Balmoral Castle
We went to Balmoral in April 2010 with Reg, Margaret and Rebecca when they visited us for a week, from the gatehouse there is a ride in on a tractor and trailer dropping us off at the stables.
Though some stables remain, many are used by artists to display their work during the tourist season
We take a good look around before opting to buy nothing and move on, as seems to be the way with the majority of people in art galleries.
From here it is a visit to the cafe and usual facilities before heading up the driveway to the castle
Around to the left we go, following the signed route
Down the side of the castle there is a short scaffold protecting some garden work
Still no sign of an entrance as we wander around looking at the gardens and grounds
The tourist entrance is around the back (as would be expected I suppose) and only a few rooms are viewable which is disappointing but you do get to see some pretty cool stuff including a video of the royal family enjoying Balmoral without press intrusion, it is very relaxed and shows a different side to the royals that is not reflected in press coverage.
We walked through the woodland around the castle too and to complete a nice day out Reg and Margaret bought me a gift as we left, a beautiful wristwatch with the face made from an old 1920's English penny.