Golf
The surrounding area is ideal for a golfing holiday, with a wide choice of courses to suit all abilities. The two nearest are the fantastic Boat of Garten Golf Club (my favourite)it’s a James Braid mini Gleneagles Kings course. Abernethy Golf Club is a great little 9 holer. Both are about 10 minutes away. Other courses include the Spey Valley Championship Course for the professionals or the more relaxed nine hole Carrbridge Golf Club.
Tennis
Courts can be hired at either Boat of Garten Golf and Tennis Club or Nethybridge.
Mountain Biking
There’s great mountain biking right outside the door of the cottage with many trails the surrounding area. Feel free to store your bike in the cottage garage or you can hire bikes from Cairngorms Bike and Hike in Boat of Garten, Mikes Bikes in Aviemore, or Base Camp Bikes in Grantown on Spey. They all have quality bikes and can great advice about where to ride. We’ve lots of friends in the area who do road biking too!
The Sustrans Cycle Route is closeby to Braenedin.
There are also plans to do bike uplifts from both Cairngorm Mountain and Lecht ski areas.
Snowsports
Cairngorm Mountain is around 20 minutes aways, and offers a range of pistes to suit all abilities of skiers and snowboarders. You can learn to ski or snowboard with the Ski and Snowboard School near Aviemore.
The Lecht is just over 30 minutes away ideal for all levels of skiers and snowboarders but especially good for beginners and intermediates. Great for kids starting off too with a kinderpark. Also the weather is usually better here.
Walking and Climbing
There are beautiful walks straight from the door through the forest, along the river, or up the mountains. You are in one of Britain’s most wild and stunning places. However, for the less experienced there are a wide variety of marked routes suitable for all abilities.
The popular Speyside way also runs within a few miles of the cottage.
We have maps in the cottage and there are many websites including Walk Highlands along with tourist offices to help you find the ideal walks.
There are also several organisations who offer fantastic climbing and mountaineering in the local area. If you are going up into the hills please do not rely on gps or a mobile phone – buy a map or borrow a map from the cottage. There are people every year who get lost in the Cairngorms. They are wild, they can be dangerous. Be sensible, plan carefully and most importantly check the weather before you set off.
Watersports
Loch Morlich and Loch Insh both offer kayaking, canoeing, sailing and windsurfing. You can either just hire equipment, get a guided tour or take a course. Again, great for all the family.
It was great to have some returning guests from May, when the guidelines changed, as well as visitors who had shifted their holidays from last year.
Snippets from the guestbook below show how much everyone was delighted to be somewhere new; and Braenedin, the Spey Valley and the Cairngorms didn't disappoint. We love reading these for loads of reasons; they give us a warm glow, to check what wildlife has been spotted and getting new ideas for walks or activities to try.
The Scottish Government stated that the guidelines on self-catering will change from Friday 25 September 2020. There is now a one household restriction in self-catering properties, in-line with the restrictions in private homes in Scotland.