Discover Ellon

Ellon offers a range of options to consider when planning your trip: a guided beer tasting, paths along the River Ythan and cultural and historical attractions. If you’re looking for a hotel, you can consider whether your stay will focus more on a tasting, cycling or historic sites. Details about the scope, route lengths and history make it easier to compare these options.

Beer tasting and brewery tour

The Beer School at DogTap Ellon offers a guided beer tasting with five glasses, each a third of a pint, served with a cheese board. This is a clearly defined format for planning your trip. Booking details may change, so check them in advance.

BrewDog offers 1.5-hour brewery tours in Aberdeenshire, exploring the brewhouse and a beer museum. Compared with the Beer School at DogTap Ellon, this is a different format: the tour focuses on the brewery and museum, while the Beer School focuses on tasting with a cheese board. Tour schedules may change, so check the dates before planning your trip.

Cycling routes and walks

The 2.8-mile cycling route starts in Ellon town centre and heads west along a shared path beside the River Ythan. The starting point, direction and type of path provide specific guidance for planning the ride. The route can therefore be described by more than just its length: its riverside course and shared path are also part of the description.

The Formartine and Buchan Way includes a five-mile section between Udny Station and Ellon. This answers a different planning question from the 2.8-mile cycling route: it describes a section by its endpoints, while the cycling route is described by its start in the town centre and its westward course beside the River Ythan. The length and locations help put the different route details into context.

The art trail on the Formartine and Buchan Way features eleven corten steel signs bearing lines from the Doric poem “Fit Wye”. In this way, the trail combines a specific literary theme with its artistic design; the number of signs and their material give this section of the trail its own character.

The Ellon Circular Walk starts at the River Ythan and explores Ellon’s main historical and natural history attractions. Its focus differs from that of the cycling route: here, history and nature take centre stage. When choosing a route, you can therefore consider not only its length and course, but also whether you’d prefer a cycling route or a walk focused on history and natural history.

Ellon’s history

Ellon Castle Park preserves a remarkably complete early 18th-century layout. The park wall was largely rebuilt in the 1850s. The park therefore offers a look at both its older layout and a later phase in the wall’s construction.

Ellon Castle Gardens include the ruins of a 15th-century castle. Together with the layout of Castle Park, the castle ruins provide another historical point of interest in Ellon. The dates distinguish these features chronologically: the ruins date from the 15th century, the park layout from the early 18th century, and the park wall was largely rebuilt later, in the 1850s.

If you’re looking for a hotel in Ellon, your reason for travelling can be a practical starting point: the activities and historic sites mentioned offer different focal points for your stay.

Discover more destinations: Tyrie, Milltimber, Dinnet, Marykirk, Gourdon, Whitehills, Fordyce, Ballater

For the regional travel overview: Aberdeenshire.