Balmoral Castle

Jim, I've been to a lot of Scottish castles over the years, but never Balmoral.

For a much older castle with royal ties and less than an hour drive from St. Andrews is Glamis Castle, the childhood home of the late Queen Elizabeth's mother, The Queen Mother Elizabeth. They offer an interesting tour of the castle.

In St. Andrews, your wife might enjoy joining you for a few holes on the Himalayan Putting Course.

Balmoral is definitely worth a visit. However, it's a bit of a long day trip from St. Andrews (about 2.5 hours one way to drive.) Driving part of the way on your arrival day, say to Perth, makes sense. Mind, there may be limited accommodations at this late date. The drive up the A93 is gorgeous, as are the castle and grounds. If this isn't feasible, Glamis is an excellent option.

To be honest, I wouldn't think it worth the time taken to get there, just to see the ballroom. The grounds may be nice, but there are equally as good gardens and grounds elsewhere... Glamis Castle is a much better idea (and is the same ticket price).

It is good that you have done your homework and know only the ballroom is open to the public and that any visit is going to be short on rooms to see inside. The grounds and gardens have benefitted from lots of new planting since King Charles inherited the estate and there is more of a country park feel to the place now.

Apart from the shelter afforded by the ballroom and such exhibitions as there are in the stables area Balmoral might not be an enjoyable place for you to visit on a very wet day. The cafeteria was extended a couple of years ago and now seats more people so you can get out of the rain there as well if you need to. The menu is reasonably priced, unlike the castle gift shop which is very expensive. Presumably the managers who run the visitor enterprise side of the estate are marketing everything to those with deep pockets.

Should you decide to visit then try to arrive as early as you can to take advantage of the car park on the A93. These days this too small to cope with the increased number of visitors to Balmoral and gets filled quickly. There is an overflow area in a field at the back of the car park where the Crathie Gallery and Post Office is situated and this is accessed by a track at the side of the building.

In fact there are two car parks for Balmoral on the A93. One I have mentioned which is for cars and motorbikes and the other is across the road at the junction of the A93 and the B976 (South Deeside Road) which is for coaches, motorhomes and the like. You may want to look at Google maps and streetview to familiarise yourself with where you need to go in advance. Particularly with regards the location of the overflow car park.

Please don't park on the road to Royal Lochnagar Distillery and walk to the castle gates from there. This is a clearway and the police have lately been issuing tickets for misuse. Likewise please don't park along the South Deeside Road or anywhere which looks likely on the A93. I have friends who live in the area and they say traffic management is now a major issue during peak visitor times.

I have great admiration for the Royal Family and have read much British history. When in Scotland several years ago, I went out of my way to visit both Balmoral and Glamis Castle and enjoyed both immensely. Nonetheless, I agree that Glamis Castle is the superior visiting experience because so much of its interior is open to the public. In contrast, in the main house at Balmoral, only the ballroom is open to tourists (note; King Charles has made available tours of certain other rooms at Balmoral, but advance tickets are required, and I have read that the tickets sold out within hours of release).

I did not find driving around Balmoral and Glamis Castle to be difficult.