|
If
you can tear yourself away from the views at Bluefolds Holiday Co ttages
to the mountains in the Cairngorms National Park, there is much
to do in the local area in Glenlivet,  Tomintoul, Dufftown, Aberlour, Forres and Elgin as well down on the coast at Lossiemouth or Findhorn. Please bring your binoculars
with you for in the car and on your walks. Glenlivet is a fantastic
area for viewing birds, wildlife and wild flowers for more details
visit the Glenlivet
wildlife site. After you have enjoyed the resident rabbits,
sheep, birds, and deer, touring is easy from the cottages. Elgin, our local town, has a beautiful ruined Cathedral, as well
as many shops and restaurants. The 2 main supermarkets are open 24 hours a day. From Elgin it is
a short drive to Lossiemouth's harbour and beaches.There are stunning
beaches all along the Moray Firth coast including Findhorn, Roseisle,
Hopeman and Cullen. The Glenlivet estate
stretches between Bluefolds cottages and Tomintoul
and is a remote area of outstanding natural beauty at the centre
of the Cairngorms National Park. It has an excellent selection of
walking and cycling trails including hill, forest and river walks.
There is also an exciting wild farm walk where you can meet friendly reindeer (photo left), wild boar, red deer and soay  sheep. This area is also ideal for dog walking.  More Photos The Speyside Way is
only a short distance from Bluefolds. The Speyside Way is 65 miles
from Aviemore to to Spey Bay with a spur to Tomintoul. Most of the
route follows the river Spey. From Spey Bay where there is a wildlife
visitors centre along to Aberlour and on to Grantown on Spey. Salmon
leap and are fished beside much of the route. Fly fishing here is
an angler's dream. Aberlour is an attractive small town with a supermarket, a high class delicatessen, clothes and gift shops as well as some excellent pubs and restaurants. Ben Rinnes at 840m is the highest hill in the Glenlivet area and is a Corbett, for Corbett baggers, with great
views to the Cairngorm mountains and the Moray Firth coast at Lossiemouth. The view of Ben Rinnes is seen on the way to the cottages. The Cardhu distillery, (right) home of Johnnie Walker is close to Aberlour. Tomintoul, the highest village in the highlands, has a selection
of restaurants and gift shops including A’anside
studios and the Whisky Castle and Highland Market which sells an amazing selection of whiskies and very attractive gifts at reasonable prices. Close to the Glenlivet Estate Office is an exciting free adventure playground for children. There are wonderful walks on the Glenlivet estate around Tomintoul and some stunning views to the River Avon and Ben Avon from the road to Grantown on Spey.The wildlife and wildflowers on the estate and all over the Glenlivet area are beautiful. Spring is a wonderful time to enjoy them fully.It is just a short drive to the Lecht
ski area near Tomintoul, open all year round for a variety of activities. The
Lecht has a wonderful new centre and is ideal for sking and snowboarding
in winter and in summer enjoy tubing and go karts. Dufftown is famous for 2 whisky festivals and for having 9 distilleries. On the outskirts of Dufftown is the excellent 18 hole Golf course, which I am told is not for the faint hearted as there are some steep hills to climb, as well as golf balls to hit! The town also has an excellent
butcher, baker, whisky shop, and supermarket. Dufftown is at the very heart of the Malt Whisky Trail. (Photo of town centre with tower left) To get
a better flavour of the whisky festivals you can read about them at the Spirit of Speside website or the Dufftown site.
Dates for 2012: Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 3-7 May 12; Dufftown Speyside Whisky Festival 27 Septemeber - 1 October 12 From May to Sep each year, there are Pipe band practices followed by whisky nosings on Tuesday evenings
and Ceilidhs on Thursday evenings in either the Commercial Hotel or the Legion. The Glenfiddich distillery is
open to the public (free) while close by is
the picturesque ruined Balvenie Castle, with it’s renaissance facade
beautifully maintained by Historic Scotland. Other local distilleries to visit
and whiskies to taste include Macallan, Glen Grant, Glenfarclas,
the Glenlivet (free tours), Aberlour and Cardhu. 9 miles in opposite directions are Dufftown (photo left of pipe bands marching through Dufftown after the Highland Games - last Saturday in July annually) and the highest village
in the highlands Tomintoul.
|
.gif){kind=logo}