The Victorian Heritage Trail

A distinctive profile of Queen Victoria on brown-coloured tourist signs points the way for the Victorian Heritage Trail, leading you to some of the many sights she enjoyed during her visits to the area. This driving trail also takes in two distilleries, one at Fettercairn in the Mearns, and the other below Lochnagar among the Deeside hills. Fettercairn and Royal Lochnagar distilleries - both open to visitors - each produce a distinct and flavoursome single malt.

Look out too for the many businesses which proudly display Royal coats-of-arms. This heraldic flourish indicates that these businesses supply members of the Royal family with goods or services. The little town of Ballater has more "By Appointment" signs than any other comparable place in the world, a heritage that is further enriched by the opening in 2001 of the restored Old Royal Station Ballater.