My winter campervan journey within the Cairngorms, Scotland | Highlands holidays

The street north takes us by means of a panorama muted by frost, the hills hazy beneath the milky winter solar. My good friend Anna and I are heading for the Cairngorms in a crimson campervan referred to as Rowan, which we picked up from Massive Sky Campers, simply throughout the Forth from Edinburgh. It’s an acceptable identify, for we see the crimson berries of rowan bushes in every single place we go, shining so brightly it’s as if somebody’s strung tiny clusters of baubles on the silver-barked branches.

At 1,748 sq. miles, the Cairngorms is the UK’s largest nationwide park, stretching from Perthshire within the south to Moray within the north; mountains rear up simply after we go the riverside village of Dunkeld, armed with pastries from Aran Bakery. After I’ve been up right here earlier than, I’ve solely skirted the sting of the park, sticking near the hiking-shop-crammed city of Aviemore and seeing the hills – cloaked in snow at Easter and resplendent in purple heather in summer season – from afar.

Decided to get proper into the mountains, winter seems like the right time for a street journey – with few different vacationers and the panorama arguably at its most dramatic. Our journey will take us north alongside the A9 earlier than heading south from Grantown-on-Spey on what Go to Cairngorms calls the Snow Roads. A 90-mile route that features the very best public roads in Britain, the Snow Roads wind south by means of mountain passes to Blairgowrie, simply exterior the nationwide park. Our plan is to drive its entirety over a few days, then loop again into the park close to the village of Blair Atholl.

With the brief days, it seems like we’re chasing a solar that solely simply makes it above the hills. The sunshine is already fading once we arrive at RSPB Insh Marshes after a two-hour drive, silhouetting the leafless bushes towards the cotton-wool sky. The trail – we’ve got solely sufficient daylight left for the one-mile monitor – winds by means of purple-tinged birch, frost crunching underfoot. Mountains, dusted with snow like icing-sugared muffins, loom within the distance, and honking gaggles of greylag geese stripe the sky in Vs.

Our campsite for the evening, Dalraddy Vacation Park, was arrange on Alvie Property within the late Sixties by the present laird’s father to cater for skiers. As we speak, it’s a sprawling however quiet website, handily open all yr, with expansive mountain views and extra secluded spots hidden among the many bushes. Rowan has two beds – one within the roof tent and the opposite on the again seats, which fold down – although we go for the hotter possibility of sharing the latter, made additional cosy by the duvets, hot-water bottles and blankets Massive Sky Campers present. We sleep fairly properly and wake to the piercing shriek of a tawny owl.

The property works in partnership, its supervisor Jonny tells me, with different native companies together with horse using and ziplining, which I do at evening, whizzing above the silver streak of a river. Many of those are run by individuals who have determined to diversify after having run ski companies; the altering local weather means snowfall is much less dependable.

Regardless of the property being managed it nonetheless feels wild, notably as we climb up above the tree line for a view of the encompassing snow-streaked mountains. Now we have lunch in a candlelit bothy whereas crimson deer eat simply exterior; afterwards, we head to a cover to look at for crimson squirrels, although they solely tease us with a short look. Scotland’s relaxed Outside Entry Code signifies that anybody can discover the land right here on foot, however entry to the bothy and conceal is best (and most enjoyable) on a tour with Jamie, the laird of the property.

If something, we’re too spoiled for alternative right here within the Cairngorms – notably when there are solely about seven hours of daylight to play with. By the point we’re on the Snow Roads later that day, the one factor we will make out within the darkness is the thick fog that descends with no warning. It’s with a sigh of aid that we attain the cosy pods at Howe of Torbeg, tucked on a hillside simply exterior the Cairngorms’ darkish sky park; usually this might be a unbelievable spot for stargazing, however tonight the climate isn’t in our favour.

The subsequent day, we retrace our steps to see the street in all its glory. It’s simply 20 miles to Tomintoul, but it surely takes us a very good couple of hours with all of the stops to absorb the views. “It’s like fixed golden hour,” Anna says, our shadows solid lengthy on the bottom once we park up at The Watchers, an artwork set up of 4 putting cocoon-like seats.

I’ll be sincere: we’re not hardy sufficient to stay out 4 nights within the caravan right now of yr and solely spend the primary evening in Rowan. (Judging from the variety of vans we see at Dalraddy and Braemar campsites, there are a good variety of campers made from sturdier stuff than us.) Nonetheless, having a van is an actual deal with. At lunchtime, Rowan actually comes into her personal: we park beside a slim burn on the Glenlivet Property and make tea to accompany our sandwiches, which we take pleasure in with a mountain view from the again seat. Later, when the climate turns, we use the again of the van to squeeze into extra thermals, and heat up on the heated seats after our walks.

We head south for our subsequent cease, Ballater, arriving at midnight (once more) on the Balmoral Arms; the morning reveals the village’s sleek buildings and unbiased retailers, the large River Dee speeding close by. Now we have simply 50 miles left of the Snow Roads from right here however permit a complete day to drive it, stopping at Braemar to affix a tour with Simon Blackett of Yellow Welly Excursions, who takes us to the Linn of Dee (“a linn is a slim, whooshy gorge,” he tells us, as we watch the frothy coffee-coloured river buffer between steep rocky partitions) and to see shaggy coated highland cows.

The panorama turns into gentler and greener as we close to the top of the Snow Roads, however swinging again as much as the Outdated Manse of Blair for our last evening takes us again into the drama of the nationwide park. We’re greeted with mulled cider and a heat welcome from front-of-house Jason. The subsequent morning we wake to the hills simply coming into focus, streaked with heather and delicate daylight.

The difficulty with having a campervan is that we really feel much more untethered to normality than we normally would on vacation; there’s a sense we may simply maintain going and going. As a substitute, we postpone actuality for just a bit longer, wandering the woodlands round Blair Fortress to seek out crimson squirrels, earlier than chasing the final of the solar again to Edinburgh.

Van rent was offered by Massive Sky Campers (from £285 for 3 nights). The journey was hosted by Cairngorms Enterprise Partnership and Go to Cairngorms. To plan a go to, see Go to Cairngorms. Rail journey from London to Edinburgh with Lumo (from £24.90 a method)