No 45 guest house is located in the village of Ballater in the Cairngorm National Park and close to Balmoral Castle.
We are ideally located if you enjoy the outdoors. Fishing, shooting, cycling, and walking are all available close by and we can offer storage for your rods and bicycles and also a drying room for your outerwear. Cycle hire is available in the village. There are several good restaurants and shops available in the village, all within easy walking distance of our guest house. We are close to several highland games including the Braemar Highland Games, Lonach Gathering and Ballater Highland Games.
Balmoral Castle: 8 miles
Loch Muick: 9 miles
Lochnagar Distillery: 8 miles
Crathie Kirk: 7 miles
Burn O Vat: 6 miles
Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve: 6 miles
Lecht Ski Centre: 17 miles
Glenshee Ski Centre: 24 miles
Braemar: 16 miles
Braemar Castle: 16 miles (currently closed for restoration)
The Deeside Way is a path running from near the centre of Aberdeen to Ballater. The path is suitable for walkers and cyclists with many sections also suitable for horses and is Route 195 of the National Cycle Network which is coordinated and promoted by Sustrans. The route follows the line of the Old Royal Deeside Railway from Aberdeen to Banchory, through woodland and farmland to Kincardine O’Neil and then rejoins the old line from Aboyne to Ballater, total distance 41 miles. We are delighted to be able to offer comfortable accommodation at the end (or beginning) of the trail which is a great way to see Royal Deeside.
Balmoral Castle has been the Scottish home of the Royal Family since it was purchased for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852, having been first leased in 1848.
In the autumn of 1842, two and a half years after her marriage to Prince Albert, Queen Victoria paid her first visit to Scotland. They were so struck with the Highlands that they resolved to return. A further visit to Perthshire and then Ardverikie encouraged them to seize the opportunity to purchase Balmoral.
After searching enquiries they bought the estate on the 17th February 1848 and on 8th September 1848 they arrived to take possession of a property they had never seen, but to which they had committed themselves for many years to come. They were not disappointed and when they returned South they opened negotiations for the purchase of the land on which Balmoral stood.
Knock Castle is a ruined tower house in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland. It is typical of the traditional type of residence of a laird, a Scottish landed gentleman. Knock Castle is in Royal Deeside, about 1 mile west of the town of Ballater, and about 6 miles east of Balmoral. It sits on a knoll in a field on the south side of Craig of the Knock, a low hill at the entrance to Glen Muick. The castle is a category B listed building, and is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Knock Castle is the ancestral seat of Lady Krisztina de Varga of Knock.