Charlotte, one of our team, enjoyed a visit to the historic county of Angus in eastern Scotland. Here is her blog about the fascinating tour.

The unspoilt Angus coast

On our trip, we explored castles, abbeys, gardens and museums, sampling lots of delicious food and drink along the way and enjoying the magnificent coastal scenery, as well as pretty towns and rolling countryside. I loved every aspect of the tour but there were definitely several highlights, one of them being Glamis Castle.

I have dealt with a few itineraries where we have chosen Glamis Castle for our clients to visit, and it was great to see for myself why it is so popular. It was the most picturesque castle, with a lovely road leading up to it. Glamis was very grand in many ways (the pretty design of the turrets and clock tower stood out for me), it also had this lived-in and cosy feel, not that cold feel some castles have.

Glamis Castle with its fairytale towers and turrets

I loved learning about the history of the castle (owned by the Bowes-Lyon family, the family of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), which is believed to be the setting for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Our tour guide Joe was very engaging. You could tell how much he loved working at the castle and he was a great storyteller, covering the castle’s rich history, as well as more unusual things like the stuffed bear Fred, who was once a family pet at the castle, and the ghosts that supposedly haunt parts of the castle.

We followed this up with a visit to The Bothy Gin Experience, also in Glamis, where we got to know about the business and the local produce they use. They were happy for us to try their ranges of gin and rum products – they get a lot of soft berries locally, hence their many fruit gins. They even had a special edition Glamis Castle gin!

An iconic Highland cow!

Another firm favourite was definitely our trip to Newton Farm. A working farm in Forfar owned by farmer Louise and her family. As an animal lover, Newton Farm was a great experience for me. Louise was really friendly and makes it very clear that the animals come first when it comes to opening up her farm to the public, which speaks volumes for the kind of business she runs.

Learning about Newton Farm from farmer Louise

Although a flying visit to the farm, Louise made sure we got to experience everything her farm had to offer from feeding the lively goats and Highland cows, to getting a chance to walk the alpacas (which, from my photo below, you can tell I thoroughly enjoyed!). We had a  delicious afternoon tea in the exposed barn, decorated with fairy lights, as well as tasters of what the farm produces, whilst Louise was happy to answer all of our questions!

Walking an alpaca!

Some of the other parts of the trip I most enjoyed included afternoon tea and gin tasting on the Caledonian Railway, a heritage railway which runs from Brechin to Bridge of Dun. We then visited the House of Dun, a Georgian mansion with stunning views and beautiful gardens, and with a great tour guide who dressed in period clothing and gave us a tour of the house as if we were applying for a job at the house in the 1800s!

Afternoon tea on the Caledonian Railway

On our last day we visited Hospitalfield arts centre and historic house (again, beautiful gardens and thought to be Scotland’s first school of fine art) and the ruins of Arbroath Abbey, famously associated with the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 which asserted Scotland’s independence from England at the time, proclaiming Robert the Bruce the King of Scotland.

Hospitalfield House – one of Scotland's finest country houses

Charlotte’s three-day tour was organised by Visit Angus and provided an intriguing insight into this historic part of Scotland. If you or your group would like to enjoy a tailor-made tour of Scotland, including a visit to Angus, please do contact our team today.