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Food and drink
in the Cairngorms.

It’s 20:06 in the Cairngorms.
Cairngorms

Hill appetites from Glenmore to Braemar.

Eating in the Cairngorms is built round days outdoors, and you'll find somewhere warm at both ends of them. By day it is cafés, from the pinewoods round Aviemore and Glenmore to the villages of Nethy Bridge and Laggan, most with a stove lit and home baking on the counter. For the evening, there's local produce cooked in season at Boat of Garten, and Scottish dishes, ales and live music in a Braemar bar. Book ahead for dinner, especially in the school holidays.

CafésRestaurantsCoffee
Place of the day19 hours ago

Andersons Restaurant.

A relaxed evening restaurant in Boat of Garten cooking local Scottish produce in season, with vegan and children's menus.

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From our guide18 hours ago

The Dell Grocer, Nethy Bridge.

A mile up Dell Road from Nethy Bridge, among beech, oak and lime trees planted by the Seafield Estate's head forester, the Dell of Abernethy has its own little shop. The Dell Grocer stocks easy oven meals, wine, a few treats and the things you always forget, with fresh sourdough most Fridays and an espresso machine. A shelf called Take Me Home holds jewellery, candles and soap by local makers. It works in its own charming way: you call on the walkie-talkie and somebody comes over to serve you.

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From Issue 5 of Hidden Scotland magazineIssue 517 hours ago

The Whisky Queen of the Cairngorms: Katy Fennema

Katy Fennema, once an orchestral oboist and now Whisky Ambassador at the Fife Arms in Braemar, on her tastings, the Cairngorms and the Braemar Highland Experience she runs with her husband.

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From our guide16 hours ago

Allt Mor Café.

Run by the community since 2024, when the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust bought it, the Allt Mor Café sits in the Glenmore Visitor Centre near Loch Morlich. It is made for people on the move, before or after a walk, a ride or a day on the snow, with coffee, cake, breakfast rolls, homemade soup and lunches. Cyclists get a tool station and e-bike charging, and dogs are welcome inside. There is plenty of seating outside too, and the bus from Aviemore stops at the foot of the car park.

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Newly discovered15 hours agoAberdeenshireBallaterAttractionCairngormsLaggan Stores Coffee BothyCafeCairngormsAbernethy ForestAttractionCairngormsCairngorm Reindeer CentreAttractionCairngormsSmarty ArtAttractionCairngormsAllt Mor CaféCafe

Some good places to go, newly added to the site.

The newest places on our pages in Cairngorms.

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Did you know14 hours ago

When the pandemic closed Kj's Mountain Café in Aviemore, she started again as a baker in her home town of Grantown-on-Spey, fourteen miles away.

Kj had run the café since 2004 when it was forced to close in March 2020, and that June she made the hard decision not to reopen. Instead she kept cooking, and KJ's Bothy Bakery was born on an industrial estate on the edge of Grantown, working with local suppliers. The bakery's own website admits that as you pass the rubbish dump and a storage yard, you might think you are in the wrong place. Inside, everything is made on site, from sourdough to cinnamon buns, with good Kiwi-style coffee to go with them, and the bakes now go out by post across the UK.

See KJ's Bothy Bakery · Cairngorms
Afterwards13 hours agoCairngormsRothiemurchus100 yardsCairngormsTreeZone Aviemore100 yardsCairngormsRothiemurchus Falconry200 yards

Round the corner from The Barn at Rothiemurchus.

Three good places a short walk away: Rothiemurchus, TreeZone Aviemore and Rothiemurchus Falconry.

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From our guide12 hours ago

Laggan Stores Coffee Bothy.

Laggan sits on the upper Spey between the Monadhliath and the Grampians, and if it looks familiar, it played the village of Glenbogle in the BBC's Monarch of the Glen. The Coffee Bothy is its village café, in a stone building with a small shop and gallery alongside. There is breakfast and lunch, good coffee and a counter of homemade cakes, with vegan and gluten-free bakes among them. Sit inside or take your cup out when the sun is on the village. It is a handy stop for the Laggan Wolftrax bike trails.

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Stay11 hours agoCairngormsPark Cottage5.8 milesCairngormsKilliehuntly Farmhouse12.0 milesCairngormsThe Hayloft12.0 miles

Stay near Foxfire Coffee.

The three good places closest to it: Park Cottage, Killiehuntly Farmhouse and The Hayloft.

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From our guide10 hours ago

Route 7 Café.

Finding Route 7 takes a little faith: it is upstairs in the Highland Home Centre on the Dalfaber estate at the edge of Aviemore. Up there is a relaxed, family-friendly café with a full kitchen, doing breakfasts, lunches and burgers, hearty dishes alongside lighter ones, and plenty for vegans. The menu changes often. Dogs get a proper welcome, with water bowls and a treat, led by the owners' own French bulldogs. The kitchen closes mid-afternoon, so this is one for breakfast or lunch. It has won awards for its vegetarian food.

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Sunday9 hours agoCairngormsRoute 7 CaféCafeCairngormsCairngorm CaféCafeCairngormsThe Barn at RothiemurchusCafeCairngormsFoxfire CoffeeCafeCairngormsAllt Mor CaféCafeCairngormsLaggan Stores Coffee BothyCafe

Open on Sunday.

By their own hours, which is the only kind we trust.

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Somewhere to eat8 hours ago

Nethy House, Cairngorms.

A café with rooms in a granite house in Nethy Bridge, with home baking, Glen Lyon coffee and a welcome for dogs and bikes.

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