period leading Scottish artist Sir George Reid, 6th century. Queen Victoria laid the known as ‘Scotland’s Castle Country.’ of Aberdeen through its relationship rooms , furnished to show how people the Gordon Highlanders Museum tells foundation stone of the present The Castle Trail lets you discover 18 with the sea. Discover the centuries in Aberdeen lived in the 17th, 18th the 200 year story of one of the best church in 1893, beginning the of Aberdeenshire’s most famous and old traditions of the local fishing and early 19th centuries. The house is known military regiments in the world. tradition of the Royal Family dramatic castles, each with a industry and how life in ‘The Granite named after one of Aberdeen's most Discover the prominent role it played worshipping here during visits to fascinating history and its own tale City’ changed with the advent of North famous former residents, Lord Provost in the defeat of Napoleon at the 1815 Balmoral Estate. to tell. Sea oil and gas exploration. George Skene. Battle of Waterloo.

Day 2 - Highlands 1 2 3 4 5

CULLODEN BATTLEFIELD – Standing SMOO CAVE – Travelling along FORT GEORGE – Fort George is one of FOLK MUSEUMS – The Highland GLENCOE – As well as being on Culloden Battlefield, with stunning Scotland’s most northerly coastline the most outstanding fortifications in Clearances are among the most scenically beautiful, Glencoe is also views over the Moray Firth, you get a will take you to Smoo Cave. At over Europe. Taking 21 years to complete, It significant and tragic events in steeped in history. This was reputedly real sense of what it must have been 200ft long, Smoo is the largest and was built in the wake of the Battle of Scotland’s history. Thousands of the home of the great Celtic warrior like to take part in the last pitched most dramatic coastline cave in Culloden (1746) as an impregnable Highlanders were forced off the lands Fingal, a hero of Gaelic mythology. It battle on British soil. Today, up-to-the- Britain. This spectacular site has a rich base for King George II’s army. Today, from which they made their living. Find was also the site of the infamous minute technology transports you into archeological history, with evidence of it still serves the needs of the modern out more at the Strathnaver Museum, during the days Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army as he prehistoric dwellings, as well as British Army. Thurso; Timespan, Helmsdale; the of fierce rivalry between many staged his fateful attempt to gain the fascinating geological formations and , Newtonmore Scottish clans. Experience its unique crown of Scotland. abundant wildlife. and the Skye Museum of Island Life. atmosphere.

Day 3 - Moray & Speyside 1 2 3 4 5

PLUSCARDEN ABBEY – Inhabited by SPEYSIDE WHISKY TRAIL – Speyside ELGIN CATHEDRAL – Elgin Cathedral SPEYSIDE COOPERAGE – This BRODIE CASTLE – Brodie Castle is monks as long ago as the 13th is home to Scotland’s renowned Malt is one of Scotland’s most ambitious fascinating attraction, set amid the the ancient seat of . century, Pluscarden Abbey is the only Whisky Trail, running through one of and beautiful medieval buildings. rolling Speyside hills, is the only Initially erected as a 16th century medieval monastery in Britain still the country’s best-known whisky Dating back to 1224, it was the working cooperage in the UK. See how tower house, it’s now a grand Scots inhabited by monks. Visitors to the regions. Discover the secrets behind principal church of the bishops of the finest casks are made from oak Baronial-style mansion. The castle is Abbey today will enjoy the beauty of the art of creating some of Scotland’s Moray and is central to the history of using traditional methods and tools. also located near a small hill known its architecture, its secluded location best loved malts, and find out how the the region. It’s particularly notable for Although shipped across the world, locally as ‘Macbeth’s Hillock’ where the and the masses sung by the monks stunning Speyside landscapes affect the wonderful 13th century west front many of the casks remain in Scotland, Shakespearean hero is said to have each day in Gregorian Chant. the flavour and character of the malts and the stone bishop in the nave providing a vital ingredient in encountered the Weird Sisters. distilled here. which resembles a giant chess piece. Scotland’s whisky making process.

Day 4 - Outer Hebrides 1 2 3 4 5

CALANAIS STANDING STONES, GEARRANNAN BLACKHOUSE , – Kisimul TAIGH CHEARSABHAGH, NORTH DUN BROCH, LEWIS – LEWIS – Located in the west coast of VILLAGE, LEWIS – With self catering Castle is known as the ‘Castle in the UIST – Located in the charming Broch is one of the Lewis, the 5,000 year old Calanais accommodation available all year and Sea’ due to its spectacular location on village of on , best-preserved examples of a broch – Standing Stones are famous a seasonal living history museum, a rock within Castle Bay. The only Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts a type of fortification found only in throughout the world. It is believed Gearannan Blackhouse Village gives significant surviving medieval castle Centre lets you uncover the area’s art, Scotland. There are well over 500 of that this incredible stone circle was visitors a taste of what life was like in a in the Western Isles, it’s the seat of the culture and heritage. Explore the them across the country, dating from created by our Stone Age ancestors up traditional Hebridean blackhouse. of Clan Macneil. Take the short boat social, domestic, economic, cultural the Iron Age around 2,300 years ago. to 5,000 years ago as some kind of There’s also a programme of onsite trip across to follow in the footsteps of and religious life of North Uist, with a The adjacent visitor centre provides a astronomical observatory. weaving demonstrations. the clan’s chiefs and enjoy the variety of fascinating artefacts mainly fascinating insight into Iron Age life panoramic views. from the 19th and 20th centuries. on the Isle of Lewis.

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