Places to eat
Newtonmore (~5 min)
A small, intimate restaurant in the heart of Newtonmore village — the kind of place where every table is the good one. Plenty of our guests have eaten here and come back with nothing but praise. With only a few tables it books up fast in summer and on weekends year-round, so call ahead rather than chance walking in. Five minutes by car from the property, easy parking on the street.
The local pub of choice if you fancy a proper bar with food rather than a restaurant with drinks. The bar is well regarded in its own right — real ale, a relaxed crowd, and the kind of low-key Highland hotel atmosphere where nobody minds muddy boots. Plenty of our guests have eaten here and gone away happy; the menu leans pub-classic rather than ambitious, which is exactly what you want after a long walk. Five minutes by car from the property.
Don't be put off by the outside — it's an unassuming place that won't win any architecture awards, but the food's fine and the prices are honest. Popular with truckers passing through on the A9, which is usually a good sign for a roadside eatery anywhere. Five minutes from the property, easy parking. Worth knowing about for a no-nonsense feed when you don't want to dress up.
Laggan (~15 min west)
An award-winning family café and gallery in Laggan village, fifteen minutes west of us. Very popular, and rightly so — excellent across the board for coffee and cakes, or for a proper lunch, with a log burner in the corner for the colder months. Daytime only, and the hours change with the season — check their Facebook page for the latest before driving over. The perfect halfway stop on the way to or from Craig Meagaidh.
On the way to Craig Meagaidh
Dalwhinnie (~15 min south)
Fifteen minutes south of us at the foot of the Dalwhinnie hills — a small, well-run café that's quietly become one of our favourite local stops. Excellent across the board for coffee, cakes, or a proper lunch, and most of what's on the plate is sourced locally. Daytime only — Mon–Sat 9–5, Sun 10–4 — so plan around it. Pair it with Dalwhinnie Distillery if you're heading south for a wee day out.
Pair with Dalwhinnie Distillery
Aviemore (~20 min north)
Probably the best eatery in the whole area, and certainly our favourite for a special meal out. The food is excellent and the room hums with atmosphere — roaring fires and a full house most evenings. Known locally for its live music: the calendar varies, so check their website for upcoming acts before you book. Gets very busy in summer and on bank-holiday weekends, so call ahead rather than chance it. About twenty minutes north in Aviemore, easy off the A9.
Local walks
Two start from the door — no car needed. After that we ask one question at breakfast: west or east? Everything below is under half an hour away.
From the door
About half an hour on foot from the property — no car needed. Head back up the track to the farm, turn right along the road, and after about 100 metres you'll see an enormous boulder with a sign for the geographical centre of Scotland on it. Turn up the forest track at the boulder; the viewpoint is on your right. Sunrise and sunset are both worth setting an alarm or a glass of wine for, and on a clear evening you can pick out the line of the Cairngorms running east. Bring decent shoes and a layer — even in summer — and if you go at dusk, a torch for the way back down.
A wee low-level loop from the door, ideal for an early-morning stretch before breakfast. Take the middle track — the one between our entrance and the neighbours' driveway — and follow it down towards the river. Ignore the gate sign warning about cows: there haven't been any here for years. But do close every gate behind you anyway — habit's a useful thing in this part of the world. When you reach the river, go right; the path follows the bank and loops you back. Early on you'll often see deer down at the water and hares in the bracken before the sun's properly up.
Heading west
Lunch on the way: The Coffee Bothy, Laggan.
The walk in to Coire Àrdair is our usual recommendation for guests with a full day and the legs for it — moderate going, roughly four hours there and back, finishing under cliffs that climbers have been arguing about for a century. The reserve's main car park is signposted from the A86 a couple of minutes past Aberarder. The path is wide and well-graded through the woodland and out across the meadows; the last stretch up to the lochan gets boggier underfoot, so bring boots rather than trail runners. Watch the woodland for red deer on the way in and the cliffs above for golden eagles. The Coffee Bothy in Laggan is on the drive home — perfect timing for a late lunch.
Lunch on the way The Coffee Bothy, Laggan
Heading east
Loch Morlich, The Green Loch and Meall a' Bhuachaille all share the Glenmore Visitor Centre car park — easy to combine in a day.
A low-level loop around a loch with a ruined castle on an island in the middle — about three and a half miles, almost entirely under Caledonian pine, easy underfoot in any weather. The path stays close to the water nearly the whole way; red squirrels are common enough that you'll likely spot one if you slow down and look up. The car park belongs to Rothiemurchus Estate, so there's a small charge at the gate. The loch is one of the better spots locally for wild swimming — clean, deep, and properly cold — and the castle ruin makes for a striking backdrop on a still day. Voted one of the best short walks in Scotland, and for once the accolade holds up.
A circuit around a loch with a sandy beach — Caledonian pine forest one side, watersports the other, and water cold enough to clear your head in any season. The path round is flat and good underfoot, about an hour and a half with stops. In high summer the place gets genuinely busy — by 11 on a hot weekend the beach end is packed, so come early or aim for late afternoon and stay for the light. Wild swimming is popular at the east end where the sand is. There's a café at the Glenmore Visitor Centre by the car park — useful for a coffee before, or a sit-down after.
A short, low-level loop through ancient Scots pine around four hidden lochans — the kind of walk you can do in trainers and still come back with photographs. It's quiet, which is the whole point: ten minutes off the A9 and you'd never know. The easy circuit takes about 40 minutes, but if you've got an hour, climb the wee crag at the south end of the lochans for wide views across Strathspey and out to the eastern Cairngorms. The car park is signed off the B970 — small, easy to miss. One warning: the lochans are a midge factory in still weather between June and September, so bring repellent and don't dawdle on a windless evening.
Two walks for the price of one, sharing a car park at the Glenmore Visitor Centre. The easy version follows the track through Caledonian pine forest to An Lochan Uaine — the Green Loch — where the water genuinely is an eerie shade of green; the local legend says the fairies wash their clothes there. The longer version carries on past the loch, past Ryvoan bothy, and climbs the steep, grassy flank of Meall a' Bhuachaille to a summit with wide views over the Cairngorm plateau. Allow about an hour and a half for the loch round trip, four hours if you commit to the hill. The decision point is clear: when you reach the bothy, either turn back or look up.
Things to do
A short drive north — fifteen minutes by car — and one of the most reliable half-days out for guests when the weather can't be trusted. The park is split between a drive-through reserve, where you can stay in the car and watch wolves, bison and red deer at close range, and a walking section that takes in the polar bears and the famous Scottish wildcats. Of all of it, the polar bears and wildcats are the two animals guests come back talking about most. Run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, so the welfare standards are taken seriously. Allow three or four hours.
An open-air living history museum a few minutes north of us in Newtonmore, spanning 300 years of Highland life across a sprawling site of reconstructed buildings, working crofts, a 1700s township and a 1930s farm. The 1700s township — Baile Gean — is the one Outlander used for filming the Lallybroch scenes; worth seeking out even if you've never seen the show. Free to enter, which is unusual for a site of this scale, and you can easily lose half a day to it. One catch: it's outdoor by design, so it's not the place to head on a wet day — save it for the sun. Spoken of very positively by guests who visit.
The closest distillery to us, fifteen minutes south on the A9 — and one of the highest in Scotland. The tour is a proper one: tasting, history, the lot, and well regarded by guests who've gone on it. The single malt itself is on the lighter, heather-honey end of the Highland spectrum, friendly to people who don't usually drink whisky as well as to people who do. Tours run year-round but the slots fill, especially on a wet day in summer, so book ahead. Pair it with coffee at The Apiary just up the road for a proper day out.
Pair with coffee at The Apiary
A small visitor centre in the middle of Newtonmore village covering local history, shinty, and the Scottish wildcat. Worth a quick visit on its own, but its real value is as the starting point for the Wildcat Trail — a waymarked orbital walk round the village that takes in river bank, moorland and wooded hills, with painted wildcat statues hidden along the route. The full loop is about 10km and takes three to four hours at a relaxed pace; you can also pick up just a section if you'd rather not commit to the whole thing. Five minutes from us by car. Pop in for the information first, then head out the door.
Twenty minutes north on the Spey, and our favourite spot locally for wild swimming. The centre runs hires and lessons for paddleboarding, kayaking, sailing and windsurfing; you can rock up for an hour with the kit or book a half-day session with an instructor. The restaurant overlooks the water and is a fine spot for a coffee or lunch before or after, even if you're not getting on the loch. A good half-day for guests who fancy a bit of activity without driving too far.
Practical amenities
The everyday things you might need during a stay — where to get groceries, fuel, a prescription, or a doctor.
Food shop
The closest proper supermarket to us, five minutes down the road on Main Street in Newtonmore. Not enormous, but reliable for everything you'd want on a self-catering shop — fresh food, dairy, bread, wine, the usual basics. Open every day, seven in the morning until ten at night, which makes it the practical fallback when you've come back from a walk and realised dinner still needs sorting. Parking right outside.
Fuel
The Esso garage on Perth Road as you come into Newtonmore off the A9 — easily the closest fuel to us. There's a Spar shop attached for snacks, an ATM, and toilets if a coffee has caught up with you. Seven in the morning until ten at night, every day.
Also good south of us: Dalwhinnie Filling Station
Fifteen minutes south on the A9 in Dalwhinnie village — handy if you're heading that way for the distillery, or if you need to fill up out of hours. The pumps run on pay-at-pump card terminals twenty-four hours; the shop and the small Post Office counter inside are daytime only (mornings Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri for the Post Office). One of the higher-altitude filling stations in Scotland, if that helps you settle a pub quiz one day.
Pair with Dalwhinnie Distillery
Pharmacy & medical
The community pharmacy on Main Street in Newtonmore — five minutes down the road. Open Monday to Friday nine until six, and Saturday morning until one. Closed all day Sunday. If you need something out of hours or on a Sunday, call NHS 24 on 111 — they'll point you to whichever chemist in the wider area is on the on-call rota that day.
The NHS GP surgery that covers Newtonmore as well as Kingussie, on Gynack Road in Kingussie — about ten minutes north of us. Open weekdays only, eight-thirty until six. If you need to see someone outside those hours, or at the weekend, dial NHS 24 on 111. For anything immediately life-threatening it's 999.
Book ahead
In peak season (July–August) and on bank holidays, places like The Old Bridge Inn and The Letterbox fill up days in advance. Don't just turn up and hope for the best.
The midges
Walking near water or in the woods between June and September? Bring insect repellent. They will find you if you stand still for more than ten seconds.
Weather
Four seasons in one day isn't a cliché here — it's a warning. Always carry a waterproof, even if the sun is out when you leave. The A9 has average speed cameras, so plan your time.
All distances and times are approximate and by car unless stated.