Day 1 – Travel from Gloucester to Aviemore

Stu arrived back (jetlagged) on an overnight flight from Houston on the Friday morning and I had promised that all the packing would be done (but it wasn’t) and I had also bought him a Go-Pro as a gift (but hadn’t bought the right data card so he had a late night trip to Tesco to get one). We had a 4.20am alarm set as Aviemore was an 8 hour drive away if there were no stops. We set off early and did a quick service station break at about 11am where we ate our packed lunch and by noon we had reached Gretna Green.

Gretna Green

It was great to get out of the car and have a proper stop as we had been driving for about 5 hours. We had a wander around the buildings, saw the anvil but Tom and Izzy spent most of the time running round the maze which was in a field next to the car park.

Doune Castle

We got back in the car to carry on travelling north and our next stop was Doune Castle (about 2.5 hour away). We had purchased Historic Scotland passes so were determined to stop off at places covered by the pass. Doune was quite a cool castle as there were ruined walls and rooms inside that we could visit. We were also able to walk down to the river. Again it was nice to be able to get out of the car for a decent amount of time.

^{Doune Castle}

We then carried on the final stage of our route to reach Aviemore. The scenery was beautiful as we drove though the mountains. It ended up taking us about 11 hours door to door and we were very happy to reach our property – which was lovely. Despite it having 3 bedrooms Tom and Izzy wanted to share a room and Izzy was so excited as their bedroom had big walk in closets. From the upstairs windows we could see the Cairngorms and they had snow on them!

Day 2 – Lochs and Reindeer feeding

Loch Morlich

We left our house quite early as we had booked tickets to visit the Cairngorm wild reindeer herd. We noticed that Loch Morlich was on the way so did a quick stop to take some photos. We could park quite close to the water and their were rocks and stepping stones for the kids to play on. We could see the mountains in the distance and could tell there was snow on them but unfortunately their heads remained in the clouds.

We drove a bit further round the loch where we then reached an area where there was a huge sandy beach so Tom and Izzy had a run around whilst we waited for our reindeer tour.

Cairngorm Reindeer Centre

I had booked us all tickets to do the hill trip. This meant that we drove part way up in our own car and then there was a 20 minute walk along a path and across the hills to reach the reindeer herd.

When we reached the reindeer they were very friendly – probably because we all had food for them. We were allowed to feed and stroke them. We also got to take loads of photos whilst the tour guides told us all about them.

Loch an Eilein

It was still early in the day so we decided to stop off at another loch for the kids to have a play and for Stu and I to take photos. We randomly found Loch an Eilein which was beautiful. There were loads of rocks in the shallow part of the loch for the kids to jump on and trees etc for them to climb. It was so peaceful and surprisingly warm for April!

Day 3 – Cairngorm Mountain Railway, dolphins and Fort George

The Cairngorm Mountain Railway

The weather today was due to be blue sky and sun so we decided that it would be the right day to go up the mountains. We left early in case the clouds came in and as we drove passed Loch Morlich we had to stop again as the view was spectacular. It was completely different to the day before where the summits were in the clouds!

When we arrived at the mountain railway it wasn’t operating. For some reason there was a fault and we were advised that it may take an hour or so. We decided to wait and go for a walk as there were lots of routes around the base of the mountain. This also had the advantage that we could see when the train started operating again.

We were soon on the train and at the top of the mountain. It was absolutely stunning. Covered in snow and you could watch all the skiers going on their different routes. We could also just see Ben Nevis in the distance. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay up there too long as it was freezing cold.

Chanonry Point

We were back at the bottom of the mountain by about 11am and didn’t have anything else planned for the day. We had read that there was a popular dolphin viewing place at Chanonry Point on the Moray Firth (about an hour or so away) so decided to visit. We didn’t expect to see any but when we arrived there was a small crowd on the beach and about 20 metres from the shore was a pod of dolphins.

We watched them for about 20 minutes – we think that they were feeding and we got there just at the right time as the tide was turning.

Fort George

Just across the firth was Fort George (an 18th century garrison) which was covered by our Historic Scotland passes so we drove over to see what it was like. It was great for a run around and there were lots of canons etc which the kids loved but it was bitterly cold.

Day 4 – Loch Ness

Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle

One of the reasons we chose to visit Aviemore was that I wanted to get into the Highlands of Scotland. We put the bikes onto the car (as we had brought them all the way from Gloucester) and we left our house at about 9am and headed towards Loch Ness which was about an hour away. After a couple of stops on the road by the loch to look for Nessie we arrived at Urquhart Castle which is on the banks of the loch.

Again we could use our Historic Scotland passes so it was free to enter. This was a brilliant castle as there were lots of ruins, and you could climb up into them. It also had great look outs over the loch – but we still didn’t spot Nessie. Unfortunately Stu forgot to take the Go-pro in with him so we never got any video footage.

Invermoriston Falls

We carried on along the loch and parked up at Invermoriston Falls. We did a short walk along the river where we could see a small water fall and a summer house. It was a wooded area so Tom had great fun hiding behind the trees pretending to stalk us!

Fort Augustus and the Caledonian Canal

We moved our way to Fort Augustus which is the town on the Southern tip of Loch Ness. We wanted to go for a bike ride along the Caledonian Canal. At the start of the cycle we passed a flight of locks before reaching a tow path which we cycled quite a way along with views of mountains in the background.

We then cycled back to Fort Augustus to stop off at the Loch Ness viewing point. It must have been quite windy as there were loads of waves at the shore!

The Falls of Foyer

We needed to head home so we drove the east side of the Loch so as to do a full circle. Unfortunately this route doesn’t run along side the water so we didn’t have any views. However, there was a waterfall we wanted to visit – the Falls of Foyer. There was a trail from the carpark leading down to an overlook to quite a tall waterfall.

We were back home in Aviemore by 6pm ready for a few more days of adventure!