Scotland's royal retreat, Balmoral boasts grand gardens and a stunning Baronial-style castle. Purchased by Queen Victoria in 1852, it's a cherished sanctuary for the royals and a glimpse into their Scottish life.
ATS Heritage won this project based on its innovative tender for an audio tour of Balmoral, the late Queen’s private residence in Scotland.
Whilst guiding the visitors around the grounds is straightforward, it was a highly challenging and sensitive task to provide information where access to the Castle itself is restricted to one room.
This was a complex production as it required lots of interviews with staff to allow the visitor to become ‘intimate’ with the Castle. We wanted visitors to understand that although it is the King’s home, it is a working estate with all of the challenges and responsibilities that this entailed.
We therefore minimise references to the present Royal Family and focus more on Balmoral as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s home.
Together with the Estate Managers, ATS decided to offer an insight into the real workings of the Estate and tell the stories of the Castle’s most famous residents and visitors. We achieved this by bringing to life such characters as Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Gladstone, the Tsar of Russia and, to a greater extent, by letting staff from the Estate and the Royal Household have a voice on the tour.
The tour is multilingual and is also available as an App.
TripAdvisor August 2023: Get the excellent audio guide if you want more than a cursory idea of what you're looking at
TripAdvisor May 2023: The audio tour gives you rich and helpful insight into points of interest around the grounds and there are additional walks you can do alongside the river or in the woodlands.
TripAdvisor April 2023: The audio tour that accompanied us on the walk was excellent at providing details of the royal family and the heritage of the castle.
