Lots to Do Ballater is an excellent base and is popular for all sorts of activities including golf, skiing, gliding, swimming, shooting and fishing , walking, climbing, nature and historical study, general rest and recuperation. Eating and drinking are an experience due to the remarkably high number of awards won by local hotels , restaurants and shops. Location and Climate Ballater is blessed with a magnificent, unspoiled, location on Royal Deeside in the North East Highlands of Scotland, with spectacular scenery, relaxed ambience, friendly people and forest-scented air that you just seem to drink in. Sheltered by the Cairngorm Mountains , Ballater generally has a very pleasant climate in Summer punctuated by picture-postcard snowy Winters. In their Autumn colours the local forests are beautiful.
Spring sees flowers and animal life emerging.
So, anytime is a good time to visit, recognised by the people who turn up throughout the year. Origins A holiday destination for over 150 years, Ballater developed with the 19th Century fashion for Spa towns. Today, the original Pannanich Wells still produces bottled spring water which is sold locally and internationally. Ballater was further boosted as the area of the Scottish Highlands that Queen Victoria fell in love with. She chose to make her summer residence at nearby Balmoral .