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Scotland in Dec/Jan

Hi all,
Looking for some advice on where in Scotland to spend some time in between some pre-scheduled stops this winter. I'm visiting friends in Glasgow for Hogmanay, and about a week later visiting friends in Bristol. I fly into Aberdeen on Dec 26, and trek down to Bristol on January 7th.

In between, I'd love to explore beyond Glasgow and Edinburgh, both of which I have visited recently, but it looks like a lot of things (distilleries, etc.) tend to shut down between Christmas and Hogmanay, and I'm not sure what might be open and running Jan 2-7. I'll be working on a writing project, so the shortened hours don't especially bother me, but I'd love to find a spot or two where I'd be likely to find food and company in the pubs at least, and some atmospheric surroundings to stroll. Any suggestions for the dead of winter? Thanks in advance!

Posted by
283 posts

You could do a lot worse than the Ballater and Royal Deeside area for a few days.

Ballater is about a 90 minute drive from Aberdeen airport and has a nice village feel to it. Lots of local walks and friendly folk to make you welcome. I'll confess to being biased about it because I am only eight miles away :-)

http://www.visitballater.com/

http://visitroyaldeeside.com/

and our local distillery is open to visitors at that time of year

https://www.discovering-distilleries.com/royallochnagar/

Hope this helps :-)