Speyside Malt Whisky Capital of Scotland

Make a special trip to the Speyside Whiskey Festival in the Malt Whisky Capital of Scotland even more extraordinary by making your base at Leslie Castle and using Britain’s most northerly heritage railway to get there.

Spirit of Speyside
The Festival line up was announced on 1st Feb 2019 – there will be plenty of events talks and tastings to attend.

Leslie Castle Glenlivet the Father of all Scotch — Beautiful Glenlivet the Father of all Scotch mirror on the wall of the Withdrawing room at Leslie Castle

You will pass some of the best scenery to be had in this part of Scotland on the way. 10 minutes from Leslie Castle is Insch railway station, with regular links to Keith station (see The Trainline timetable) where the Keith & Dufftown light railway starts.

Spirit of Speyside The Whisky Line Keith to Dufftown — Hop on board the Spirit of Speyside train at Dufftown to Keith for a great *Spring-*day-out.

Scheduled services for 2019 start on Saturday 6th April 2019 and will end on Saturday 31st September 2019 but on the 2nd to 5th May a very special service runs in conjunction with Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival. When free whisky sampling and shortbread and new for this year Ceilidh music will be available on the trains. Keith and Dufftown railway Speyside Whisky Festival

Check Availability or Book Now

Keith to Dufftown vintage heritage railway — The vintage single track line offers some of the best views of the Highland countryside

Carol L

2022-10-01

Leslie Castle-A must see! Our stay at Leslie Castle was magical! Nicola and John are wonderful hosts! Someone was always available if we needed something and the tour and history of the castle was quite interesting. The food was AMAZING! We hope to be back someday.

LKeane

2022-09-14

Wonderful place to stay We found the place to be very charming on arrival we received a warm welcome then off to settle into our room which was large with a very comfortable bed. We roamed the grounds and enjoyed a cider The meals served were very enjoyable concluding with a history of the castle and a tour. Can’t wait to return

MERLION04

2022-09-12

Lovely place to stay We absolutely loved our stay here. We stayed for 4 nights, using the castle as our base to visit other castles in the area. The castle is wonderful, it is in a very peaceful location and we loved our spacious room with its twin turrets. We were on the third floor and found the stairs very manageable. We chose to have dinner in the Baronial Hall on our first night and thoroughly enjoyed our meal, tasting haggis for the very first time, we loved it! After dinner, Nicola gave us a talk on the history of the castle & its previous owners followed by a tour. It was very interesting & obvious that both Nicola & John love the castle very much. They are lovely hosts & make you feel very much at home. A lovely place to stay, we wholeheartedly recommend Leslie Castle.

SJTravele_SanJose

2022-06-15

The Real Castle Experience - Best Time Ever We spent two nights at Leslie Castle with our family of four, and a friend’s family of four, and loved every ancient stone of the place. We had four rooms in all between adults and kids. There are only six rooms in total. Unlike many castle B&B’s that are a hotel setup inside a castle-exterior, this place delivered the living in a castle feel with huge fireplaces, small narrow doorways, huge stones, and each of the 53 windows was handmade leaded glass. Our son’s room was bordered by two turrets and the turrets have the arrows slits and holes for muskets, which if you have two young boys definitely delivers the goods. The story of the place is that the castle ruins were purchased by an architect who made rebuilding the place to the period his passion project, and it shows. You have to admire this guy’s dedication, because he started with a crumbling exterior with trees growing inside of it, and over the years turned it into something that is true to the period, but with our modern amenities. One of the nice features is a sitting room with fireplace where we drank red wine and played chess, like 15th century dudes. Breakfast was served daily in a breakfast hall, and included some cold items along with scrambled eggs, ham, sausage, and mushrooms with tomatoes. Our dinner was served in an ancient seeming dining hall with a wood burning stove warming the room, and aged paintings surrounding a long wooden table. The food was delicious and a great value. I’m a a vegetarian and they made a veggie moussaka for me. The others had haggis stuffed chicken, and fingerling potatoes. The hosts were knowledgeable and friendly. They helped us round out parts of our itinerary, and suggested a quick hike to a local roman arch. All in all a great place to stay.

Richard P

2022-04-06

Amazing Stay Such an amazing visit, rooms are amazing as is the knowledge about the history. Nicola is such a great host, we really our food and guided tour. To have the honour of staying at such an historic site will definitely stay in our memories. Highly recommended as a place to stay, we will definitely be returning.

RogandToni

2021-08-22

Family stay at Leslie Castle Very exciting and a privilege to be able to experience living in such an historic building. The atmosphere is certainly there and John and Nicola have managed to maintain the right amount of historical fact to whet the appetite of all age groups. Accommodating hosts and all necessary comforts provided. The bed was great! Food was great, with a taste of Scottish fare added. The surrounding countryside is beautiful and the distance from Aberdeen manageable.

bseldon

2021-08-15

A hidden gem! A amazing staycation at the foot of Bennachie we had a brilliant few days being looked after by Nicola and John. The castle is amazing and the introduction to the history, characters and structure a real highlight to kick things off. We felt very at home in the amazing dining hall, withdrawing room and Barons retreat relaxing after meals and playing family games. The kids LOVED the castle experience with little imaginations running wild in the secret nooks and out in the grounds. Rooms are a cozy treat feeling both luxurious but authentic. Best sleep in a long time surrounded by hundred of years old granite and getting to peak out of our own turret! Our family from 5 to 75 highly recommends Leslie Castle!

momomaha

2020-01-05

Such a memorable stay! Driving through the Aberdeenshire countryside wondering where we were headed - we shouldn't have worried! Warm hospitality, unique and comfortable rooms, delicious food, and fascinating history awaited us. We absolutely loved our stay and would highly recommend this special place. From the four poster bed, to the regal dining room, to the windows, stairs, garden, and historic touches - not to mention the lovely dinner and breakfast - all made for a highlight of our trip to Scotland. Thank you Nicola and John for your attention to detail and warm welcome!

MASCANALE

2019-10-12

Un château en Écosse ! Charmant BB au milieu la campagne Écossaise, pas très loin de Aberdeen. Parfais pour rayonner dans cette région. Excellent accueil de John et Nicole. Évidemment le côté magique de ce séjour c'est le château. Très bien restauré et aménagé, avec de grande chambre. Celle tout en haut comporte des tourelles dans lesquelles vous pouvez voir les oiseaux nicher. Le plus c'est l'option dîner servie sur place dans la salle à manger du château ! Ainsi vous voilà châtelain pour quelques soir. Nous ne sommes restés que 2 nuits, nous aurions bien prolongé notre séjour... Petit plus, il y a un piano à queue dans la salle du petit-déjeuner (qui est copieux et avec d'excellentes produits).

Susanna727

2019-10-04

Truly Special On our recent one-month trip to the UK, we stayed in 17 different lodgings--yikes! Leslie Castle was far and away the best of the bunch and a true highlight. You're staying in a true castle--our bathroom even had a turret! John, Nicola and family are truly gracious and the entire experience was awesome. Do yourself and favor and have dinner there, but know that you must bring your own wine/alcohol (they will happily bring you glasses and ice for your cocktails). Wish we had stayed more than one night.

Leslie Castle

4.3

Based on 15 reviews

Stu J Leslie

2022-07-16T19:31:42+0000

A fantastic journey into the past. The hosts were so nice in giving us a tour of the castle and very knowledgeable on... the history of the castle and Leslie Clan. A highlight of our trip to Aberdeenshire, and we plan to come back and stay in the fall or spring.read more

Lisa Fauchier Bartholomew

2022-07-03T09:25:18+0000

Wonderful place to stay. The owners were welcoming, food was great and the rooms were very big and comfy beds.

Jenny Leslie

2019-08-16T18:52:00+0000

A very characterful place to stay, our hosts were very friendly and the food was also good.

Sue Wiedmann Northey

2019-05-26T16:38:14+0000

Leslie Castle is a treasure. We loved our accommodations and hearing about its long history. Our room was lovely and... the dinner was tasty and wonderful. This was one of the highlights of our two weeks in Scotland. We are so happy we made it part of our travels and would highly recommend a stay at Leslie Castle.read more

Kathryn Leslie Challenger

2018-11-29T18:49:35+0000

We spent 3 days and nights at Leslie Castle in early September 2018. John and Nicola were awesome hosts, excellent... preparers of breakfasts and dinners and very knowledgeable about the area. Make sure you meet up with David and Leslie Leslie who were responsible for the re-build of the Castle.read more

Damon Herbel

2018-06-23T17:21:31+0000

My wife and I went there on our anniversary. It was also special that I was a direct Leslie descendant. You were... extremely nice and accommodating. Almost like family that we didn't know that we had. I know that we will be planning on coming back there in the future. Wonderful, wonderful food and awesome memories. A must see in Scotland.read more

Berit Ullmann

2018-04-09T20:58:49+0000

A lovely place to stay. One of our highlights in Scotland, one really gets a feeling of a medieval castle. We lived our... stay and will surely visit again. Many thanks for this experience!read more

Carsten Fabian

2018-04-07T22:08:37+0000

Lovely place, lovely people, lovely stay, we will definitely stay there again.

Katrina Lum

2018-03-18T06:22:42+0000

Pat Underlin Andrea

2018-01-30T13:42:34+0000

It was a wonderful experience to stay in Leslie Castle, I stayed in January, parts of the castle were a little cold but... bedrooms were lovely and warm.read more

Next Reviews

Related

Leave a Comment Cancel

Share this:

Related

Leave a Comment Cancel