Glenmore – A Day with the Reindeer and the Cairngorm Funicular
A day.
The route
Glenmore holds a lot within a few miles of one road: Britain's only free-ranging reindeer on the hill, the pink sand of Loch Morlich under the pines, and the mountain railway up Cairn Gorm.
This day brings all three together, with lunch at the community-run café in the Glenmore Visitor Centre. It suits anyone happy to walk a rough hill path, children included.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book Cairngorm Reindeer Centre: the Hill Trip
Book the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre's Hill Trip online: tickets open 30 days ahead, to the exact hour, and the Centre recommends booking ahead (£29.40 adults, £22.05 children of 3 to 16).
Book Cairngorm Mountain Railway
Book Cairngorm Mountain Railway tickets online the day before to save £2 a head (£17.95 an adult, £9.95 for 6 to 17s).
The day
Glenmore
A day in Glenmore with everything a few minutes apart: the reindeer on the hill first, then the loch and the mountain.
A dayAbout 0.5 miles on foot
Cairngorm Reindeer Centre
An attraction
The Cairngorm Reindeer Centre is in Glenmore village, on the road from Aviemore past Loch Morlich; satnavs often go astray here, so stay on that road. Park in the Centre's small car park opposite, where there's a charge, and collect your tickets at least 15 minutes before the Hill Trip. You then drive your own car up the road to the meeting place, where there is a small parking charge too. From there a guided walk of 20 to 40 minutes, up a narrow hill path with some rocky steps, leads to Britain's only free-ranging reindeer. You stand within a metre of them and help with a short hand-feed, though they don't like being patted. The whole trip takes an hour and a half to two hours, and from the Easter holidays your ticket also covers the Centre's paddocks and exhibition that day. Wellies or hiking boots with a good tread and a waterproof are essential, and the Centre has a few wellies to hire. From February to April the walk is longer and steeper, with no children under four, and the Centre suggests families with children under 12 come from May. No dogs, not even assistance dogs, as reindeer take them for wolves.
Allt Mor Café
Lunch
Back down in Glenmore, park at the Glenmore Visitor Centre, where there's a charge, two minutes' walk from the Reindeer Centre, for lunch at its Allt Mor Café. Community owned since 2024, the café serves hot drinks, baking, breakfast rolls and lunches. It opens every day, 9am to 5pm from April to October and 10am to 4pm from November to March. There's disabled access, and dogs are welcome inside. Outside stands a memorial to the Norwegian resistance fighters who trained in Glenmore in the Second World War.
7 min on foot
Loch Morlich
An attraction
Leave the car where it is: the beach at the east end of Loch Morlich is 7 minutes' walk from the café, across the road. Its coarse pink sand comes from the granite of the Cairngorms, with old Scots pines behind and the mountains across the water. The loch is open water, so keep children close at the edge. The beach car park's toilets are open from April to October, and Glenmore village has toilets all year.
11 min by car
Cairngorm Mountain
An attraction
It's 11 minutes' drive from the Visitor Centre up the ski road to the Coire Cas car park at the Base Station. The first 45 minutes there are free, then it's £3.50 for up to eight hours, and in the snowsports season parking is free. The railway climbs 2 km to the Ptarmigan Top Station, 1,097 metres up, in about eight minutes outside the ski season (five in it), with Loch Morlich and the pinewoods below. At the top are the Ptarmigan Restaurant and the Cairngorm Gin Bar, the 270-degree Cairngorm Story, interactive sandboxes in the Learning Zone and a viewing terrace, weather permitting. Outside the ski season passengers can't go out onto the mountain from the Top Station. The last train up is at 3.30pm and the last down at 4.30pm. A day pass is £19.95 for an adult on the day, or £17.95 booked online, and under-6s ride free with a ticket. It's fully accessible, with lifts at both stations. Only assistance dogs may ride up, and large rucksacks stay behind. Severe weather can stop the trains, so check the Mountain Report that morning.
If it rains
The Hill Trip goes ahead in the rain, so dress for it; the café and the railway's Top Station are under cover. On a wet afternoon keep the beach to a look from the shore and give the time to the Top Station.
Cairngorm Café, café at the ski centre.
Photographs by charlie just charlie and D3tour via Google
Maps from OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors; heights from Mapzen's terrain tiles.