Out of Aberdeen and there is lots to do and see - this is castle country and there are so many to choose from on the Castle Trail: Crathes; Craigievar; Fyvie; Fraser; Dunottar; Muchalls; Braemar and Balmoral. If you get bored with castles there are beautiful gardens at Pitmedden, Kildrummy and again at Crathes Castle.
Everywhere, in stone circles and standing stones, is the evidence of prehistory. Not far from Aberdeen Airport, near Inverurie, just off the A96, is Archaeolink an interpretive centre about these monuments and the people who built them. Fascinating names like Clinkstone, Maiden Stone and Cloven Stone invite the curious while the intriguingly shaped hill, Bennachie, looms in the background. It's a land of mystery where your imagination can take flight and you can forget the present, wondering about the past.
As well as the Castle Trail, this area also has the Coastal Trail and the Whisky Trail, which links many of the Speyside area distilleries.