Cardhu and the Spey – One Distillery, a Woolmill and a Bridge
A day by car, from Aberlour and back.
The route
The Spey gives Speyside its name, and this is one day on a few miles of it in Moray, out from Aberlour and back.
It is built round a single distillery tour, at Cardhu, and that tour is the only whisky of the day. The rest belongs to the river and the country beside it. It's a good corner for a first look at Speyside: the river runs fast, the villages are small, and most of the day is spent out of the car rather than in it.
Before you go
Book a morning tour at Cardhu, one that ends by about noon, and check its times and price when booking.
The day
Speyside
A day beside the Spey that begins and ends in Aberlour and stays within about twenty minutes' drive of it. The morning goes over the river to Knockando, where the whisky and the wool are made a mile apart. By lunchtime the car is back in the village, and the afternoon is on foot.
43 min at the wheelAbout 21 miles by carAbout 1.5 miles on foot
Craigellachie Bridge
An attraction
It's 5 minutes' drive along the A95 from Aberlour to Craigellachie, where the engineer Thomas Telford put a single slender iron arch across the Spey between 1812 and 1814. Be at the bridge an hour before your tour starts: Cardhu is 14 minutes on, and if you're late, cut this stop short. Park in the car park off the A941, beside the old bridge. Walk out onto the deck, then take the path down to the riverbank. Keep back from the edge, and leave the bank for a dry day.
14 min by car
Cardhu Distillery
An attraction
Drive 14 minutes on, over the Spey and through Archiestown, to Cardhu, at Knockando. John and Helen Cumming made whisky on their farm without a licence, and the story goes that Helen ran up a red flag to warn of the excisemen. The distillery counts its years from 1824. Helen's daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Cumming, rebuilt it in the 1880s and in 1893 sold it to John Walker and Sons. If you can only get an afternoon tour, go to the woolmill first, because it shuts at four. Whoever drives drinks nothing.
5 min by car
Knockando Woolmill
It's 5 minutes' drive on to Knockando Woolmill. Parish records list a mill here in 1784, and farmers brought their fleeces and took them home as blankets and tweed. A trust restored the buildings and their Victorian machinery, and opened the doors in 2012. The mill and shop open 10am to 4pm, on weekdays for most of the year and Tuesday to Saturday in summer, never on Sundays. When it's shut the day runs without it: give the hour to the Spey at Craigellachie or the walk in Aberlour.
19 min by car
Aberlour
Drive 19 minutes back to Aberlour, where the car stays on the square. The village's full name is Charlestown of Aberlour. Lunch is at the Gather'n, a High Street café with its own roast and home baking: ring ahead to book and check its hours. If it's full or the tour ran late, the Aberlour Hotel, on the same street, serves meals noon to 7.30pm daily. Walkers shortbread is made in the village. The Victoria Bridge of 1902 hangs over the Spey at Alice Littler Park, a few minutes' walk away.
17 min on foot
Linn Falls
It's 17 minutes' walk from the square to Linn Falls, on a signed path through the woods beside the Burn of Aberlour. Allow an hour for the mile and a half there and back. The path is earth and muddy after rain, with steps, a stile and a narrow bridge, so wear boots and leave the buggy behind. If the day has run late, drop this part: don't start it as the light goes. It ends back at the square, by the car.
If it rains
Rain changes little: the tour, the woolmill and lunch are all under a roof. At Craigellachie, look at the bridge from its deck and leave the riverbank for a dry day. In Aberlour, leave the path to Linn Falls too: it is earth, and muddy when wet. Alice Littler Park, beside the Spey, is the short walk in its place. In snow or a storm, look at Cardhu's booking page before setting out and check the road.
Worth a detour
- Ballindalloch Castle and Gardens
Ballindalloch Castle and its gardens are 21 minutes' drive up the A95 from Aberlour. They open from Sunday to Thursday, from around Easter to the end of September, 10am to 5pm, with the last admission at 4pm; they are shut on Fridays and Saturdays and all winter. Tickets are sold at the gate with no need to book, and there is a café in the courtyard. Go after lunch in place of the walk to Linn Falls, which makes 42 minutes more at the wheel. On a Sunday, when the woolmill is shut, the castle takes its place: it is 21 minutes from Cardhu and 21 on to Aberlour.
Where to eat
Aberlour Hotel, a restaurant in Charlestown of Aberlour.
Photographs by Geoffrey Mann and Sven Lange via Google