demm42's WebPages - Tour around the Cairngorms

The final stretch of the tour takes us from Dalwhinnie back to Pitlochry and involves driving along one of the most remote, but beautiful stretches of the A9 Perth Inverness road.

There is a small picnic area just north of Dalwhinnie which has toilets and is a lovely place to stop for a short while before you start the long remote drive down to Blair Atholl.

Pizza in the Park (Blair Atholl) Blair Atholl is a village about 5 miles north of Pitlochry whose main occupant appears to be the Blair Castle Caravan Park, a nice looking caravan park which has ponds (with ducks who never go hungry) at the entrance giving a nice feel to the place.

When we visited, the public toilets at the top end of the village looked as though they hadnt been cleaned since the last summer season. However, just across the road from the caravan park by the visitor centre/river is a café/take away which also has toilets around the back, which were definitely cleaner than the public loos.

The take away (by the Pizza in the Park cafe) is housed in a caravan (like you see on the roadside of main roads), but has been built around giving a covered area to wait for your food and is open into the evening. The food is definitely recommended and priced very reasonably when compared with the other take-aways in Pitlochry.

A short distance down from this is Killiecrankie Visitor Centre (NTS). While the parking fees here are expensive in my opinion, National Trust members should be able to park for free (but dont quote me on that or blame me if you get a ticket!!). The picturesque wooded gorge here can be used as the starting point for walks in the gorge (including Soldiers Leap), while the visitor centre has varying historical/nature exhibitions (and of course toilets again!!). Another place worth a stop if you dont mind paying the parking fees.

Before we return to Pitlochry, why not take a short detour down the B8019 (which starts by crossing the river gorge over a bridge that is not recommended for those with vertigo. A small car park can be used if you want a walk over the bridge or in the surrounding woodland).

Queens View About 5 miles down the road is Queens View, a lovely viewpoint overlooking Loch Tummel which also has a café and toilets. Once again, from what I remember, parking fees are charged here.

Finally, while Im in this area, I cannot leave without mentioning Loch Rannoch and Rannoch Station, one of the most remote stations in the highlands. While a trip this far down the road can take up a good few hours itself, I have to say that it is lovely with varying landscapes with a nice pub by the station. In fact, in bad winters the houses and pub at Loch Rannoch are sometimes only accessible by rail.

Well that concludes the tour around the Cairngorms. While parts of the trip and places visited are tourist traps, other parts offer what we love about Scotland, wonderful scenery and lovely towns. Ballater is definitely one of the nicest (while not completely cut off) scottish towns we've visited that hasn't been spolit by tourism (or maybe it's the bakers that makes it nice). Anyhow, we hope to be able to visit the area again soon.

I hope youve enjoyed reading about the tour as much as I've enjoyed writing about it.

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