Scotland - Hiking week Edinburgh and the Cairngorms

After arriving independently in the Scottish capital, you can easily reach the Haymarket Hotel from the airport by tram, Airlink bus or taxi (see travel notes). After check-in, Princes Street Gardens below Edinburgh Castle invite you for a first stroll through the city. In the evening you meet the group and your mountain guide just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel. At Ryrie’s, one of the city’s most traditional pubs, you get into the mood for the week over hearty Scottish pub food. (D)

In the morning you explore Edinburgh on foot. The Royal Mile leads from the castle down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, past winding “closes”, churches and whisky shops. In Holyrood Park the climb up Arthur’s Seat begins – an extinct volcano in the middle of the city, rewarding you with a panoramic view over the rooftops to the Firth of Forth. In the afternoon the shuttle bus picks you up at the hotel and takes you to Cairngorms National Park. At Fraoch Lodge, Rebecca is already waiting with her renowned home cooking – time to arrive and settle in! (B/D)

Your Highland hiking week starts today with the ascent of Cairn Gorm (1,245 m), Scotland’s sixth-highest mountain. At the top a vast, arctic-like plateau awaits with an impressive panoramic view over the peaks of the Cairngorms. In clear weather you can see as far as Ben Macdui (1,309 m), the second-highest mountain in Great Britain. (B/L/D)

From Grantown-on-Spey you hike along the idyllic Speyside Way through woods and pastures beside the River Spey. On the way you pass the Cairn Distillery, the ruins of Castle Roy and the village of Nethy Bridge with the cosy Nethy House café. (B/L/D)

Via the hamlet of Chapelton and the hill farm of Docharn, the circuit leads through woodland and pasture to Carrbridge with its historic Packhorse Bridge. From the hillside there are spectacular views over the whole Cairngorm range, and with a bit of luck you will spot red squirrels and roe deer in the woods. (B/L/D)

Today is a varied excursion day without hiking boots – the private shuttle is at your disposal all day. After visiting Blair Castle, the gleaming white ancestral seat of the Dukes of Atholl and home of the Atholl Highlanders (Europe’s only legal private army), you continue to the Pass of Killiecrankie. Then you drive on to the pretty Victorian resort town of Pitlochry. After a stroll through the town you visit the Blair Athol Distillery, one of Scotland’s oldest distilleries (founded 1798), whose historic atmosphere appeals not only to whisky lovers. (B/D)

In the morning you walk around Loch Morlich, one of the most beautiful lochs in the Scottish Highlands. The circuit leads through the ancient Caledonian pine forest of Glenmore Forest Park, with views across the water to the Cairngorm massif opening up between the trees. In the afternoon you have an experience found nowhere else in Britain: at the foot of the Cairngorms lives the only free-ranging reindeer herd in the British Isles. With an experienced herder you walk up to the herd in the hills, hand-feed the gentle animals and learn about their way of life and their return to Scotland in the 1950s. (B/L/D)

Depending on how the group feels, your mountain guide shows you the most scenic paths in Glen Feshie, known as one of the most beautiful glens in the Cairngorms. Along heather-clad slopes and a rushing river you may spot red deer, mountain hares and, higher up, even ptarmigan. A last hiking day that is well worth it! (B/L/D)

After breakfast it is time to say goodbye. The transfer takes you back to Edinburgh Airport, where your journey home begins – with plenty of Highland air and unforgettable images of the Cairngorms in your luggage. We recommend a return flight in the late afternoon – we are happy to help you book it. (B)