Autumn in the Cairngorms: choose your own Highland break

By September, the Highlands begin to change. The days are getting shorter, the evenings are drawing in and the landscape gradually moves from late-summer greens towards the colours of autumn.

We’ve written quite a lot recently about autumn walking, fungi, wildlife and some of our favourite places to explore at this time of year. But there is another way to enjoy autumn in the Cairngorms.

You don’t necessarily need to join a scheduled walking holiday.

This year, we’ve opened up some of our autumn activities so that small groups can choose their own dates. So if you’re looking for a few days in the Highlands this autumn, we can help you put together something that suits your group rather than expecting you to fit around a fixed itinerary.

An autumn break can be as active – or as relaxed – as you like

Perhaps you want to spend a couple of days outside, but don’t want to commit to a full week of mountain walking.

Perhaps you’re travelling as a family and everyone has slightly different ideas about what makes a good holiday.

Or perhaps you simply like the idea of spending a few days somewhere beautiful at a time of year when the evenings are long enough to come back to the lodge, eat something warming and settle down with a book.

Here are some of the options we can offer this autumn.

Walk with Highland ponies and sleep in a hot tent

Our Highland Pony Packing trips are one of the more unusual ways to experience the Cairngorms.

During the day, you walk with our Highland ponies carrying the camping equipment. You don’t need to carry a full backpack, and the emphasis is on enjoying the journey rather than covering huge distances.

Then comes the fun part.

The camp is based around a heated Nordic tipi, with comfortable camp beds, a wood-burning stove and hot showers. It is wild camping, but not quite as you might remember it from your youth.

Our pony-supported trips are particularly well suited to families and groups of friends looking for something a little different. The trips are available for small groups, and private departures can be arranged around your preferred dates.

There are also some scheduled dates in October around the school holidays which may work out more budget friendly.

Make autumn the time you improve your navigation

Shorter days and more changeable weather are good reasons to keep your navigation skills sharp.

But you don’t have to wait for a fixed course date.

We’ve opened our navigation courses for autumn bookings on a date of your choice, with a minimum of two people. That means you could come with a friend, partner or small group and spend a day or more working on the particular skills you want to improve.

It might be getting more confident with map and compass, understanding contours, taking and following bearings or practising the techniques that help you relocate yourself when the landscape doesn’t look quite as expected.

Autumn is actually a useful time to practise these skills. The aim isn’t to learn navigation as an abstract exercise, but to become more confident using it outside.

Explore the Wild Cairngorms

If you would rather have someone else deal with the route planning, our Wild Cairngorms experience can also be arranged for autumn dates.

This is a chance to get properly out into the Cairngorms without having to organise the logistics yourself. For autumn bookings, we can work with you to find dates that suit your group, with a minimum of two people.

That flexibility can make a difference if you’re travelling from further afield or trying to fit a Highland break around work, school or other commitments.

And, as always with our guided trips, the route can be adapted to the conditions on the day.

Or choose something completely different: yarn

Not everyone comes to the Highlands to climb a mountain.

Our Highland Winter Yarn Retreats offer a very different kind of break, bringing together yarn, craft, local connections and time to relax at Fraoch Lodge.

As the evenings draw in, there is something rather satisfying about settling down with knitting or crochet after a day out. There is no pressure to spend every daylight hour outside – and no shortage of things to talk about when everyone gets together in the evening.

It’s a good reminder that a Highland holiday doesn’t have to revolve around a summit.

Thrum knitting to make a rug

And there is always the option of doing less

One of the things we like about autumn is that the pace naturally changes.

You can have a proper day outside and still be back in time for dinner. You can go for a shorter walk rather than spending the whole day on the hill. You can spend a morning exploring the forest and an afternoon reading.

And then there are the evenings.

The fire is lit. Dinner is cooking. There might be knitting or a board game in the lounge, or simply a cup of tea and a book.

For us, that’s part of the appeal of staying at Fraoch Lodge. A Highland break doesn’t have to be a constant succession of activities.

Everyone loves an open fire, almost as much entertainment as the TV

So what would your autumn in the Cairngorms look like?

This autumn, rather than offering a long list of fixed departures, we’re trying something a little more flexible.

If you’re travelling with family or friends and know roughly what you’d like to do, get in touch.

We can help you work out whether that means a day learning navigation, a couple of days exploring the Cairngorms, a pony-supported hot-tent experience, a yarn weekend – or simply a mixture of time outside and time to slow down.

You choose the dates.

We’ll help you make the most of them.

Autumn in the Highlands doesn’t have to follow a timetable.