Love Cairngorms

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Beautiful places to stay + the best of the Cairngorms & Highlands. Local finds, wild places, great food & things worth travelling for.

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31/10/2026

Ah the art of doing nothing.

One of my favourite things about spending time outdoors is those little moments when I find myself completely zoning out. Watching leaves dancing in the breeze, ripples on the water or birds circling overhead.

There’s actually a lovely concept called soft fascination. The way nature gently captures our attention without demanding anything from us, giving our busy minds a chance to rest.

No distractions, no rushing, just a few minutes to switch off and get lost in the moment.

Little moments of meditation, courtesy of nature ❤️

30/10/2026

The light. The colours. The Cairngorms this morning. 💛

28/10/2026

There’s a lot to love about the Cairngorms in autumn, but coming in from the cold and finding a seat beside a roaring pub fire is definitely up there.

Bonus points for a good pint, a board game and absolutely no plans to be anywhere else.

With the temperatures dropping and the wood burner back on at home, here are three of my favourite places to settle in and lose a few hours…

01 OldBridgeInnAviemore | Aviemore

One of our all-time favourites. Find a spot in the bar (the table next to the wood burner is my favourite), get stuck into a board game or settle in for an evening listening to one of their regular folk sessions. A very easy place to lose a few hours.

📸 Rupert Shanks

02 Cairn Hotel | Carrbridge

My local! I love the laid back atmosphere here, with a constant mix of regulars and visitors, a pool table, a cracking pint of Guinness and a proper open fire. Everything a good village pub should be.

03 Pine Marten Bar and Scran | Glenmore

A cracking après ski bar with great comfort food, a lovely fire and the perfect place to warm up after a chilly day exploring. I’ll definitely be back soon for the mac and cheese.

And if you prefer your fireside evenings with your slippers on and nowhere else to be, both Railway Cottage and Hillview Cottage have wood burning stoves of their own ❤️

19/10/2026

A rather extraordinary wildlife encounter in the Cairngorms!

One of our lovely guests, Lynn Smith, managed to capture this beautiful animal on camera in woodland near The Hayloft.

With that magnificent bushy, ringed tail and what appears to be a tracking collar, we suspect this might be one of the Scottish wildcats released into the Cairngorms as part of the incredible conservation project.

Once on the brink of disappearing from the Scottish Highlands, these elusive animals are being given another chance in the wild.

How wonderful to think they might be roaming the woodlands around us again.

A huge thank you to Lynn for sharing this very special footage ❤️

13/10/2026

Autumn is showing off once again!

Every year I think I’ve taken quite enough photographs of trees. And every October, I prove myself wrong.

Hillview Cottage is looking particularly lovely just now, with the trees turning all sorts of ridiculous shades of orange, yellow and gold.

It’s also one of our favourite times to head out along the Speyside Way, which you can join straight from the cottage. Fewer people on the trails and a landscape that seems to change colour by the day.

Autumn is officially our favourite season. Until the first proper snowfall, obviously.

11/10/2026

For anyone who’s driven north on the A9 and felt their shoulders drop as the lochs and mountains come into view.

I’ve made this journey more times than I can count but that fleeting glimpse of Loch Garry catching the last of the light never gets old ❤️

29/09/2026

If our last post has you plotting an autumn trip to the Cairngorms… as luck would have it, I happen to know somewhere you could stay.

Railway Cottage has some availability in October.

Sitting opposite the Insh Marshes, just south of Aviemore, it’s one of those places where the view seems to change by the hour. Misty mornings, huge open skies, autumn colour across the marshes and, if you’ve timed your walk badly enough, a very welcome fire waiting when you get back.

It sleeps four in two double bedrooms, with a great big bath, shelves of books to dip into, board games and a wee dram waiting when you arrive. Outside, the deck looks across the marshes and the fire pit is a particularly good place to sit after dark. I’ve lost count of the shooting stars I’ve spotted from there.

Walking boots at the ready?

26/09/2026

I’d love to know what these two were discussing 🦫🦫

A brilliant photo sent to us by a recent guest staying at The Hayloft, who spotted these two at the Lily Loch, in Rothiemurchus.

One of those wonderfully wild Cairngorms moments you can’t exactly plan for.

Huge thanks to Steve Neal for sending it to us and letting us share it.

24/09/2026

3 quieter local walks I keep going back to ❤️

There are walks you do once for the view and others you find yourself recommending again and again. These are three I often suggest to guests if they’re looking for a quieter Cairngorm trail.

01 Sluggan & Dalnahaitnach
One of my favourite places when I want open space and very few people. Through Birch woodland and down towards the old Sluggan Bridge, and if I’m on my bike, over to Dalnahaitnach. On a warm day, there are a few tempting spots for a quick dip too.

02 Craigellachie
Right above Aviemore but once you start climbing through the wood, it quickly feels a long way from the village below. Keep going to the viewpoint and you’re rewarded with huge views across the strath, lochs and mountains beyond. A lot of reward for a relatively short walk.

03 Ellan Wood
A completely different sort of walk. Old pines, interweaving woodland paths and carved creatures appearing amongst the trees before you eventually make your way down to the river and the old packhorse bridge. I’ve walked here in sunshine, mist, autumn colour and deep snow and it never feels quite the same twice.

None of them are secret “hidden gems”. They’re simply three places I’ve walked for years and still never seem to tire of. Creature of habit, moi?

I’m looking for some quieter trails a little further beyond Strathspey too, so if you have a favourite Cairngorm walk, I’d love to hear it.

15/09/2026

The joy of a slow weekend.

Waking up without an alarm. Making coffee while watching the birds in the garden. A long walk somewhere beautiful, followed by a long soak, dinner followed by an evening by the fire with a dram and a good book.

And then doing very little all over again the next day.

We have three places to make yourself at home, all immersed in nature and within easy reach of Aviemore.

The Hayloft • sleeps 2
Railway Cottage • sleeps 4
Hillview Cottage • sleeps 7

Address

Aviemore

Website

https://linktr.ee/lovecairngorms

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