Farm & Country Guide
Practical guides to farm experiences, seasonal activities, and the best of Aberdeenshire agritourism. Written by people who know the farms.
"Aberdeen Angus Beef Farm Tours in Aberdeenshire: Meet the Breed Where It Was Born"
Aberdeen Angus cattle were bred here — in the northeast of Scotland, on farms like the ones that still run them today. If you want to understand why this beef tastes the way it does, the farms of Aberdeenshire are the only place to start.
"Deer Stalking in Aberdeenshire: From Red Deer Farm Tours to Full Estate Days"
Aberdeenshire has the highest density of red deer in Britain. Whether you want to watch them from a farm gate or spend a day on the hill with a professional stalker, the region offers both — and everything in between.
"Dog-Friendly Farm Stays in Aberdeenshire: Where You and Your Dog Are Equally Welcome"
Most hotels tolerate dogs. Aberdeenshire farm stays are built for them — with fields to run, farm smells to investigate, and coastal paths or hillside trails starting from the gate. Here's where both of you will have a genuinely good time.
"The Best Glamping with Hot Tubs in Aberdeenshire (Farms, Cabins and Bothies)"
From a whisky barley farm in Aberdeenshire to a loch-edge glamping site with a hand-built water wheel, the county's farm glamping scene has quietly become one of Scotland's best. Here's where the hot tubs are actually worth getting into.
"Farm Glamping in the Cairngorms National Park: Pods, Cabins and Bothies with Wilderness on the Doorstep"
The Cairngorms is the largest National Park in the UK. Farm glamping here means hot tubs, dark skies, and red squirrels — and being on a working farm means you're embedded in the landscape rather than just visiting it.
The Best Highland Cow Experiences Near Aberdeen (That Actually Deliver)
There is a meaningful gap between seeing a Highland cow and having an experience with one. Near Aberdeen, two farms are doing this properly — a 5-star working B&B where you'll groom 50+ purebred coos, and a Banchory farm run by Grace Noble that will change how you think about Scottish beef.
"Horse Riding on Royal Deeside: Trekking Through Ancient Caledonian Forest With Glen Tanar's Horses"
Glen Tanar Equestrian Centre sits inside 25,000 acres of ancient Caledonian pine forest on Royal Deeside. You can ride through woodland that has been there since before the last ice age, across the River Dee valley, and up into heather moorland — usually without seeing another soul.
"Lambing Experiences in Aberdeenshire: Watch, Feed and Hold Newborn Lambs on a Real Farm"
For six weeks every spring, Aberdeenshire farms open their sheds to visitors — and nothing prepares you for a newborn lamb deciding you're its mother. Here's where to go, when to go, and what to actually expect.
"Organic Farm Experiences in Scotland: Watch the Milking, Taste the Gelato, Buy Direct"
Forest Farm near Aberdeen has been organic since before it was fashionable. Today it has a milk vending machine in the farmyard, a gelateria making ice cream from its own herd, and live milking viewings that make children stand very still and concentrate very hard.
"Pick Your Own Fruit in Aberdeenshire: Strawberries, Raspberries and 13 Crops at Charleton Farm"
Charleton Fruit Farm near Montrose has the widest pick-your-own selection in the region — 13 crops across the season, from asparagus in April to pumpkins in October. No booking needed. Just arrive, pick, and eat half of it before you get back to the car.
Salmon Fishing on the River Dee With a Ghillie: What You Need to Know
The River Dee has been fished by royalty and celebrated in more fishing memoirs than any other Scottish river. Here's how to fish it properly — with a ghillie, on the right beat, in the right season.
Things to Do in Strathdon: The Scottish Valley Most Visitors Never Find
Strathdon doesn't have a visitor centre with a gift shop. What it has is the River Don running west into the Cairngorms, almost no other cars, and some of the best unsung Highland landscape in Aberdeenshire.
"Whisky Farm Glamping in Aberdeenshire: Sleep on the Barley That Becomes Scotch"
Boutique Farm Bothies grows the barley that ends up malted into Glenlivet whisky. You can stay in a tin bothy surrounded by those fields, sit in a wood-fired hot tub, and watch the grain that's destined for the still dry in the Aberdeenshire wind.