Wow! It’s on it’s own island?! Were the words my eldest uttered when first setting eyes on Dunnottar Castle. It’s not quite it’s own island, but it looks rather impressive all the same! Just imagining what it would be like to live at the castle in its heyday was fun for the kids. Dunnottar Castle is just South of Stonehaven and a great day trip whilst staying in Aberdeen.
Table of Contents
Getting To Dunnottar Castle
The car park for Dunnottar Castle is just off the A92 on the Coastal Tourist Route. You can easily reach it by car or the local buses X7 and 107 stop on the A92 just a short walk from the castle car park.
Alternatively you can walk or cycle up from Stonehaven. There is a picturesque coastal path from Stonehaven to the castle that is perfect for walkers.
Accessibility
The castle is perched high on a rock and although there is a path all the way there it is steep in sections and has quite a few steps. It’s not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs unfortunately. As a scheduled ancient monument there isn’t anything that can be done about this, it’s just the nature of the landscape.
Please note that the weather can also affect the castles opening hours. High winds or heavy rain can close the site for safety reasons.
Highlights of Dunnottar Castle
Dunnottar Castle is built on a sea stack that has been inhabited since the Picts built a fort on it sometime between 5000 BCE and 700 CE. The Picts were later converted to Christianity by St Ninian, later King Donald II of Scotland was killed at Dunnottar by the Vikings. The fort was twice taken by the English in the Wars of Independence and eventually returned to Scottish powers. The castle finally fell when the 10th Earl Marischal plays a key role in the Jacobite cause, forfeiting his estates, including Dunnottar.
The castle was later opened to the public and is still owned by the same family. When visiting you will see the remnants of the buildings. Including the ‘lions den’ where the 5th Earl Marischal kept a pet lion!
Children are given a trail sheet to find the answers to different questions. My two love this type of quiz and had great fun finding all the answers!
We also enjoyed watching the seabirds through the windows overlooking the sea. The views from the castle are absolutely stunning! Despite it being busy when we visited we easily found little areas around the castle that were quiet and less visited. It’s a surprisingly large area that the castle covers considering how small it looks from the cliff top!
Beaches Below Dunnottar Castle
Just below the castle are two beaches, one small pebble beach is easy to access from the path. The other is through a gap in the rocks, however there was fencing stopping people from crossing under the rock when we visited. I believe there is another way into this beach from a steep path from the cliff top, although I’m not sure how safe this is.
We were happy at the pebble beach with the kids playing in the water until they were suitably soaked through and exhausted! It’s a quiet beach when you don’t have kids screaming at the waves and throwing rocks in! Ha ha!
Leave a Reply