A scenic two-mile walk from the house through the late 1700s carriage drives and walks by the River Deveron, past the Duff ice house and the neo-Gothic mausoleum, to the Bridge of Alvah. Outdoors; HES does not say a ticket is needed.
About
Duff House, on the southern side of Banff beside the River Deveron, is William Adam's baroque mansion, begun in 1735 for William Duff, Lord Braco, later 1st Earl Fife, with carved detail made in Adam's own stoneworks at Queensferry and shipped north. Work stopped in 1741 with the interior unfinished; client and architect fell out over money in a five-year court case, and Lord Braco never slept a night in the house. Since 1995 it has been a country house gallery, run by Historic Scotland with the National Galleries of Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council, showing paintings by El Greco, Gainsborough, Raeburn and Ramsay among furniture, china and a library of more than 4,000 books. Its later lives as a hotel, a sanatorium, a wartime internment camp and a base for Norwegian and Polish soldiers are told too. Visitors praise the introductory film and the guides on each floor, then walk two miles through the grounds past the ice house and mausoleum to the Bridge of Alvah.
Check today’s timesPick a day for times and prices
- Until 24 Dec
- Fri 10:00–12:15, last entry 11:45; Weekends 10:00–15:00, last entry 14:30
- 25 Dec–7 Jan
- Closed
- 8 Jan–31 Mar
- Fri 10:00–12:15, last entry 11:45; Weekends 10:00–15:00, last entry 14:30
Later dates are in the calendar.
Today, Saturday 24 October
- Duff House10:00 – 15:00last entry 14:30
Prices, non-members
| Ticket | On the day | Online |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | £11.00 | £10.00 |
| Concession | £9.00 | £8.00 |
| Child | £5.50 | £5.00 |
Opening times may change at short notice.
1 April to 30 September Thursday to Sunday 10am to 4.30pm; 1 October to 31 March Friday 10am to 12.15pm (limited access, excluding the galleries), Saturday and Sunday 10am to 3pm; closed Monday to Wednesday all year and Thursday in winter; lunch closure 12.15pm to 1pm; last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed 21 December to 7 January. Historic Scotland notices on 18 October 2026: 'Duff House is closed today (Friday 16 October) and on Friday 23 October. It will be open on Sunday 18 October for guided tours only.' 'Please note that tickets for Duff House are available to purchase on-site only in October 2026.'
Visitors enter on the ground floor; steps down to the shop can be avoided by a side door, two wheelchairs can be borrowed, and a lift reaches all upper levels; a gravel drive surrounds the house and the lawns beyond are accessible but soft. Accessible toilet (Euan's Guide, linked by Historic Scotland); shop; no cafe, with food in Banff within walking distance. An introductory film opens the visit.
Photo: Duff House's baroque front with its pediment, corner towers and double horseshoe stair, seen from the gravel drive. Markus Trienke, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duff_House_(43272972064).jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Walking routes1 route
