LOCATION

We are based in Gardenstown, a seaside hideaway on the Banffshire Coast, North East Scotland. 

A warm and welcoming community nestling between red sandstone cliffs and rolling countryside, you'll find a friendly village pub and small Spar grocers. 

Gardenstown is home to a number of artists who open their doors during the Gamrie Creatives and North East Open Studios events each year. There's also the village Strawberry Fayre every summer, with a smoked fish BBQ and raft making competitions in the small harbour.

Enjoy beach combing (with one eye out for the dolphins), or wandering the old paths between fishermen's cottages and numerous local walks. In the county towns of Banff and Macduff 9 miles away you'll find restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, Macduff Marine Aquarium and Duff House, a Historic Environment Scotland property with gallery, adventure playground and wooded walks.

Listed below are just some of the things to see and do within a 40 minute drive. If you have a specific interest, contact us and we will seek out information for you. By the way, if you hear the village being called Gamrie don’t be confused, it’s historically the name of the parish and is often used to describe the village itself.

 

RETAIL - several businesses operate seasonally, but there are plenty of shops in Banff and Macduff open year round, 20 minutes drive away.

• Garden Arms Pub
• Edgehill Stores - Spar general store
• New Ground Gallery – Local crafts
• Farmers Market - last Saturday in the month at Macduff Harbour
• Teapot One - Tearoom and local crafts

 

WALKS
Download a walks leaflet and map from this website page. www.discovergardenstown.co.uk/whattodo.htm. There are walks alongs beaches, cliffs and countryside. 

 

WILDLIFE

• RSBP site at Troup Head – puffins, razorbills and kittiwakes amongst 100,000 seabirds. The only mainland gannet colony in Scotland 
• Macduff Marine Aquarium - award winning excellant display of fish native to the North Sea swimming amongst a living kelp reef. The deep open-air central tank is the only one of its kind in Britain. Look out for feeding times and touch pools 

 

GOLF

• The Royal Tarlair Golf Club - Macduff.
• Duff House Royal Golf Club - Banff. 

Both offer 18 hole courses open to visitors, and there are more than 25 other courses within easy driving distance.

 

BEACHES

• Banff Links clean stretch of white sand and shells, perfect for exercising kids and dogs.
• Sunnyside Beach – just along from the village of Sandend, fantastic big empty wild beach, just the place for a romantic picnic or family day out.  

 

 

HERITAGE, ARTS AND CULTURE

• Duff House  - stunning example of an 18th century manor house designed by William Adam, run by Historic Scotland. Adventure playground and wooded walks. 
• Fyvie Castle - immaculate fruit gardens and interiors or wander round the small loch and feed the swans. 

• Delgatie Castle – beautiful family castle with an excellent tearoom. Massive scones! 
• Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, Fraserburgh - glittering display of huge lighthouse lenses, a real lighthouse to climb inside and cafe with seaviews.
• Fordyce Village - award winning 18th century conservation village complete with mini castle and a fine tearoom
• The Scottish Traditional Boat Festival - the 17th century harbour comes alive with an array of small sailing boats, crafts, food and music, held in June/July.   

 

SURFING

• Surf and Watersports Club - Surf school on Banff Links for all ages and abilities, all through the year

 

 

HORSERIDING

• Cabin Equestrian - riding and trekking from aged 4 up, in Inverurie about 45 mins drive.            

 

 

 

KIDS AND FAMILIES

Gardenstown is great for kids - it's compact, friendly and peaceful with millions of shells and rocks to collect! Apart from the local area activities listed above there is also

• Portsoy Ice Cream Shop - glorious ice cream made on the premises with unusual weekly specials like Jaffa Cake suprise. 
• Moray Leisure Centre, Elgin - 3 swimming pools including toddler pool, flume and ice skating. 

 

For more comprehensive listings go to

www.discovergardenstown.co.uk

www.banffshirecoast.com

Or just put your feet up and enjoy the sunsets. Between November and March you may even be lucky enough to witness the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, a magnificent natural display of changing coloured lights only seen in the high northern latitudes.

Image by Lyn MacDonald

And for the adventurous among you...