Portsoy is a fishing village 8 miles west of Banff on the north coast of Aberdeenshire in North East Scotland. It has a picturesque harbour often used as a film and TV location, such as the 2016 remake of Whisky Galore!
Get in
Stagecoach Bus 35 runs hourly from Aberdeen to Portsoy, taking 2 hours 20 min, and continuing to Elgin.
Get around
57°40′55″N 2°41′34″W
Map of PortsoySee
Portsoy Harbour
- 17th-century "Old" Harbour & 18th-century "New" Harbour.
- 1 Findlater Castle. Ruins of a 14th-century castle, sitting above the cliffs.
Do
- Scottish Traditional Boat Festival. Late June. The next is on 26-27 June 2021.
Buy
- Local jewellery made from "Portsoy marble" (which is not marble, but rather serpentine).
- Locally milled oatmeal which is sold around the world.
- A pottery whose ceramics are noted for their delicate colouring, located at "Portsoy Marble" at the Old Harbour area.
Eat
- Portsoy Ice Cream sells home made ice cream, widely known for its wide choice of flavours, as well as many other grocery goods.
- Beggars Belief Coffee Cove, on the harbour, is a coffee shop selling local crafts with exclusive evening dining bistro two nights a week.
Drink
The town has three public houses.
- Station Hotel, Seafield Street.
- 1 The Shore Inn, 49 Church St, AB45 2QR. Su-W 11AM-11PM, Th 11AM-noon, F Sa 11AM-1AM; meals (not Tu) noon-4PM, 5-9PM. bar and restaurant. mains around £15.
- 2 The Boyne Hotel.
- 3 Glenglassaugh distillery. May-Sep daily: 10AM-4:30PM; Oct-Apr: M-F 10AM-4:30PM. Whisky distillery which was built in 1875, but ceased production in 1986. The distillery was refurbished and restarted in 2008. tours from £5.
Sleep
- 1 Station Hotel, 22 Seafield St, ☏ 44 1261 842327.
- 2 Durn House, Durn Rd, ☏ 44 1261 843424.
Connect
As of Dec 2020, you can get 4G with Vodafone and 3G with Three, but there's no signal from EE or O2.
Go next
- West to Lossiemouth and Elgin
- East to Banff, Gardenstown and Fraserburgh
- South to Huntly