Stonehaven Voyage Tips and guide

Stonehaven is a small fishing port in Aberdeenshire in North East Scotland, 15 miles south of Aberdeen. Its main attraction is Dunnottar Castle, scenically perched on a headland south of town.

Stonehaven could be called the most northerly town of the lowlands. Central lowland Scotland is a rift valley, walled by the Highland Boundary Fault which trends diagonally from Helensburgh on the west coast to Stonehaven on the east. Southeast of this line is Old Red Sandstone, bright red from its iron oxides, built into roseate castles such as Edzell, and with red soil in the lowland cattle fields. Northwest are the granite Grampian highlands. As the fault line approaches the coast, it funnels all the transport routes — for cattle-drivers, armies, traders and mail coaches — to the rocky headland where Dunnottar Castle stands guard.

The coastal plain then opens up again further north towards Aberdeen. The "Highland Line" is as much cultural as geological, and this area was an early adopter of lowland agricultural methods, land tenure and industries, and of English in place of Gaelic. Stonehaven's last military upheavals were in the Jacobite campaigns of 1715 and 1745, when it was a supply port for the rebels. Thereafter it was simply a provincial market town, though busy in the 19th century with herring fishing. Its many dank medieval turrets were converted into mansions: these are mostly private residences, but may be occasionally open in summer as part of the Scotland's Gardens Scheme. Stonehaven was the county town of Kincardineshire, but that was abolished in 1975 so it's now part of Aberdeenshire, with a population in 2022 of 11,000.

Stunning Stonehaven is the online visitor information portal.

56°57′36″N 2°13′37″W

Map of Stonehaven

Hourly trains from Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street take two hours via Dundee, Arbroath and Montrose, and continue to Aberdeen. A few are direct from London Kings Cross or Leeds via York and Newcastle, but from England it's usually quicker to change in Edinburgh.

The Caledonian Highland Sleeper to Aberdeen runs Su-F from London Euston, departing after 9PM to reach Stonehaven around 7:15AM. The southbound train picks up around 10PM to reach Euston towards 8AM. You could also take the Lowland Sleeper from Euston towards midnight and change to a day train in Edinburgh. Going back, you need to leave Stonehaven before 8:30PM to join the southbound Lowland Sleeper at 11:30PM from Edinburgh.

56.9667-2.22541 Stonehaven station is a mile west of town centre. There's a ticket office, machines, toilets and a waiting area, with step-free access to both platforms. Exit onto Arduthie Rd, where the Station Hotel has a bar and serves meals; head downhill east for more food and pubs in the centre.

Stagecoach North Bus 8 runs hourly daytime from Aberdeen Union Square, taking an hour via Portlethen, Newtonhill and Chapeltown. At night take Bus X7.

56.963-2.2092 Barclay Street is the main bus stop, at the corner with Cameron Street a block south of Market Square.

Coaches from Edinburgh, Glasgow and the south towards Aberdeen scoot past on the A90 and don't stop in Stonehaven.

From north or south the quickest road is A90, which cuts inland. For a slower scenic route (eg cycling) take A92, which follows the coast from Dundee via Arbroath and Montrose.

To reach the Cairngorms, A957 northeast (the lyrically-named "Slug Road") joins A93 at Crathes: this is the route between Glenshee, Braemar, Balmoral and Aberdeen.

• Stonehaven is a small town, so walking is your best bet. For Dunnottar Castle either take the path ascending from the harbour, or the cycleway from further south along main road. These meet below the War Memorial, then the clifftop path winds onward to the castle entrance. Or drive south to join A92, and another half mile brings you to the castle car park.
• Stagecoach Bus 4A and 4C make a figure-of-eight loop around the town M-Sa hourly.
• Local taxis are Dash Cabs +44 7400 442880 and Zip Cabs +44 7300 616465.

• 56.96-2.2021 The harbour is centrepiece of the town, which remains a fishing port. On the north quay, the Tolbooth is a 16th-century red sandstone building that has variously been a courthouse and a prison. In 1648/49, three Episcopal clergy were imprisoned here for holding a religious service for more than nine people: it was a sort of social-distancing rule, as the "Piskies" spread the contagion of Jacobitism. The Tolbooth is now a small museum, open Sa Su noon-3:30PM, free.
• The beach is shingle, with a ribbon of shingly sand below the highwater mark. Dogs are welcome.
• St James the Great Episcopal Church is an attractive 19th-century church just south of the Carron Water. Town centre is a Victorian grid pattern stretching north to the other river, the Cowie Water.
• 56.955-2.20272 The War Memorial is along the clifftop path to the castle. In sort-of Doric style, its unfinished look is deliberate, to acknowledge the incomplete lives of these lost in two World Wars.
• 56.94569-2.196773 Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven AB39 2TL (2 miles south of town via A92), ☏ +44 1569 766320. Daily Apr-Sep 9AM-6PM, Oct-Mar 10AM-4PM. Medieval castle perched on a rocky promontory, with cliffs plunging down to the sea. Earlier forts were destroyed so the present structure was built circa 1400 and extended into a palace from 1581; it was partly dismantled in 1720. One of its famous episodes was the protection of the Scottish crown jewels and regalia. After Charles I was executed, his son landed in Scotland and was proclaimed King Charles II at Scone. Oliver Cromwell came in pursuit and eventually Charles had to flee, only regaining the throne from 1660. Meanwhile the crown jewels were brought to Dunnottar for safekeeping then, when Cromwell laid siege, they were somehow smuggled out to be hidden in Kinneff church 10 miles south. Adult £13, child £6, conc £11.50.  (updated Mar 2026)
• 56.958-2.2274 Dunnottar Woods, a mile inland along the Glaslaw Burn, were the estate of Dunnottar House, now demolished. The main feature is the parish church (Church of Scotland), built from 1852. The Covenanters' Stone in the graveyard is a memorial to the 170 anti-royalists imprisoned in Dunnottar Castle in 1685. (Some died or escaped, but most were transported to found a colony in New Jersey.) In the woods are "Lady Kennedy's Bath" (more suitable for cleaning a large muddy dog than milady's what-nots) and the Shell Hoosy, a folly.
• 56.9604-2.260355 Fetteresso Castle. 14th-century towerhouse, rebuilt in 1761 as a Scottish Gothic-style Palladian manor. It's been converted into private dwellings and isn't open to visitors.  (updated Mar 2026)
• 56.977-2.19216 Cowie Chapel or the Chapel of St Mary and St Nathalan is a picturesque ruin next to the golf course. Some 200 yards south overlooking the coast, a grassy knoll is all that remains of Cowie Castle. Half a mile inland, Causey Mounth was the ancient cattle-drovers trail between Aberdeen and Stonehaven. It became a stone causeway from the 12th century to span the worst of the bogs.
• 56.9805-2.23247 Ury House a mile north of town is the shell of an Elizabethan mansion, an imposing facade but unsafe to enter. It's under development as a hotel, house estate and golf resort, so much of the area is fenced off as a hard-hat zone.

• 57-2.2638 Raedykes was a Roman marching camp - a temporary structure set up between the permanent forts. It's one of a line of camps between the fort at Stracathro and those in Moray. Raedykes is one of the possible sites of the Battle of Mons Graupius, when Rome defeated the Caledonians in AD 83/84, but no-one's sure. The camp, perched on Garrison Hill, has yielded important finds but to look at is just grazing land. That's fitting since the Roman commander who built it was Agricola, which means "farmer".
• 57.0175-2.17999 Muchalls Castle on the coast 5 miles north of town is a Romanesque 13th-century tower-house, rebuilt as a mansion in the 17th century. It's a private residence and you can't visit.
• 56.9225-2.290310 Castle of Fiddes is a 16th-century tower house, 4 miles southwest of town. It was modernised in 1930 and remains a private dwelling, no visits.
• 56.8949-2.420711 Monboddo House is a 13th century towerhouse, made over into a mansion in the 17th century. It fell derelict in the 20th century but was restored in the 21st; it's a private dwelling and you can't visit.
• 56.909-2.212 Crawton is a ghost village, a fishing harbour deserted from 1927. The scenic cliffs just north are the RSPB bird reserve of Fowlsheugh.
• 56.898-2.21813 Catterline is a small fishing village, a row of whitewashed cottages that somehow looks more like Ireland.
• 56.8655-2.238914 Kinneff Old Church is where the Scottish crown regalia were hidden after they were smuggled out of Dunnottar Castle. That church dated to 1242, but the version you see now was built in 1738 and is disused.
• See Montrose for sights south of Inverbervie.

• 56.9779-2.19241 Stonehaven Golf Course, Cowie AB39 3RH, ☏ +44 1569 762124. Breezy challenging course on the cliff tops. White tees 5103 yards, par 66.  (updated Mar 2026)
• 56.9698-2.20472 Open Air Pool, Queen Elizabeth Park AB39 2RD, ☏ +44 1569 766454. Jun-Aug M-F 1-9:30PM, Sa Su 10AM-6PM. A Stonehaven institution, an Olympic-sized open air pool with sea water heated to 28^oC. Inflatables and water-aerobic sessions. Adult £10.  (updated Mar 2026)
• The Leisure Centre is next to the Open Air Pool. It's open M-F 6:30AM-10PM, Sa Su 9AM-5PM.
• Stonehaven Folk Festival is next held 10-12 July 2026.
• Stonehaven Highland Games are probably next held on Su 19 July 2026, tbc.

Drumtochty Highland Games are held at Drumtochty Castle 5 miles north of Laurencekirk in June, see Montrose (Scotland)#Do.

• Evolve to live on land and breathe air: the rocks of this region have few fossils, as they were laid down on land in a time before life slithered out of the sea. But one important example is Pneumodesmus newmani, named for Mike Newman the bus driver who found it on Cowie beach in 2004. It's a millipede, sort of, with spiracles that show it breathed air. It's about 415 million years old, early Devonian, one of the first air-breathing creatures. The beastie lived then in tropical Laurentia and now resides in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

• Gift shops: My Beautiful Caravan is at 17 Market Square, open M-Sa.
• Pharmacies are Charles Michie in Market Square (M-Sa 9-6PM) and Boots on Barclay St (M-Sa 8:30AM-5:30PM).
• Food shops in Market Square include Co-op Food (daily 7AM-10PM) and Charles McHardy Butchers.
• Farmers Market is held in the square first Saturday of the month 9AM-1PM.

• Seafood Bothy is a kiosk out on the quay serving seafood straight off the boat. Hours and quality erratic, small portions, you're paying for the setting and the fun of fighting off the predatory seagulls.
• Carron Fish Bar, 1 Allardice St AB39 2BN (next to main bus stop), ☏ +44 7380 329326. M-Th noon-1:30PM, 4-8PM, F-Su noon-8PM. Fish and chip shop famous for inventing the deep-fried Mars bar in 1992, though the story only took off in the media in 1995. It became symbolic of Scotland's unhealthy lifestyle, but pundits fuming against it only spread its fame. So too did the shop's bid to have the product registered as an EU traditional specialty, and Mars Inc's po-faced response that "deep-frying one of our products would go against our commitment to promoting healthy, active lifestyles." In 2015 the council ordered the shop to take down banners claiming the invention, which to this day they cheerfully refuse to do. Fashions are fickle and a Nigella Lawson TV recipe was the death knell of its street cred. But it remains on the menu, though it's mostly tourists that buy the bars nowadays.  (updated Mar 2026)
• Tollbooth Restaurant, Old Pier AB39 2JU, ☏ +44 1569 762287. W 5-9PM, Th F noon-2PM, 5-9PM, Sa Su noon-9PM. Informal bistro on quay next to Tolbooth serves excellent creative seafood. (updated Mar 2026)
• Carron to Mumbai, 20 Cameron St AB39 2HS, ☏ +44 1569 760460. Daily 4:30-10PM. They serve all the staples but post-pub blow-out it's not, it's a charming place where you can reminisce about your bygone days in Inja dontcha know. (updated Mar 2026)
• Nawabi Voj is at 60 Allardice St, open W-M 5-11PM.
• Casa Luisa is a tapas place at 25 Market Square, open W noon-4PM, Th-Sa noon-10PM.
• Gino's, 21a Ann St AB39 2EN, ☏ +44 1569 763028. Tu-Th 10AM-4PM, F Sa 10AM-10PM. Small Italian cafe serves good quality food at reasonable prices. (updated Mar 2026)
• Molly's Cafe Bar, The Promenade AB39 2RD (by open-air pool), ☏ +44 1569 762378. M-F 9AM-4PM, Sa Su 9AM-10PM. Serving Scottish breakfasts, home bakes, paninis, etc. (updated Mar 2026)
• Aunty Betty's, The Promenade AB39 2RD, ☏ +44 1569 763656. W-M. Ice cream shop. (updated Mar 2026)

• Troupers Bar, 10 Barclay St AB39 2BJ, ☏ +44 1569 767324. Daily 11AM-midnight. Friendly authentic bar near the main bus stop. (updated Mar 2026)
• Ship Inn on the harbour is a 1771 pub with rooms.
• Six° North is within the Marine Hotel by the harbour. Six Degrees North craft brewery is in Laurencekirk 14 miles south, see Montrose.
• Nàdarra is a wine bar by the bridge at 3 Cameron St, open Tu-Su.
• Market Bar in Market Square is open daily 11AM-midnight.

• Number 44 Hotel, 44 Allardice St AB39 2BU (next to Town Hall), ☏ +44 1569 762979. Pub / restaurant with rooms in town centre. Double (room only) £100. (updated Mar 2026)
• Bayview, 1 Bayview Appts AB39 1BD, ☏ +44 7967 645684. Friendly guesthouse on the waterfront with great views. B&B double £125. (updated Mar 2026)
• Marine Hotel, 9 Shorehead AB39 2JY, ☏ +44 1569 762155. Victorian pub with rooms overlooking the harbour. Real ale and good bar food. B&B double £150. (updated Mar 2026)
• Shorehead Guest House, 14 Shorehead AB39 2JY, ☏ +44 7761 102311. Comfy welcoming B&B in a fisherman's cottage by the harbour, open March-Oct. B&B double £120. (updated Mar 2026)
• Arduthie House, Ann St AB39 2DA, ☏ +44 7940 551133. Stylish mid-town guesthouse. Double (room only) £120. (updated Mar 2026)
• 56.9639-2.21271 Belvedere Guest House, 41 Evan St AB39 2ET, ☏ +44 1569 762672. Pleasant small guesthouse. B&B double £80.  (updated Mar 2026)
• Station Hotel, Arduthie Rd AB39 2NE (at railway station), ☏ +44 1569 762277. Comfy simple place with decent meals. B&B double £100. (updated Mar 2026)
• 56.971-2.20382 Queen Elizabeth Park Caravan Site, The Links AB39 2RD, ☏ +44 1569 760088. Site open Mar-Dec, well run, good facilities and just north of town. 76 tourer pitches but only 3 pitches for tents. Tourer £28.  (updated Mar 2026)
• Upper Crawton is the nearest campsite, 4 miles south of town off A92.

As of March 2026 Stonehaven and its approach roads have 4G from Three, and 5G from EE, O2 and Vodafone.

• North to Aberdeen, the grey granite city with lots to see and do.
• West to Banchory and the Dee valley past Balmoral Castle to Braemar.
• South to the small fishing ports of Montrose, and Arbroath where Scotland's independence was first proclaimed in 1320.

Dundee ← Forfar ←	SW  N	→ Aberdeen (West & Airport)
Arbroath ← Montrose ←	S  NE	→ Aberdeen (City Centre & Port)