Key facts
- Operator
- Historic Environment Scotland
- Condition
- Ruin
- Access
- Staffed, ticketed
Pinpoint
Kildrummy, Alford AB33 8RA
Telephone 01975 571331
Possible Opening hours
Opening times change. Always check the official website before you travel.
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM, 1:30 – 4:00 PM |
| Thursday | 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM, 1:30 – 4:00 PM |
| Friday | 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM, 1:30 – 4:00 PM |
| Saturday | 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM, 1:30 – 4:00 PM |
| Sunday | 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM, 1:30 – 4:00 PM |
One of the earliest and best-preserved shield-shaped castles in Scotland, its 13th-century curtain wall and towers standing on a quiet Aberdeenshire hillside. Historic Environment Scotland keeps it open seasonally, with a shop, toilets, and a gravel path that reviewers describe as wheelchair-friendly for much of the route.
Worth the trip
The shield-shaped ground plan itself — one of Scotland's earliest examples of the design, still legible in the surviving walls.
Before you go
Set your sat nav to the car park rather than the castle itself — reviewers warn Google Maps sends you to the wrong entrance if you tap the pin — and pack a picnic, since there are benches near the back of the site.
Visitors consistently describe Kildrummy Castle as a well-maintained ruin in a peaceful, scenic setting, often mentioning having the site nearly to themselves along with helpful information boards. A couple of practical tips recur: Google Maps can direct you to the wrong entrance (the car park location differs), and while the path to the shop is wheelchair-friendly, the castle ruins themselves are not.
13th-century shield-shaped castle; seasonal opening
“I was the only one present, a great ruined castle in a beautiful and peaceful setting.”— Tony Bradbury, visitor review
