What to see in Cairngorms National Park in the spring?

shawes86

My wife and I will be based in Inverness for a few days in late April 2018. We have a day to explore and are thinking of heading into the Cairngorms National Park for a day trip (already have 2 other days of exploring the city and a drive around Loch Ness planned on other days).  Would love and appreciate some suggestions on what to see and do on a day trip into the park.  Thanks!

Horizons

Interested in whisky? Part of the Speyside region lies inside the park (Tomintoul, Glenlivet, etc). Aviemore is the largest town in the park and has many a food option. There are a lot of walks in the area ranging from easy (through a forest where birds are protected) to strenuous (across the Cairngorm mountain range).  My own experiences: Speyside and Cairngorms.

P.S. I hope that you have a wee trip to Skye planned for your free time. I would not miss seeing it if this is your 1st visit to Scotland.

VisitScotlandPatricia

Why not take a drive to Royal Deeside. It takes about two hours from Inverness and the scenery is awesome. There's a good chance that you will see lots of wild life.
If you are Interested in visiting Castles you'll find many in this area including Balmoral Castle the holiday residence of our Royal Family.

spoots

Spring is perhaps the best time to visit the RSPB Loch Garten Osprey Centre.  You might be able to see capercaillies, ospreys, crested tits, siskins, Scottish crossbills, red squirrels and roe deer among other things.  Around Loch Garten itself and on the guided walks, you could see goldeneyes, wigeons, common sandpipers, buzzards, and possibly otters.

Read more at https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/find-a-reserve/reserves-a-z/reserves-by-name/l/lochgarten/about.aspx

How to get there: https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/find-a-reserve/reserves-a-z/reserves-by-name/l/lochgarten/directions.aspx

I would actually recommend Grantown-on-Spey over Aviemore.  It also has a museum: http://www.grantownmuseum.co.uk/

A visit can be combined with a trip on the popular Strathspey Railway between Aviemore, Boat of Garten and Broomhill (https://www.strathspeyrailway.co.uk/).  Boat of Garten station is the nearest to the reserve.  

A bus timetable for the Aviemore-Boat of Garten-Grantown-Carrbridge-Inverness busroute can be found here: https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/North Scotland/Highlands/TT_Bad & Strath_14_August_2017 Web.pdf

VisitScotlandJulie

You can also browse the dedicated Cairngorms National Park websites  - both useful resources to find out about events, attractions  and activities.

http://visitcairngorms.com/

http://cairngorms.co.uk/discover-explore/