Wester Bonnyton Farm

Best be packing those binoculars for a trip to these parts: you may well need them on hand around the site, and they’ll certainly come into their own on the boat trips that leave Macduff harbour to scout for puffins, seals and dolphins. You can, however, safely leave them behind when getting up close to the residents of the Macduff Marine Aquarium (five minutes’ drive) or the Scottish Dolphin Centre, 45 minutes away in Moray. Imagine life as a Scots laird on a visit to a historic Duff House (10 minutes’ drive) or board your carriage for a drive of 20 minutes to Delgatie Castle, where there’s a fab trout fishery in the wooded grounds. More castle action? Try Fyvie (half an hour) for artworks, Huntly (40 minutes) for atmospheric ruins, or Crathes (an hour and 15 minutes) which has a Go Ape adventure course. A bit more activity? Golfers can take their clubs for a round at the highly scenic Royal Tarlair Golf Club (five minutes) while apprentice surfers can learn skills at the surf school in Sandend (25 minutes). Quite enough of all that dashing about? Perhaps time for a whisky at Macduff Distillery or one of the many others within an hour’s drive.