The lovely stone village (solid granite houses) at the junction of the rivers Clunie and Dee is a wonderful place to relax or, for the more ambitious, to tackle hill trails abounding in the area – within a short distance of Braemar there are twenty hills with peaks over 3000 feet.

But Braemar is probably best known for its annual Braemar Gathering, the Highland Games at their best. The Braemar Games were established in 1832 and received royal approval from Queen Victoria in 1848. The royal family continues to attend every year – Queen Elizabeth is the patron of the games.

While there have been Gatherings of one sort or another at Braemar since the days of King Malcolm Canmore (nine hundred years ago), the Gathering as we know it has been organized by the Braemar Royal Highland Society for only 185 years. During much of that time, large crowds have come each year to acclaim their Monarch as Chieftain of the Braemar Gathering.