Up North to Aviemore

Aviemore and the Cairngorms 

So this is what the Cairngorms looks like early March! Beautiful and covered in snow! This was my first time driving up to the Cairngorms, and we did it in one day. From Glasgow I reckon it was just under a three hour drive one way. We were trying to keep the trip low budget which is why we didn't stay overnight, but I think you could definitely justify the cost of accommodation. It is a big day if you are driving! So at least bring coffee. We made a point of leaving Glasgow early to get there around ten, and left at five and had plenty of time to do and see what we wanted. 

The drive is pretty easy and mainly straight forward from Glasgow. Take the M8, get onto the M80 until it becomes the M9. Past Perth it becomes the A9 and you just follow signs for the A9 North until Aviemore becomes signposted.

Once you hit the Caringorms it gets pretty spectacular...

What to do?

Once we arrived in Aviemore, we went to the main town area and went into the visitor centre where they gave us some good leaflets and recommendations. Before I left all my friends who had been had talked about the funicular railway at the ski resort, and also Loch Morlich, which is pretty much what we ended up doing. We also picked up some stuff for lunch in the wee tesco in the town, pretty essential as once you leave the town there is nothing but nature 

Going up...

One of my most favourite pictures

Funicular Railway

I don't know if I was being daft but everyone kept talking about this and I had no clue. Maybe it's coz I don't ski so I am uneducated about how to get up mountains quickly... But! We figured it out. If you aren't at Aviemore to ski (which I shall be putting on my bucket list!) you can just get a pass to get up the mountain on the train cart. One of the leaflets we got given actually had a 20% voucher in the back of it, so have a look if you do go to visitors information. You might also be able to get discount vouchers online! If you are a student you are also able to get a discounted ticket. As we were walking through the car park a lady gave us a free ticket! So if you are done with yours, make someone's day and give your ticket away.

Mel was surprised at how much snow there was! The views are obviously incredible at that time of year and it was great being up high on such a clear and sunny day! You can see Loch Morlich from the top. There is a nice enough looking cafe at the top with a shop, and outside a lovely viewing platform! 

It was really, really bright and that is why we are squinting in this photo

Loch Morlich

We got to Loch Morlich at around lunch time so we started off the only way we know how - with a tasty lunch. We were again lucky that the weather was so great, so we just made use of the picnic benches. There are a few options that we found for various walks in our leaflets. There is a really obvious path around the perimeter of Loch Morlich and that is the one we walked around. It took us a couple of hours at an easy pace, and is pretty flat with a few gentle inclines. Ideal for people who don't want to do anything intense, but do want to spend a decent amount of time walking. I think it was just over a 5km or 6km walk from what I am able to remember. 

It's pretty cool, because you could see the ski resort we had just left. Even though it didn't take us that long to get down to Loch Morlich, it looks like it was miles away.

The photo below makes me feel so calm when I look at it. Everything was so still and wonderful. The walk was really nice as it wasn't overly busy either.

And driving back was pretty great too... I love the texture on all the mountains, with the way the snow has melted in different patterns. A sucker for scenery really!