How To Spend 3 Days In Angus – From The Mountains To The Sea

There aren’t many better places in Scotland for a short break than a few days in Angus. I might be a little biased since both my Mum and my fiance’s family live there, but that just means I know this region better than most. It’s easily accessible, has so much to offer, but somehow visiting Angus still feels like a hidden gem.

It’s somewhere that you can spend the morning in the mountains and the afternoon by the seaside. There’s nationally significant history, local cultural treats and wide open spaces to go for a walk in nature. This is the rundown for my recent three day trip to Angus, but you might find yourself wanting to stay for a whole week!

This article was written in partnership with Visit Angus but all words and opinons are my own

Where Is Angus?

It’s really easy to get to Angus, sitting on the east coast, nestled between Fife, Aberdeenshire and Perthshire. The A90 road goes right through the middle of the region, like a tree trunk with dozens of branches shooting off to the sides.

If we take Forfar as the centre, you can reach it from Edinburgh in 90 minutes or Glasgow in two hours. There is public transport available, but if you want to get the most out of your Angus adventure then I’d recommend access to a car. If the idea of driving makes you nervous, then this article on How To Drive In Scotland might help!

Day 1 – Begin In The Mountains

Visit The Glenesk Folk Museum

A lot of people don’t realise that you can get a taste for the Highlands without leaving Angus! The Highland Boundary Line passes right through the region, giving us the five Angus Glens. Each has their own character and you can enjoy peaceful walks or hike one of the Munros!

My first day in Angus took me along Glen Esk, the longest of the five and one that’s still full of life. The best place to find out about that life, both current and past, is at the Glenesk Folk Museum. Set up in the 1950s by Greta Michie, a teacher from the glen, it’s a real centre for the community.

Entry is by donation and you can spend a good couple of hours wandering around the museum. Room displays explain what life was once like in Glen Esk and tells the stories of real people from local history. There are collections of both everyday items and unusual ones, from swords to ostrich eggs! For 2025, a huge private collection of sporrans is on display upstairs.

The Folk Museum is a great place to grab some lunch or a coffee and plan the rest of your day exploring the glen. Don’t forget to look around the shop before you leave to pick up locally produced crafts! They even have the Scotland’s Stories book on sale…

Walk Out To Loch Lee

Enjoy the leisurely drive through the hills to the very end of Glen Esk, to the large car park by Lochlee Parish Church. I’m going to take you to one of my special places, somewhere I visit almost every time I take a trip to Angus. It’s a little bit of a walk, but not too far and the track is very well made.

It takes just a few minutes to reach the ruined shell of Invermark Castle. While it might not be obvious from the picture, this place is absolutely massive! First built in the 1300s and later improved, the towerhouse defends against the ghosts of Caterans. These armed bands would raid through the mountain passes, stealing cows and driving them back home to the north.

There’s no way to access Invermark, it was built for defence after all, so carry on walking along the track. Eventually, you’ll see the wide open expanse of Loch Lee, with one of my favourite churches on its banks. This is St Drostan’s and there’s been a church here for almost 1500 years!

You couldn’t find another spot as peaceful as this and it shows the Highland landscape of Angus perfectly. There are fascinating headstones in the tiny graveyard, protected from the lapping loch by an old stone wall. It’s somewhere to just sit exist, letting the history and the landscape wash over you. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy it as much as me!

Stroll Beside The Rocks Of Solitude

If you haven’t had your fill of nature yet, end the first day of your trip in Angus by heading through the mysterious Blue Door. Ok, so it’s not actually mysterious, but the Blue Door Walk is a pretty magical journey. The full walk instructions begin in Edzell, but I prefer to start at Gannochy Bridge and treat it as a “there and back” hike.

You’ll be following a trail high above the river, with lots of spots where you can descend closer to the water below. The view back to the bridge is a picturesque one and wandering through the trees is good for the soul. Keep your eyes open for red squirrels leaping between the trees and don’t worry, you can’t get lost!

Day 2 – Explore Forfar and Glen Isla

Climb To Forfar Castle

My second day began with a hidden spot right in the middle of a busy town. If you’ve been to Forfar before on a trip to Angus, you might be a little confused about visiting the castle. That’s because the region’s main town doesn’t actually have one! However, hundreds of years ago, Forfar had a very important castle and it’s worth climbing up to see where it was.

To get to Forfar Castle, pick the key up from Ali’s Newsagents and find the gate on Canmore Street, just across the road. I’d recommend locking the black gate behind you before trekking the short distance uphill. It doesn’t take long until you come out to a beautifully tended garden with a monument in the middle.

This isn’t part of the castle, it’s actually Forfar’s old mercat cross and steps lead up to fantastic 360 degree views from the top! You can see why this site was perfect for a defensive fortress, said to stretch back over 1300 years to the Pictish period. Right where you’re standing was the site of parliaments, sieges and untold drama until Robert the Bruce had it destroyed in the early 1300s!

Visit Restenneth Priory

The royal history of Forfar doesn’t end there and I love visiting Restenneth Priory on the outskirts of the town. Every year that I spend Christmas with my Mum in Forfar, I’ll take Molly the Labrador out here for a frosty morning walk. They aren’t the most sprawling of ruins, but good things come in small packages.

Restenneth is said to be built on the site of one of Scotland’s earliest stone churches, built by the Pictish King Nechtan with help from Northumbrian stonemasons. It’s unlikely that any of that building survives, but the Priory we see today was founded in the 1100s. It was never hugely wealthy, but it was important enough for the burial of Prince John in 1327, twin of King David II.

Murton Nature Reserve

After all that history, it’s time to get back out into nature on this trip to Angus and we don’t have to travel far. Just a few minutes from Restenneth Priory, the wide open space of Murton Nature Reserve beckons. It’s hard to believe that just 25 years ago, this was a working quarry!

Today, this space has been transformed into a thriving wetlands, packed full of wildlife and beauty.

It takes around an hour to walk the network of paths, but you can spend much longer stopping and watching for wildlife or investigating the different trees and wildflowers. The well made trail is suitable for all the family and I love the idea of their Ruckpack Ramble for kids. Hire a bag in advance full of things like binoculars, paper, crayons and wildlife guides to encourage the young ones to immerse themself in nature!

Admire The Reekie Linn

Heading back towards the mountains, our next stop is a very familiar one for me. The Reekie Linn is one of Scotland’s most impressive waterfalls, where the River Isla crashes into the gorge. This is right on the Highland Boundary Fault and it’s unbelievably majestic!

You have to be incredibly careful walking along the path here, the drop is steep and dangerous. All dogs should be on a lead, it just takes one stumble to have a tragic accident.

The reason it’s so familiar to me is that this is actually part of my future father-in-law’s farm! It means that I come to this part of Angus dozens of times every year and admire the Reekie Linn. The name means Smokey Pool, since the torrent of water throws up a fine spray like smoke from a fire!

Explore The Cateran Ecomuseum

My second day in Angus ended after I followed the River Isla upstream all the way to Kirkton of Glenisla. This is about as far west as the region extends and the small settlement here has been the heart of the local farming community for centuries. The easiest way to learn all about that is by following the self-guided tour by the Cateran Ecomuseum!

Unsurprisingly, it’s the church that made Kirkton of Glenisla so important. While the modern building is only a couple hundred years old, it stands beside the ancient holy Lady’s Well. Follow the trail over Brackny Bridge and up the nearby hill, learning stories from the past of cattle drovers, raiders and ancient inhabitants.

Day 3 – Take A Trip To The Angus Seaside

Begin With Arbroath Abbey

There are few places as important to Scottish history than Arbroath Abbey. It’s somewhere that doesn’t get nearly enough attention, but any trip to Angus should include this historic site. Founded in 1178 by William the Lion, that King of Scots is buried under a marked slab within the ruins. It was always important, but it was in 1320 that Arbroath really secured its place in the history books.

This was where the Declaration of Arbroath originated, known as the greatest surviving piece of Medieval prose. The declaration was a letter to the Pope from the Barons of Scotland, pleading for him to recognise Robert the Bruce as King of Scots and help end the War of Independence. The most stirring section reads:

“As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

The visitor centre at Arbroath Abbey tells the story perfectly, with interactive displays and a visual story of what the declaration really meant. It was a nationally significant event and this alone is worth a trip to Angus for anybody with an interest in Scottish history. Once you’ve finished with the centre, head out and wander amongst the ruins to awe in the sheer scale of the place!

Arbroath Heritage Trail

From the abbey, take yourself on a self-guided tour of the rest of Arbroath. Most people, myself included, would usually head straight down to the harbour and leave it at that. There’s a lot of hidden history in this ancient town though and the Arbroath Heritage Trail brings it to life.

You’ll be led to the Signal Tower Museum, built to communicate with the Bell Rock Lighthouse 11 miles offshore. If a lighthouse keeper had a child while out on the rock, a dress or trousers would be flown from the flagpole here so they knew if it was a girl or boy!

You’ll also come across the oldest house in Arbroath, built from recycled stone from the old abbey! Then down to the Fit o the Toon, the heart of the old fishing industry. This is where the famous Arbroath Smokie was brought to the town from nearby Auchmithie and still the best place to pick one up!

Enjoy Some Arbroath Smokies

You simply can’t visit Angus and not try an Arbroath Smokie. This local delicacy is protected by law and must be made by traditional means within 5 miles of Arbroath. Fresh haddock are gutted, split, salted and dried then hung in pairs inside a special barrel above a smoky wood fire.

They really are delicious, the flaky fish has a surprisingly sweet taste and as you can see below, Molly is a big fan. There are lots of other ways to enjoy them than fresh off the bone as well. Some of the shops sell smokie muffins and smokie pies, both are fantastic. I’d draw the line at Arbroath Smokie ice cream though…

The method of preparing smokies has probably been around for a long time, maybe even brought over by the Vikings. There is a more entertaining story that explains the origin of the fish dish in Auchmithie. Haddock had been tied in pairs and hung from the rafters inside a fishing cottage when a fire broke out. The cottage was burned to the ground, but the smoked fish was retrieved from the ashes and the smokie had been born!

Eat At The Old Boathouse

If you’re looking for a slightly fancier way to sample Arbroath Smokies then try the Old Boathouse Restaurant! There are non-fish options as well, but you don’t come to an old boathouse unless you’re looking for seafood. Out of all the Smokie related options, I settled for the pancakes with a cream sauce and wasn’t disappointed!

Where To Stay For Your Angus Trip?

On this trip to Angus, I spent two nights in the Glenesk Hotel in Edzell. It has the feeling of a Victorian shooting lodge out in the hills, although in reality it’s on the edge of a bustling village. There was a spa although I didn’t get a chance to try it out, but I was far more interested in the enormous whisky collection anyway!

Even if you aren’t staying at the hotel, I’d highly recommend booking in for dinner in the restaurant. It serves traditional Scottish food at it’s very best, proving how good our dishes can be. I couldn’t fault any of it, but I’d especially recommend either the Cullen Skink or Scallops to start with Venison for a main!

Planning To Spend A Few Days In Angus?

Let me know if I’ve managed to convince you to spend a few days in Angus! Have you visited any of these places yourself or are there some new ideas in here for you to try? As always, I want to hear how you get on and how useful you find these posts, so leave me a comment below!