Last weekend, my friend Chloe and I took a day trip up to Dunnottar Castle, which is just south of Aberdeen. It was a really long day, but it was really fun!
We had to wake up at about 6am to catch the train up to Aberdeen. We got in at about 8 and headed to catch the bus. We made it to the castle a bit after 9, so we had the whole morning to enjoy the castle.
It’s in quite a cool spot, because it’s on an almost-island, which stands quite high above the water. It’s very dramatic.
First we kind of scoped out the area. There’s a pretty good view of the castle from the cliffs just in front of it.
We then walked around inside the castle, which had a lot going on. It had stables, a blacksmith, a garden, a chapel, royal residences, etc. We were impressed!
I was particularly into the views of the sea and the cliffs from the castle and around it. I think the North Sea is pretty moody, and I ended up taking a lot of pictures of the environment rather than of the castle itself.
After exploring the castle, we walked along the trail that goes along the edge of the seaside cliffs. There were some pretty great views.
Especially after the sun came out!
We then caught the bus (if only with 2 minutes to spare), and headed back to Aberdeen. We then had plenty of time to have a big cup of tea and plan our dinner for when we got back to Edinburgh.
It wasn’t a super crazy day, but we did spent over 6 hours on transportation, so we were exhausted by the end of it. I’m so glad I got to go to another castle. I think it’s the first Scottish castle I’ve been to this semester.
