Lochbuie Croft – An Alpaca Trek and Lunch in Newtonmore
A few hours.
The route
Lochbuie Croft in Newtonmore is a working family farm of sheep and cattle that also keeps alpacas, miniature donkeys, pygmy goats and Highland cows for visitors to meet.
Feed the animals, or take an alpaca or a donkey out for an unhurried walk. Lunch is a few minutes away, at the Wild Flour on Main Street.
The day
Newtonmore
A morning with the animals on a working croft, then soup and a toastie in the village.
A morning, with lunch after
Cairngorm Alpacas at Lochbuie Croft
Lochbuie Croft, the home of Cairngorm Alpacas, is on Strone Road in Newtonmore. The family's cattle and sheep business goes back more than four generations, and they were on the BBC's This Farming Life. An alpaca walk lasts an hour: you meet the alpacas, hear about them and hand out treats, then lead one out for a leisurely walk. A donkey walk, also an hour, pairs you with one of the miniature donkeys. Both are for children from five, and under-12s share an animal with an adult. Younger children can come to the 45-minute meet and greet instead, to feed the pygmy goats, the Highland cows, the alpacas and the donkeys. This is a working farm, so a walk may cross a field with sheep in it. There's somewhere to wash your hands but no toilet; the public toilets are in the village.
3 min by car
The Wild Flour
Lunch
It's 3 minutes' drive to Main Street and the Wild Flour, a family-run café that makes its own bread, scones, soups and sauces. Light breakfasts are served from 10am and lunch runs from noon to 2.30pm: soup or Cullen skink, toasties, cheese melts and filled flatbreads, with vegan and gluten-free choices. It is shut on Mondays. There's a kids' corner, dogs are welcome, and a ramp at the back entrance makes it wheelchair accessible. There is a car park off Main Street, a short walk from the café.
If it rains
The walks are out of doors, so dress for the weather. Lunch at the Wild Flour is indoors, with sofas at the front and a conservatory.
Make it a weekend
More days out near Aviemore.
Photographs by Mel B and Janja Krajnc via Google