Craigievar Castle

Craigievar Castle is the pink tower house on an Aberdeenshire hillside said to have inspired Walt Disney's Cinderella castle. It was finished in 1626 by William Forbes, the merchant known as Danzig Willie, and its harled walls, corbelled turrets and cluster of chimneys have barely changed since. The Forbes and Forbes-Sempill families lived here until 1963, so Jacobean plaster ceilings and pine panelling sit with a quirky mix of later furniture, armour and portraits, reached by two spiral stairs, one of them secret. The National Trust for Scotland opens the castle by guided tour only, in groups of ten on a first-come basis, and the grounds have a woodland trail and a kiosk. Reviewers praise the guides and suggest pairing it with Crathes and Drum nearby. Tips from regulars: arrive early and put your name down for a tour before wandering the grounds; ignore sat navs that send you up the south drive and use the signposted entrance off the A980; and the spiral stairs are steep and narrow.