Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The House of Dun
Four miles west of Montrose off the A935 • Late March-June & Sept-Oct Wed-Sun noon-5pm; July & Aug daily 11am-5pm; last admission
45min before closing • £10; NTS • Accessible on the hourly Montrose-Brechin bus service (#30); ask the driver to let you off outside
Across the Basin, four miles west of Montrose, is the Palladian
House of Dun
. Built in
1730 for David Erskine, Laird of Dun, to designs by William Adam, the house was
opened to the public in 1989 after extensive restoration, and is crammed full of period
furniture and objets d'art. Inside, the ornate relief plasterwork is the most impressive
feature, extravagantly emblazoned with Jacobite symbolism. he buildings in the
courtyard - a hen house, gamekeeper's workshop and potting shed - have all been
renovated, and include a tearoom and a craft shop.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
10
MONTROSE AND AROUND
By train
The town's train station is by the Basin's edge, a
block back from the High Street on Western Road.
Destinations
Aberdeen (1-2 per hour; 45min); Arbroath
(every 30min; 15min); Dundee (every 30min; 30min);
Stonehaven (1-2 per hour; 25min).
By bus
Most buses stop on the High Street, close to
Lloyds
Pharmacy
, or at the railway station.
Destinations
Aberdeen (hourly; 1hr 20min); Brechin (for
the House of Dun; hourly; 20min); Dundee (every 30min;
25min); Stonehaven (every 30min; 50min).
ACCOMMODATION
36 The Mall
The Mall, in the north of town
T
01674 673464
W
36themall.co.uk.
Attractive B&B
accommodation with en-suite facilities in every room.
The brea
kfast
menu includes fish smoked in nearby
Arbroath.
£80
The Haven
8 Lower Hall Street
T
01674 677741
W
thehaven-montrose.co.uk.
Near the centre and with
welcoming, helpful owners, the gay-friendly
Haven
offers
good-value singles and doubles in a clean, t
hree
-storey
house, and is particularly popular with cyclists.
£60
EATING AND DRINKING
Roos Leap
2 Trail Drive, by the golf club
T
01674
672157,
W
roosleap.com.
The liveliest (though hardly
cosiest) place in Montrose is this sports bar and restaurant
offering burgers, steaks and sandwiches from £6.75.
Mon-Fri noon-2.30pm & 5-9.30pm, Sat & Sun
noon-9.30pm.
Strathmore and the Angus glens
Immediately north of Dundee, the low-lying Sidlaw Hills divide the city from the
rich agricultural region of
STRATHMORE
, whose string of tidy market towns lies on a
fertile strip along the southernmost edge of the heather-covered lower slopes of the
Grampian Mountains. hese towns act as gateways to the tranquil
ANGUS GLENS
,
offering some of the most rugged and majestic landscapes in northeast Scotland.
Glen Clova
in particular is well and truly on the tourist circuit, with the rolling
hills and dales attracting hikers, birdwatchers and botanists in the summer,
grouse shooters and deer-hunters in autumn, and winter skiers who pray for a
bountiful snowfall.
GETTING AROUND
STRATHMORE AND THE ANGUS GLENS
By car
The most useful road through the glens is the A93,
which cuts through Glen Shee, linking Blairgowrie to
Braemar on Deeside (see p.379). It's pretty dramatic stuff,
threading its way over Britain's highest main road, the
Cairnwell Pass (2199ft). Public transport in the region is
extremely limited.
Brechin
Eight miles west of Montrose,
BRECHIN
is an attractive town whose red-sandstone
buildings give it a warm, welcoming feel. he chief attraction is the old
cathedral
,
a building that's emboldened some (including the local football team) to proudly
describe Brechin - in line with the historic definition - as a fully fledged city.
