The Local Area

Archiestown

Archiestown is located in the county of Moray (pronounced “Murray”), in the north east of Scotland. It lies approx. 6 miles west of the town of Aberlour. It is 50 miles north-west of the major city of Aberdeen (approx. 1 hour 15 mins drive) and 44 miles east of the city of Inverness (approx. 1 hour 9 mins drive)

Archiestown is a small friendly community with around 250 residents in the village and the surrounding area. The village may be small but has some good facilities, these include a Village Shop and Post Office, children’s play park area which includes a football pitch and pavilion. The village also has a boutique hotel, ‘Hotel 1881’ with the fantastic Restaurant 88, and Archies Bar, both open to the public, only a few short steps from the doorstep of the Croft. The Hotel 1881 is open Tuesday through to Saturday night, serving lunch and evening meals with no booking necessary for Archies Bar.

Village Shopping

The Village Shop & Post Office - is located half way down the High Street and is clearly signposted. The small shop is stocked with handy essential items and can be found in the back of a house and is run by Doreen between the following times:

Mon - Wed 8am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8am - 1pm
Friday 8am - 4:30pm
Saturday 8am - 12:30pm
Sunday 9am - 12noon

Ice Cream - If you are here on a Saturday afternoon, during the spring and summer months, listen out for the enticing tuneful melody of the visiting Ice Cream van – Miss Whippy. She will stop on the village green directly opposite the Croft anytime between 1 – 3pm

Big Blue Mobile Pantry – Is a mobile pantry shop, selling donated surplus food products, aiming to reduce food waste and alleviate the soaring cost of shopping for the Moray community. The pantry has a total of 27 stops on eight routes and operates Monday to Thursday and is open to everybody. The pantry does require a free membership but is available to everyone and charges users £2.50 per visit. It operates a fortnightly rota to serve all corners of Moray, focusing on rural areas. Details of where the pantry stops can be found on their Facebook Page. Typically the pantry will visit Archiestown every second Thursday at 10am and can they can be found parked in the Village Square.

Elchies Farm & Speyside Food Market

Turning left on to the High Street, only a leisurely 20min walk, or 2-minute drive, outside of the village is Elchies Farm, with the fantastic Speyside Food Market. Here you’ll find Boer goat and Ryland sheep feeding in the fields along with Harold, Rambo and Roy the resident Alpacas. Speyside Food Market is fully automated selling local produce in self-service lockers and is open 24-hours a day. The Farm Shop has a ‘Fuuse’ EV charging point and for the more athletic visitor there is a Bike Pump and Repair Station. If you wish to chill and relax, there is also a great coffee machine offering a wide range of hot drinks to be savoured at the indoor or outdoor seating areas where you can watch the world go by or be captivated by the goats on ‘Goat Cam’. This is definitely worth popping in. Even better, you can book a farm tour and even cuddle the goats and sheep, take a look at the Elchies website for more information on the tours available.

If you are really lucky you may get to meet the award-winning farmers Jules & Brian, they will give you a very warm welcome and if they have time, they will enjoy a coffee and a chat with you.

Aberlour Shopping

For a more substantial shop visit the local town of Aberlour, a short 10 min drive from the Croft, or you can take the footpath walk through the woods arriving on the banks of the River Spey, then a walk over the beautiful Victoria Bridge over the Spey also known as the Penny Bridge to Aberlour. The walk will take approx. 1 hour, the walk down is fairly steep and may be challenging on the way back up (you have been warned).

Aberlour is a pretty village that offers a variety of shops, ranging from a convenience store (Cooperative Supermarket), gift shops, pubs, takeaways, cafés, eateries, pharmacy and much more. Aberlour is the home to the world famous Walkers Shortbread, and the shop in the village high street is well worth a visit. A must see for the walkers amongst you is a trip to Linn Falls. The falls are clearly sign posted from the end of the high street across the road from the cemetery. The walk is approx. 3km / 1.75 miles and will take about an hour, and the view at the falls is worth the walk. Take a look in our gallery!