Scottish Highlands: Braemar to Kingussie through the Cairngorms

Through the Cairngorms National Park. About 113 km of one of the most scenic drives in Scotland: from Braemar in Royal Deeside over the Lecht Road (about 640 m, a ski area in winter and one of the snowiest roads in Scotland) to Tomintoul, the highest village in the Highlands, then down into the whisky country of Speyside and Strathspey to Kingussie. Plan three hours without stops.

The route. Braemar – Crathie – Gairnshiel – Corgarff – the Lecht – Tomintoul – Cromdale – Grantown-on-Spey – Kincraig – Kingussie. It follows much of the Snow Roads scenic route (A93 and A939).

On the way. Balmoral Castle, the Scottish home of the royal family, is near Crathie. Corgarff Castle is a 16th-century tower house that was later a Jacobite stronghold and a barracks. Tomintoul was founded in the 18th century as a planned village. Speyside has more malt whisky distilleries than anywhere else in Scotland, and Grantown-on-Spey is its centre. Kincraig is on Loch Insh and has the Highland Wildlife Park nearby. At Kingussie the ruins of Ruthven Barracks stand above the valley.

Good to know. The Lecht Road can be closed after snow from October to April, and sheep and deer cross the road. Fill the tank before Tomintoul. The music is Scottish.

Picture: Corgarff Castle, Pjt56, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.