There are various historic Castle visits from Aspenwood Cottage. Some show the scars of many battles, some have magnificent gardens but they all tell a fascinating tale of times gone by.

Urquhart Castle was built in a very prominent position surrounded on three sides by Loch Ness and is clearly visible on the opposite shore from Aspenwood. A new visitors centre opened Summer 2002. It was built sympathetically into the hillside below the main road and offers much better parking as well as a spacious shop, cafe, audio-visual displays and a superb model showing the castle in earlier, less ruinous days. The highest part of the castle is the upper bailey, commanding extensive views down the loch. More than once during its troubled history the castle held out because it could be resupplied by ship. A good informative visit.

Eilean Donan Castle is on the road to Skye. Walk across the causeway to the castle which was built on an island on Loch Duich. For the best part of 200 years, the stark ruins of Eilean Donan lay neglected and abandoned until Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap bought the island in 1911. He dedicated the next 20 years of his life to the reconstruction of Eilean Donan, restoring her to her former glory. The castle was rebuilt according to the surviving ground plan of earlier phases and was formally completed in the July of 1932.

Cawdor Castle is about 30 miles away and open to the public from June to October. It is famous for its literary connection to Shakespeare's tragedy of 'Macbeth' who was promised by the three witches that one day he would become 'Thane of Cawdor'. An interesting visit inside and beautiful gardens during the summer months. Set in wooded grounds, the present buildings date from the early 14th century and was built as a private fortress by the Thanes of Cawdor. The old drawbridge over the defensive ditch now takes tourists into the central square tower. The ancient medieval tower was built around the legendary holly-tree.  Parts of the castle are still lived in today.

Dunrobin Castle is well worth a visit. Travel about 73 miles along the east coast to just beyond the village of Golspie which takes an hour and a half. Dunrobin is an enormous castle with beautiful gardens.  Watch a fascinating falconry display in the castle gardens every afternoon. View the birds of prey at close hand in their pens. Seat of the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland, this beautiful castle with a French influence sits looking out across the North Sea and is well worth a visit. With 189 rooms, it is the largest house in the Northern Highlands. Parts of it date back to the 1300's Collections of art and and family memorabilia on display.

A scenic journey up the east coast to the Castle of Mey is a good day out. This was a favourite Summer retreat of the late Queen Mother and you can almost sense her presence there still. One of the smaller royal homes, it is situated on the most northerly coast of mainland Scotland and has superb views over to the island of Orkney and the Pentland Firth. A short drive from the Castle of Mey are the sheer cliffs of Dunnet Head the most northerly point of mainland Britain - and not the more famous John o' Groats as is widely thought.  A picnic on the cliff tops watching the teeming bird life in the sea breeze is great fun.

Brodie Castle just off the A96 on the way to Nairn and dates from 1567, It is a classic Z-shaped Scottish tower house set in lovely grounds with masses of different varieties of daffodils in Spring. Although it is now the property of the National Trust for Scotland, the present Earl of Brodie still lives here. It houses an outstanding collection of fine French furniture, porcelain and an excellent painting collection. Stop nearby at the Brodie Countryfare for restaurants, food hall and quality gift shops.