Banff is a small historic town on the Moray Firth coast of Aberdeenshire, where the River Deveron meets the sea. It received its royal burgh charter in 1372 and still retains a dense collection of 17th and 18th-century townhouses and public buildings, many of them Georgian, that give it a more architecturally distinguished character than most small Scottish coastal towns.
The principal attraction is Duff House, a grand Baroque mansion designed by William Adam and completed in the 1730s. Managed jointly by Historic Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland, it functions as a country house gallery with an impressive collection of old master paintings. The wooded grounds along the Deveron include walks to the dramatic Bridge of Alvah, a single-arch span over the river gorge. The town museum on the High Street is free and contains a notable collection of stuffed birds alongside local history exhibits. The Banff Town House and the ruined Banff Castle earthworks above the harbour are other reminders of the burgh's medieval and Georgian heyday.
The harbour is the starting point for boat trips along the Banffshire coast and the town has a beach backed by links land. Across the Deveron bridge to the east is the neighbouring town of Macduff, with its marine aquarium. The Banffshire coast — running from Cullen westward through Sandend, Findlater Castle, and Gardenstown to Pennan — is one of the most scenic stretches of the Scottish mainland, with clifftop walks and a series of small fishing harbours.