The Cairngorms in Winter – The Lecht, Reindeer and Cairn Gorm
Two days by car, from Aviemore and back.
The route
Winter changes the Cairngorms.
The days are short, the summer museums are shut, and the weather decides which roads and lifts are open. This weekend, with two nights near Aviemore, is planned round all three. Saturday follows the Spey down to Grantown-on-Spey for coffee at a bakery, climbs the high road over the moors to the ski centre at the Lecht, turns back to Tomintoul for lunch, and comes home by Grantown's pinewood. Sunday stays close, at Glenmore: the beach at Loch Morlich in the early light, the Cairngorm reindeer on the hill, lunch at the community's café and the mountain railway up Cairn Gorm. Snow is never certain, and nothing here depends on it. Midwinter brings under seven hours of daylight, so both days start early.
Before you go
Book a bed near Aviemore
Two nights, the one before Saturday and Saturday's own: both days start and end here. Beds round Aviemore go early for Christmas, New Year and the February half term, so book once your dates are set.
Book the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre
Book as soon as tickets open, 30 days ahead to the hour of the trip: they sell out, weekdays included, and the Centre has only a few wellies to hire for anyone without boots.
Day one
Saturday: Strathspey
A day on the high road, out from Aviemore down the Spey to Grantown and up over the moors, through Tomintoul, to the Lecht, where the road tops out among the ski tows. It turns round there, comes back down to Tomintoul for lunch, and ends under the old pines of Grantown's own wood. Set off at nine, as the light comes up.
1 hr 59 min at the wheelAbout 74 miles
KJ's Bothy Bakery
A shop
It's 29 minutes' drive from Aviemore down the A95, past the Cairn Distillery at Craggan, to Grantown-on-Spey and KJ's Bothy Bakery, a takeaway bakery on the Achnagonalin Industrial Estate. KJ ran the Mountain Café in Aviemore until 2020, then started again in her home town. Get a coffee and something for the road. Before leaving Grantown, read Traffic Scotland's snow gates page for the A939. Fill the tank: the filling station is in the town, on Spey Avenue, not on the Tomintoul road, and Tomintoul has no fuel.
29 min by car
The Lecht
It's 29 minutes' drive on a clear road, up the A939 over Bridge of Brown and through Tomintoul, to the Lecht, where the road tops out at 637 metres beside the ski centre. Allow longer in frost or snow: every drive time on this road is for a clear day. Drive up only when the snow gate at Bridge of Leachd, south of Tomintoul, is open; the Cock Bridge gate is beyond the pass, off this day's road. If the day lodge is open, look in, then turn back.
9 min by car
Tomintoul
An attraction
Drive 9 minutes back down to Tomintoul for lunch. The Duke of Gordon laid the village out in 1775, and at 345 metres it's often called the highest village in the Highlands. The Glenavon, the pub on the Square, offers food and keeps log fires in winter (01807 580218). The Whisky Castle on Main Street, a whisky shop with a café, lists Saturday hours of 9.15am to 5pm (01807 580213). Ring ahead in winter, or eat what you brought from KJ's. The Discovery Centre is shut until April.
21 min by car
Grantown-on-Spey
Grantown-on-Spey, founded in 1765 round a long Square, is 21 minutes' drive on a clear road, back over Bridge of Brown. Park there and walk to the end of Forest Road for the Anagach Woods, where a waymarked 3.2 km loop through the old pines takes about an hour. The sun sets at about half past three: if the road was slow, shorten the loop. Aviemore is half an hour home by Dulnain Bridge. The Cairn Distillery is open until 4.30pm, but stopping means driving home in the dusk.
If it rains
Snow and wind matter more than rain on this day. Before leaving Grantown, read Traffic Scotland's snow gates page and the road line on the Lecht's home page. If the A939 is shut or doubtful, stay in Strathspey: take longer at KJ's, walk Grantown's Square and its shops, then go round the Anagach Woods, where the pines keep off the worst of the wind. The Cairn Distillery at Craggan, 7 minutes' drive from the Square on the Aviemore road, is open until 4.30pm, with tours booked ahead and a restaurant, the Gathering. If the road is open only as far as Tomintoul, have lunch there and turn back. Never go on over the pass to Cock Bridge and Deeside to get round a closure.
Worth a detour
- The Cairn Distillery, Craggan
Beside the A95 between Grantown and Aviemore, so it adds no driving. The distillery is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 4.30pm, with a shop, short trails down to the Spey and the Gathering, its restaurant, which serves Scottish tapas and is best booked. Tours are booked ahead and are for over-18s only: the Explorer takes 75 minutes and costs £25. In midwinter the sun sets at about half past three, so a tour after the woods means the drive back to Aviemore in the dark; the shop alone takes a few minutes. Whoever is driving leaves the drams to the passengers.
- The Cairngorm Brewery
On the Dalfaber Industrial Estate at the edge of Aviemore. The brewery's shop and tap room open from 10am to 5pm on Saturdays and are shut on Sundays, so it belongs to this day and not the next. Dogs are welcome. Whoever is driving leaves the beer to the passengers.
Day two
Sunday: Glenmore
A day at Glenmore, just up the road from Aviemore, under the Cairngorm plateau. It starts on the sand at Loch Morlich in the early light, spends the late morning out on the hill with the reindeer, and ends on the mountain railway high on Cairn Gorm. Set off at twenty to nine.
54 min at the wheelAbout 20 miles
17 min by car
Loch Morlich
An attraction
It's 17 minutes' drive from Aviemore, through Inverdruie and Coylumbridge, to the Beach car park at the far end of Loch Morlich. Come early: in late December the sun rises at about ten to nine, and the Cairngorms stand dark across the water. Walk the pink sand, or follow the Beach Trail through the pines, 2.4 km and about an hour; cut it short if your reindeer trip leaves before eleven. The beach's toilets are shut for winter: use Glenmore village's. Stay off the ice if the loch has frozen.
20 min on foot
The Cairngorm Reindeer Centre
An attraction
Two minutes' drive on are Glenmore and the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre, whose herd has roamed these hills since 1952. Book the day's first hill trip; the booking page gives its time, and it leaves the afternoon free for the railway. Collect your tickets a quarter of an hour before. You drive up the ski road and walk with a herder, 20 minutes or more each way on a rough path, to stand among the reindeer. Wear boots or wellies. On set days before Christmas the paddocks run as Christmas Fun.
2 min on foot
Allt Mor Café
A café
Drive back down to Glenmore after the trip. It's 2 minutes' walk along the road from the Reindeer Centre to Glenmore Visitor Centre and the Allt Mor Café, now owned by the community, which serves coffee, lunches and cakes. When snow lies, the Hayfield, half a mile up the ski road, is where people come to sledge. The paths east of here to the Green Lochan and Ryvoan were closed after the wildfire of July 2026: check Forestry and Land Scotland's Glenmore page before walking them.
11 min by car
The Cairngorm Mountain Railway
An attraction
It's 11 minutes' drive up the ski road to the Base Station. The funicular climbs to the Ptarmigan station at 1,097 metres, 150 metres below Cairn Gorm's summit. When the mountain is open for snowsports, passengers may go outside within the ski area's boundary; when it isn't, the visit is the terrace and the restaurant. Nobody goes on to the plateau. Ride up at about two: the sun sets at about half past three, and the way home is in the dusk. Aviemore is 26 minutes back down the road.
If it rains
The reindeer trip goes out in rain and snow, so dress for it: waterproofs, warm layers, a hat and gloves. Only extreme wind or snow cancels it, and the Centre then refunds the ticket or moves it. High wind stops the funicular, so read the Mountain Report before driving up. When it isn't running, the Cairngorm Café at the Base Station serves hot food until 3.30pm; or stay low and walk the trail round Loch Morlich, 5.8 km and about two hours, mostly among the trees. In a storm, the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig opens every day but Christmas Day, 10am to 4pm in winter, though snow and ice can shut its drive-through.
Worth a detour
- Loch an Eilein
Up a lane off the B970 south of Inverdruie, in the pinewoods of Rothiemurchus. The ruined castle on its island comes into view about ten minutes along the shore path from the car park, and the path round the loch is 5 km, an hour and a half to two hours on good low-level paths, sheltered when the mountain is not. The estate's car park charges £2 a person, up to £5 a car, and the narrow bridge on the lane is no place for a motorhome. Stay off the ice if the loch has frozen.
- Strathspey Railway
The steam railway runs Santa's Elf Express from Aviemore on selected dates from 28 November to 24 December, a return trip of about 1 hour 45 minutes; its booking page shows which days and which seats are left. Tickets are sold as tables for up to two or four, and no dogs travel on these trains but assistance dogs. With children, it takes the place of the afternoon on the mountain.
Photographs by Paweł A, Capper Pass, Daniel Muccio, Matt Hart and Samuel McCreadie via Google