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Places to visit
in the Cairngorms.

It’s 20:05 in the Cairngorms.
Cairngorms

Pinewoods, lochs and the high plateau.

High mountains, old pinewoods and wide river valleys make up the Cairngorms, and the places to visit are spread right across them. Walk round Loch an Eilein to its island castle, sit on the sand at Loch Morlich, or ride the mountain railway up Cairngorm. Ospreys nest round Loch Garten in the Abernethy pines, and reindeer roam the slopes above Glenmore. Over the hills on Deeside are Balmoral, Loch Muick and the Linn of Dee. Steam trains run from Aviemore to Boat of Garten. Pack for every kind of weather, as the tops can turn wintry in any month.

CastlesVillagesWalks
Place of the day19 hours ago

Nethy Bridge.

The Forest Village on the River Nethy, wrapped in the Abernethy pinewoods, with a Telford bridge of 1810 and trails through the trees.

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From our archive19 hours agoCairngormsThe Cairngorm BreweryCairngormsCarrbridgeCairngormsRyvoan BothyCairngormsLoch an EileinCairngormsRothiemurchus FalconryCairngormsUath Lochans

The Cairngorms this autumn, in our photographs.

Six places in the Cairngorms, each as we found it.

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Did you know19 hours ago

The A93 over the Cairnwell Pass, at the head of Glenshee in the Cairngorms, reaches about 670 metres, the highest main road in the UK.

The pass links Glen Shee in Perthshire with Braemar in Aberdeenshire, and the county border runs across its summit. Drovers once brought livestock this way, and in 1749 a military road was built over it, with a notorious double hairpin called the Devil's Elbow about a mile south of the top. It was often said to be one in three, though in truth it was no steeper than one in six. The bend was bypassed in the 1960s, and the old road can still be walked. At the summit stands the Glenshee Ski Centre, Scotland's largest and oldest.

See Glenshee · Cairngorms
Places to visit19 hours ago

East Highland Way with Thistle Trekking.

The East Highland Way is an 82-mile trek from Fort William, the outdoor capital of the UK, to Aviemore, famous for its mountains and ski resorts.

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From the magazine18 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 13Issue 13Autumn / Winter 2026-27

On the Glen Tanar estate near Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, Tower O'Ess, a gatehouse tower built in the 1870s, is now a hideaway for two.

The tower was built as the grand entrance to the estate, which covers some 25,000 acres of the Cairngorms National Park, with ancient pine forest, peaceful lochs and heather-clad hills. It is one of seven places to stay on the estate, and from each of them you can set out on more than 100 miles of estate trails. Look out for red squirrels in the trees and birds of prey circling overhead. For the best chance of seeing the wildlife, join a tour or book a session in the estate's wildlife hide, where you might even spot the elusive wildcat. The magazine's advice is simple: park the car and reconnect with nature.

See Tower O'Ess · Cairngorms
From our guide18 hours ago

Loch Vaa.

Loch Vaa is a small, quiet loch in the woods between Aviemore and Boat of Garten, much loved by locals and overlooked by most visitors. Scots pines and birches crowd the water, and a wooded ridge left by the ice, an esker, runs along one side. On a still morning the loch holds a perfect reflection of the trees and sky. A path climbs over the esker and follows the shore to a small wooden boathouse used by trout anglers. There is no car park by the water, so come ready for a short walk in.

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Places to visit18 hours ago

Kincardine O'Neil.

The oldest village on Deeside, on the north bank of the Dee, with the roofless Auld Kirk of a medieval travellers' hospital at its heart.

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Did you know18 hours ago

In 2009 Loch Morlich, near Aviemore in the Cairngorms, became the first freshwater loch ever given a Scottish Seaside Award.

Keep Scotland Beautiful, which runs the awards, gave it to the loch's sandy beaches, and at 300 metres above sea level they also became the highest beach ever to win it. They have gone on winning it since. Look closely at the sand, though, and it holds a great deal of broken glass. It was not left by careless picnickers. The area around Loch Morlich was used as a commando school in the Second World War, and the glass has been there ever since.

See Loch Morlich · Cairngorms
From Issue 4 of Hidden Scotland magazineIssue 417 hours ago

Whispers of the Old Woods

Tom Addy of Tor Workshop in Braemar makes furniture from discarded wood, reviving the designs of old rural Scotland, among them a hooded croft chair remade as the Isolation Chair.

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From our guide17 hours ago

Viewpoint Walk, Grantown-on-Spey.

Grantown-on-Spey has a lovely pinewood right on its doorstep. Anagach Woods, owned by the community, covers nearly a thousand acres between the town centre and the River Spey, with Scots pine, birch, juniper and rowan among old bogs, lochans and eskers. The Viewpoint Walk is a short, gentle way to enjoy it, opening onto a series of viewpoints along the route, with benches where you want to pause. It finishes on the line of an old railway. The woods are open at any time, looked after by the Anagach Woods Trust.

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In the Cairngorms17 hours ago

The first snow of the winter has fallen on Cairngorm Mountain.

A dusting settled on the Ptarmigan terrace and across the hill on Wednesday 7 October, almost three weeks earlier than last year.

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Places to visit17 hours ago

An Lochan Uaine.

The green lochan of the Ryvoan Pass above Glenmore, its water a startling green among the pines, said to be the fairies' washing place.

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