A93

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A93

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From:

Aberdeen (NJ943060)

To:

Perth (NO123234)

Length:

110 miles (177 km)

Meets:

A956, A9013, A90, A957, A980, A97, A939, A924, A926, A923, A984, A94

Primary Destinations

Aberdeen • Perth •

Highways Authorities

Aberdeen • Aberdeenshire • Perth & Kinross

Traditional Counties

Aberdeenshire • Kincardineshire • Perthshire

Route outline (key)

A93	Aberdeen - Perth
(A989)	Perth Inner Ring Road
A93	Perth - Broxden

Introduction

110 miles long, certainly not the quickest way from Aberdeen to Perth, but it is one of the most scenic roads in Britain.

Route

Section 1: Aberdeen - Braemar

Starts in the centre of Aberdeen as Guild Street, at a light controlled junction with Market Street (A956) passing the bus and train stations before turning south onto College Street. Now going west again, meeting the A9013, where it becomes the Great Western Road. We meet Anderson drive the A90 Aberdeen Ring Road. The road now feels slightly more rural with the peaks of the Cairngorms in the background. The A93 now runs along the North Deeside road through Cults and Peterculter, passes the picturesque Drum Castle, we now follow the banks of the Dee deep into royal Deeside. We pick up the A957 from Stonehaven at Crathes before reaching Banchory. Banchory is an old town on the banks of the Dee, where we pass the Cairn O' Mount Road (B974) which takes you to the Falls of Feugh and Brig O' Dye. From here the A93 rises up round the Hill of Trustach, before dropping back down to the Dee valley through the old towns of Kincardine and Aboyne. From here the road, still running North of the Dee, is closely followed by the former course of the Deeside Railway which is now mostly a cycle path, however one section is being partly rebuilt by volunteers. At Dinnet Hotel the A97 turns off towards the Eastern edge of the Cairngorms, The road now runs through some forest, skirting to the south of Loch Kinord, and into Ballater, which is bypassed by the B972 and the A93 goes through (is there anywhere else where this happens?). At the royal bridge the road turns right, staying North of the Dee, past the main square. There are many place 'by royal appointment' due to its proximity to Balmoral and was a favoured place of Queen Victoria when she was on holiday. The A939 turns off and heads over the Lecht to Tomintoul, Grantown and Inverness. The road is now deep into the Cairngorms, at Crathie we meet the B976, which has followed us on the South side of the river since Banchory. This is the main turning for Balmoral Castle. At Invercauld Bridge we cross the River Dee, the river we've been following for over 50 miles for the first, and last time. Braemar is the next stop, which is where the road turns from west from Aberdeen to south to Perth.

Section 2: Braemar - Perth

Northbound from Spittal of Glenshee

Leaving Braemar the road runs through a steep sided U-shaped valley down Glen Clunie, here the road is pretty fast, but we soon reach Glenshee, the biggest ski resort in Scotland, with Ski-lifts and tows on either side of the road, 'The Sunnyside' on the East and 'The Cairnwell' on the West. Just after leaving Glenshee we reach one of the highest points on the UK road network at 2182ft, shortly after we come to the Devils elbow, which has caught many tired skiers out in the past although the sharp double bend has been removed, it is still a steep drop. From here we go down to Spittal of Glenshee, popular for ski hire. We meet the B951 from Kirriemuir at Cray and slightly further down, the B950. We run down a hill into Bridge of Cally where the A924 comes from Pitlochry. The section North of Blairgowrie has recently (2008) been improved, bypassing a traffic light controlled bridge and a tight and twisty section through the Craighall Gorge by taking the road further up the hillside.The road TOTSOs with the A924 in Rattray, across the River Ericht again and into Blairgowrie. The course of the road has been slightly altered via a new one-way system in the town. Between here and Perth the A93 runs through a more rural landscape, passing through Newbigging and meeting the A984 near Meikleour. There’s a few dangerous bends to the South of Guildtown. We pass Perth racecourse at Scone, and run into Perth along the North bank of the Tay. At the Traffic lights at the Isle of Skye Hotel we cross the Tay on Perth Bridge and becomes the Northern Leg of the Perth Ring. The A93 used to end on the Caledonian Road although this has been extended with the building of the Perth Bypass. It now runs along the former A9 along Glasgow road to the Broxden Roundabout.