Moray Coast Cottages - Driftwood Cottage

Moray Coast Cottages (Driftwood Cottage

Dog Friendly Cottage in Portsoy, Aberdeenshire

We welcomed our first guests to Driftwood Cottage at the end of March 2019. Driftwood must be one of the prettiest cottages in Portsoy. It is often photographed, with it’s seaside theme and location all working in it’s favour!

For me, apart from the location, the garden is one of the biggest attractions! There are not one, not two, but 3 terraces, as you climb the hill behind the cottage, with the view improving from each one! There is a barbeque area, plenty of seating, even a fish pond, and at the top, a ‘sitooterie’ (a summer house!), where you can sit out, enjoy your G&T (or cup of tea!) and look out over the higgledy piggledy roof tops of the historic conservation area and beyond that, out to sea.

The cottage has a king size double bedroom, shower room, lounge and kitchen, all on the ground floor, with a low ceilinged twin room and children’s play area up some fairly narrow and steep stairs, so is suitable either for couples of those with young families. Of course, like all our cottages, we have good WiFi and your four legged friends are very welcome.

Portsoy is a welcoming small town, with a lot going on for it’s size. It has a fantastic sense of community, with the caravan park, the 4 star Salmon Bothy museum, the Sail Loft Bunkhouse and the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival (which celebrated it’s 30th anniversary this year!) all being run by the community for the community. It is centred around it’s 2 historic  seventeenth century harbours, the area little changed in years, used as the film setting for the recent remake of Whisky Galore and last series of Peaky Blinders. The fishing industry has largely moved on, but you can often see the town’s two St Ayles skiffs rowing out from the harbour (and you will often find me out with them!).

There are some fantastic walks round Portsoy, whether you walk westwards, past the old swimming pool carved out amongst the rocks, along the rugged coastline towards Sandend (pronounced ‘Sanine’) or further along to Findlater Castle, Sunnyside Beach and Cullen, or eastwards along the Coastguard’s path. There is the Shore Inn between the cottage and the harbours… and of course the award winning Portsoy Ice Cream shop.

The Banffshire coast is one of the world’s outstanding coastlines, says the National Geographic. Natural beauty combines with plentiful wildlife – there are dolphins, seals, puffins and other seabirds in abundance, if you are lucky enough to see them. Fishing villages all along the coast perch on clifftops, or crouch precariously at the water’s edge, with the oldest houses built gable-end on to the weather and the waves.

In the summer, the light up here is special, days are near endless. Winter skies are dark and starry and – with a bit of luck – you might even see the Northern Lights!

We hope you will visit Driftwood and discover this often overlooked, largely midge free corner of the North East of Scotland for yourselves!