Braemar Castle is a compact 17th-century tower house near the eastern edge of the Cairngorms. Built as a hunting lodge in 1628, damaged after the Jacobite risings, and later reshaped for polite Victorian visits, it packs a lot of Highland history into a small site.
The castle's five-storey L-plan tower sits inside a distinctive star-shaped curtain wall. It is an easy cultural stop between walks, mountain roads, and the village of Braemar.