A car opens up most of northeastern Scotland from Banff. South down the A947 you reach Aberdeen in about an hour. East along the coast lie the fishing towns of Macduff, Gardenstown, Pennan, and Fraserburgh — the latter with its huge harbour and the unusual Museum of Scottish Lighthouses. West along the A98 takes you through the painted-house fishing village of Cullen (and its famous Cullen Skink soup), past the ruined clifftop Findlater Castle, on to Buckie and then Elgin with its ruined cathedral.
Inland to the south is Speyside, the densest concentration of whisky distilleries in Scotland — Glenfiddich, Glen Grant, Strathisla, and dozens of others all lie within an hour's drive.
