Dunnottar Castle in Stonehaven, Scotland

Dunnottar Castle was probably (in retrospect) my favorite castle. It was amazing! 

 

Before getting to the castle, about 2 miles north, we stopped in the town of Stonehaven and got deep-fried Mars bars at the original fish and chip shop, Carron.  

  And for dinner we had fish and chips at The Bay, again in retrospect, the absolute best we had during our whole time in Scotland. And it’s really no wonder that they were the best; they were just named Scotland’s best and will be competing for the title of best in the UK in a few weeks. I would absolutely recommend them. However, there was no seating and it was November! So we were a little chilly sitting out on the beach promenade! 

 Now on to the castle! The views of it from what appears to be the main land are breath-taking; it’s high up on a cliff; the grounds are a beautiful green despite it being late in November; and the waves are crashing below on the shore! 

Tim was so excited about being at the North Sea

Several key figures spent time at Dunnottar including, Mary Queen of Scots, William Wallace, and the future King Charles II. However, as I mentioned here, what Dunnottar is most famous for, is the safekeeping of the Scottish Crown Jewels, while Cromwell's army was after them. 

The four of us had such an amazingly fun time! We walked over to the right to get the cliff like view of the castle. 

Then, on our way down the hundreds of stairs, (okay maybe not hundreds, but a lot of stairs) we went a bit off the beaten path and ventured down this steep side to the rock covered shore. Again, we had so much fun leisurely taking pictures, throwing and collecting rocks, and having quite the adventure as friends. 

  

We scrambled back up the side of the cliff and then finished the stairs up to the castle. The entrance fee was 5£. Inside we explored the various ruins and took quite a few more pictures which can be found here (coming soon). 

Dunnottar Castle Guide to Ruins

Whigs Vault (where 167 Convenantars were imprisoned for "Christ's Crown & Covenant")

The Chapel

Tim and Katie ~ Julie and Tim

View from the top of the Towerhouse (Keep)

The Towerhouse

We made a full afternoon of Stonehaven and Dunnottar castle and soaked up the winds of the North Sea.