Portsoy is a small fishing village on the Moray Firth coast of Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland. It has two natural harbours, the older of which dates from the 17th century and is one of the best-preserved of its kind in Scotland. The village was once known for its distinctive green and purple marble — Portsoy marble was exported to Versailles in the 17th century for the fireplaces of Louis XIV, a fact the locals mention with some pride.
The town is compact and attractive, with old stone buildings clustered around the harbour and a pleasant shoreline. The beach beside the caravan site is fine for a swim, but three miles west at the village of Sandend there is a longer and more dramatic stretch of sand, largely unknown to tourists and popular with locals on warm days.
The highlight of the year is the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, held on a weekend in July. Around 10,000 visitors descend on the harbour for demonstrations of traditional boat-building, races, music, and general maritime festivity. Outside of festival season, Portsoy is quiet and genuine — a working coastal community rather than a tourist construct.