On the north-east corner of Scotland, this is one of Scotland's largest counties. Politically, the City of Aberdeen is now a separate entity but as "political" boundaries change so much, YesScotland has decided to use the ancient counties as the basis for its geography! The things to note about Aberdeenshire include the natural environment of mountains, famous salmon rivers and superb agriculture (and its colloquial language "Doric" with a touch of old Scots); fishing from the many ports around the coast, now sadly declining due to fish stocks and European Union legislation; history, there being more castles in Aberdeenshire than in any other county of Scotland; whisky, as together with Banff and Moray, this is whisky country with many fine malt whisky distilleries many of which are open to the public; and, last but by no means least, Royalty, Aberdeenshire being the home of Royal Deeside with Balmoral being the summer home of the Queen. Access to the area is straightfor ... < more >