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Stunning, isn’t it? (And, yes: just like almost every other castle in Scotland, it was totally used as an Outlander filming location, just in case you’re wondering: these gardens doubled as the Palace of Versailles in Season 2…)

We visited on one of those typically Scottish days where the weather basically just cycled through all four seasons in the space of about 20 minutes, before beginning the loop again. It was freezing. It was pleasantly warm. It poured with rain. It was super-sunny. It was a good job I’d packed for our stay in Crieff by basically just throwing all of my clothes – and all Max’s – into the back of the car, and hoping I’d covered more or less every eventuality, then, huh? Never change, Scotland, never change… (By which I obviously mean, YES, PLEASE CHANGE, FFS: I AM RUNNING OUT OF CLOTHES, HERE…)

Now, as the name suggests, Drummond Castle Gardens isn’t just about the gardens: there’s also a castle attached – and it’s a pretty nice one, too:

Beautiful though it is, however, the castle isn’t actually open to the public, so while you do get to see the exterior of the buildings close-up, as you walk through the courtyard to get to the steps leading down to the gardens, it’s the gardens themselves that are the main attraction here: in fact, they’re frequently referred to as one of the best examples of formal terraced gardens in Scotland (if not Europe), and even although we didn’t quite get to see them at their best, due to the weather, and some restoration work being done right in the middle of the grounds, the view when you turn the corner and find yourself standing at the top of those stairs is really quite breathtaking. (The walk back UP the stairs,  meanwhile, is LITERALLY breathtaking – especially if you’re carrying a toddler and/or his pushchair at the time…)

The castle and grounds here have a very similar layout to Dunrobin Castle, in the far north of Scotland, which we visited earlier this year: both have impressive flights of stone steps, leading down to beautiful ornamental gardens, and, just to drive the comparison home, our visits to both gardens were plagued by sudden heavy rainfalls, which forced us to run for cover, to avoid getting soaked. At Dunrobin, we sheltered in a little stone-built cavern built into the garden walls: at Drummond, however, we made it to the glass houses just as the rain came on, which was a little bit more pleasant:

Unfortunately for us, the other similarity between our trips to these two castles was that they were both all too short: in this case, the crazy weather and Max’s nap schedule forced us home again a bit sooner than we’d have liked. Not, however, before Terry managed to grab some footage for a quick video: this one also includes some shots of our lodge at the beautiful Highland Heather Lodges (Which I reviewed here…), so if you’re looking for things to do in Crieff, or somewhere to stay in the area, sit back and take a look…

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