Crathes Castle

Enjoyable visit to the castle and gardens. We also enjoyed lunch in the cafe. The walled gardens were lovely and largely accessible. Most of the castle was not accessible, just the ground floor. The staff present had not used the ramp previously and the door mats presented a serious hazard. The mat under the ramp moved with my chair on it leaving a gap between the door and ramp. The inner mat became wrapped around my wheels. Fixed mats would be better. A previous review states that there is a video of the upper floors but this was not offered. Signs to indicate where to turn around on the ground floor would be useful. The accessible toilet was very small and turning a chair to get a wheelchair in was very difficult. This was made more challenging as there was a step at the door to go out so there was no option but to turn round in a tight space. Space between tables in the cafe was very tight and I disrupted a number of people trying to get to a table. There are tables inside and outside that are accessible. Overall we had an enjoyable visit which could have been improved with more attention given to accessibility and information about access.

I've visited Crathes Castle many times before my accessibility issues and it really is a gem, if you have the ability to climb castle stairs. For those in wheelchairs, we are inevitably restricted to the ground floor of the tower. The lower areas of gardens, however, have a level access through a new, small wooden pavilion. During the summer they are a great, colourful place to spend time, with views of the castle as a backdrop. If you have a blue badge, drive past the car park and follow the disabled parking signs up the hill. Oh, yes the hill! While in my able-bodied days, I hardly noticed there was a hill, in a manual chair you, or your attendant will soon notice that the hill up from the castle to the ticket desk and café seems to be steeper than I remember! The disabled toilet is in the spacious cafe area. It's good, with the minor caveat that there is only one and the corridor is rather tight for any queuing space! Outside the airy cafe is an open air seating area, which, unfortunately, has gravel paths which the small wheels on my chair struggle to cope with.

The paths are mainly gravel, extremely steep and feature potholes. The path from the bus stop is also awful, resulting in me wheeling down a road for 20 minutes. The staff were lovely and gave me good and helpful information on the accessibility once I arrived, but I was unable to independently navigate the entire area and I'm an active manual wheelchair user with good upper body and core strength. The cafe is lovely and has the accessible toilet but unfortunately the paths to access it are all steep, uneven and risky for wheelchair users.