demm42's WebPages - Tour around the Cairngorms

Aviemore is another different type of Scottish town. More commercialised than other towns mentioned on this tour, it caters for both the locals and tourists. This is reflected in the fact that two of the large supermarket groups both have large shops here (Tesco which can be seen in the photo and Morrisons/Safeway). A nice place to pick up a picnic before travelling into the country to eat it.

The mixture of shops that can be found here is a welcome change, from gift shops to outdoor shops (particularly aimed at the skiers again) to the essential shops that any town requires. This probably means that the town is buzzing all the year round. Certainly worth a stop and browse around. For those who fancy a bite to eat, there are a few take-aways/bakers and tearooms/cafes/restaurants to be found along the main street.

Aviemore is also the starting point of the Strathspey railway (as previously mentioned on Page 4) which travels up the River Spey valley through Boat of Garten to Broomhill known which some people may recognise as Glenbogle from the BBC TV Series "Monarch of the Glen". I believe most trains offer catering on route, so those who wish to dine while enjoying the ride can do so at their leisure. However, we didn't have the time for a ride (on the train) this visit.

Aviemore was also the place where we parked up for the day to enjoy a trip to Inverness (I intend to publish a page on Inverness in the near future). It had been about 8 years since wed last visited this lovely city, the capital of the highlands. The journey in on the train takes about 45 minutes, and is as picturesque as most of the railway routes in the region. It was also nice to let someone else do the driving, and at around £8 (2005 price) return off-peak for an adult, we didnt consider it overly expensive.

Other attractions close to Aviemore include the:

Craigellachie National Nature Reserve
Aviemore Ski Centre
Cairngorm Whisky Centre
Rothiemurchus & Loch an Eilein Visitor Centre (1 mile)
Glenmore Visitor Centre (4 miles)
Cairngorm Reindeer Centre (6 miles)
And of course the Cairngorm Chairlift, Funicular Railway and Ski centre. (8 miles)

We didnt have the time to visit any of these attractions (we were only here for 2 full days). However it's clear that we're going to have to come back because there is still plenty to see.

Aviemore to Dalwhinnie

There are a couple of routes down to the next couple of towns of Kingussie and Newtonmore. The first road (B970) takes you past Loch Insh and Ruthven Barracks (which has free admission according to one website at the time of writing. The same website says that it's worth a visit). The other road (B9152) runs alongside the A9 and passes the Highland Wildlife Park (another attraction we want to visit).

Kingussie and Newtonmore are another couple of small towns just off the A9 on the A86 Fort William road. While neither is particular large, both are worth a short stop.

Kingussie was founded in the late 18th Century by the Duke of Gordon, and was only a small hamlet at this time. More information can be found at http://www.kingussie.co.uk/, the community website.

Newtonmore has found fame as the central location for the "Monarch of the Glen" television series, as mentioned already in the Strathspey railway paragraph above. Once again, the community website can be referenced for more information (http://www.newtonmore.com).

The final village worth a mention is Dalwhinnie. At 1173 ft above sea level, it's the highest village in Scotland. It also home of the Dalwhinnie Distillery. Described as a full-bodied, smooth and warming malt whisky, tours of the distillery can be made all the year round, although being the highest distillery in Scotland as well, winter opening can be limited when the weather sets in.

Well that completes Page 5 of the tour. The final page of the tour can be found here.

All the pictures on this page were taken by myself.. Larger versions of the photos are available if you wish to use them for a project or web page yourselves. You are free to do this, but please mention this web page as the source for the photos. Thanks for your cooperation..