The Hills Round Braemar

Arrive:
The holiday is based in the Braemar area in the Cairngorms National Park. Should you choose to fly (Inverness) or get the train (Aviemore) we will be there to meet you. If possible try to aim to arrive before 5:30 pm as the drive from Boat of Garten around to Braemar takes around 80 minutes. The property we will be staying in is near Braemar.

Day 1: Carn a’ Gheoidh, The Cairnwell and Carn Aosda form an undulating ridge on the east side of the Glen Shee road.

924m (3034ft) of ascent and 9.4 miles (15km) on footpaths, tracks and moderately rough mountain terrain. Mainly gentle gradients but with 4km of steady ascent ending in 100m steep ascent. Approx walking time excluding breaks: 6:15

Day 2: Sees us having a gentler day and making a circuit through Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve and down to and along the banks of the River Dee and the Deeside Way.

280m (900ft) of ascent and 9.3 miles (15km) on footpaths and tracks with gentle gradients. Approx walking time excluding breaks: 5:00

Day 3: Our quarry today is the mighty Lochnagar and it’s munro neighbour of Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach. Our route is the one favoured by poet Lord Byron and takes us over General Wades Brig O’ Dee and through Balmoral’s beautiful Ballochbuie Forest.

1130m (3700ft) of ascent and 14 miles (22km) on footpaths, tracks and moderately rough mountain terrain with generally moderate gradients but including an easy scramble. Approx walking time excluding breaks: 7:00

Day 4: A Day Off today! We will be booking a restaurant for a meal out. I suggest the Indian on the Green but we will leave it for a while as sadly many of the businesses are having to refurbish due to flooding caused by Storm Frank.

Day 5: The approach of Beinn Bhreac takes in one of the classic approaches to the Southern High Cairngorms and in doing so its summit provides a grandstand viewpoint across to the high reaches of the Cairngorm – Ben Macdui Plateau.

750m (2450ft) of ascent and 13 miles (21km) on footpaths and tracks with some moderate gradients. Approx walking time excluding breaks: 7:30

Day 6: The broad stony whaleback mountain of An Socach (munro) is our target today.

685m (2240ft) of ascent and 10 miles (17km) on footpaths and tracks with some moderate gradients. Approx walking time excluding breaks: 5:36

Depart:
Most guests depart the following morning after walking finishes, after breakfast but should you have a plane or train to catch we will make sure you we get you there in good time. If you would like to extend your stay at Fraoch Lodge please don’t hesitate to get in contact.

Braemar is a drive of 90 minutes from our normal home base at Fraoch Lodge so for this trip to the Royal Deeside area, we stay at The Knock in Inverey, near Braemar and transfer the whole family ethos there.

The Knock is on the road to Linn of Dee. It is in a beautiful situation with paths starting from the doorstep and walking or mountain biking to suit everyone at hand. The house comfortably sleeps a group of 8 people with a plentiful number of showers 1 double room and 3 twin rooms.

All the rooms are very spacious with high ceilings and the kitchen/dining area is enormous. There’s even very conveniently space for us to set up our drying room so you can always head out in dry gear.

Meals are provided by the Scot Mountain Holidays team from your evening of arrival to morning of departure.

We have achieved Gold Star Awards from the world’s most highly respected green accreditation scheme, Green Tourism, and were awarded Highly Commended in their Green Star Awards 2013 for both Scot Mountain Holidays and Fraoch Lodge. We offer a Green Travel Discount of £15 to any guests who travel to us by public transport. Our primary aim is to minimise the carbon footprint of our holidays, and to this end we donate 1% of the price of our tours to the RSPB’s Abernethy Reforestation project.

It is a holistic approach we have to the care of the environment. Andy your adventure guide has a passion for the natural world – whether it’s the flora, fauna or fungi. He has a background in geology and a lifelong interest in natural history, as well as being a keen gardener.  He knows a Golden Plover from a Dotterel, a Green Shank and a Dunlin. He also makes no apologies to being very excitable upon spying a Golden Eagle!

For further information, please don’t hesitate to check out our Environmental Responsibility page, or contact us directly at info@scotmountainholidays.com.