At 0955, we reached the entrance to the grounds of Balmoral Castle after a bus ride of a bit more than 2 hours.

We walked across the entrance bridge designed by Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Edward, which was completed in 1856. This bridge over Scotland’s Dee River is just one of the engineering successes by this German born Monarch.

Our tour was broken into three parts: First, Balmoral Castle. Since this is a private residence, except for the Ball Room (which is the largest room in the Castle), it is the only interior room available for viewing.

The next are the gardens. Flowers for bouquets and veg for family, guests, and staff are grown with the help of 4 gardeners and a dedicated group of volunteers.

Finally, the rest of the 60,000 acre estate, which we were fortunate enough to tour some of with a ranger, is used for recreation, such as salmon fishing, and deer hunting, by personal invitation of the Queen only. There is also timber harvesting and several holiday cabins which can be rented.

The YouTube hopefully gives you a feel for this 100+ year old estate.


Enjoy,
Jeff and Wendy