Golf in Aberdeenshire

North of the city of Aberdeen runs a magnificent, underrated stretch of dune golf. It is easy to reach — Aberdeen has its own airport with good connections — yet it sees a fraction of the crowds of St Andrews or Ayrshire, which is part of its appeal.

Royal Aberdeen — the Balgownie Links — is one of the oldest clubs in the world and a magnificent out-and-back links through a spectacular dune valley, with a front nine many rank among the best in Scotland. Right next door, Murcar Links shares the same tumbling duneland and is only a fraction behind — and far easier on the wallet. Playing the two back to back is one of the great value days in Scottish golf.

Half an hour further north, Cruden Bayis a wild, tumbling, gloriously eccentric links beneath the ruins of Slains Castle — one that inspired Bram Stoker — and a connoisseur's favourite full of blind shots and hidden greens no modern architect would dare build. Nearby, Trump International is a dramatic modern links routed through enormous dunes — spectacular, and never short of opinion.

Aberdeen itself is the natural base, close to Royal Aberdeen and Murcar and an easy drive up the coast to Cruden Bay and Trump International. Pair it with the Highlands to the west for Royal Dornoch and Nairn, or see the best courses in Scotland.

In Aberdeen, the Marcliffe Hotel & Spa in wooded grounds and the stylish Chester Hotel are the pick, both handy for Royal Aberdeen and Murcar. Up the coast, the Udny Arms at Newburgh sits beside the dunes near Trump International, and at Cruden Bay the Kilmarnock Arms — where Bram Stoker stayed while writing Dracula — puts you right by that gloriously eccentric links.

Aberdeen, the granite "Silver City", makes a comfortable base with a good maritime museum and plenty of restaurants. Don't miss Dunnottar Castle, the spectacular clifftop ruin just south at Stonehaven; inland lies Royal Deeside and Balmoral, the royal family's Highland home, amid beautiful hill country. Near Cruden Bay, the gaunt ruin of Slains Castle — said to have helped inspire Bram Stoker's Dracula — is a memorable clifftop walk, and the Speyside whisky trail is within reach to the west.