Strathspey – By Steam Train to Aviemore and Lunch by the Spey
A day, from Broomhill station and back.
The route
The Strathspey Railway runs its steam trains between Aviemore, Boat of Garten and Broomhill, and on an ordinary return you can get off and come back on a later train.
So board at Broomhill, the quiet end of the line, and ride up the Spey valley to Aviemore for three hours there. Have lunch at the Old Bridge Inn on the river, then walk the easy loop round Riverside Park before the train back.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book the Strathspey Railway at Broomhill
Book an ordinary return on the Strathspey Railway's website and choose Broomhill as your boarding station, or buy one at Broomhill's ticket office on the day.
Tables are booked on the inn's website or on 01479 811137.
The day
Strathspey
Three hours off the train in Aviemore leaves time for a long lunch by the river and a gentle walk before the steam train brings you back down the valley.
From the 11.21am at Broomhill to 3.51pm back
The Strathspey Railway at Broomhill
A steam railway
Broomhill is the quiet end of the Strathspey Railway: a Victorian station on a minor road off the A95, with parking on the roadway beside it, a level platform and toilets, one of them accessible. With a return booked online, show your booking email at the ticket office here. Take the 11.21am, which calls at Boat of Garten on its way up the Spey valley and reaches Aviemore at 11.57am. There, call at the ticket office and say you'll come back on the 3pm, so a seat is kept for you. The railway aims to run steam, though a heritage diesel can stand in.
About 4 hr on foot
The Old Bridge Inn
Lunch
From Aviemore station it's ten minutes' walk south along Dalfaber Road, beside the Spey, to the Old Bridge Inn. It began as a gamekeeper's cottage and is now a pub with a fire inside and a beer garden by the river. The menu follows the seasons, with smaller dishes, sandwiches, burgers and a Sunday roast.
About 10 min on foot
The train back to Broomhill
A steam railway
After lunch, Riverside Park is on the way back to the station. The loop is 1.4 km on a surfaced path with gentle slopes, and the Spey is in view along the way; allow half an hour for it. The park is on Dalfaber Road just north of the station, and Platform 3 is a few minutes' walk from it. The 3pm calls at Boat of Garten again on its way back down the valley to Broomhill.
If it rains
The train and lunch are under a roof. In steady rain, leave out the loop round Riverside Park and stay longer by the fire at the Old Bridge Inn before the ten-minute walk back to Platform 3 for the 3pm.
Photographs by Duncan Macpherson, Scott McCall, Dominika Bugajska and Raymond Houston via Google
Maps from OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors; heights from Mapzen's terrain tiles.