Plan a trip

3 days in the Cairngorms

Stay in Braemar. Day 1: Balmoral Castle, Balmoral Exhibition and Abergeldie Castle; day 2: Braemar Highland Heritage Centre, Braemar Castle and Morrone; day 3: Creag Bhalg near Braemar, Mar Lodge Estate National Nature Reserve and Lui Water, townships 800m to 2780m SE of Derry Lodge.

Make it yoursstart from your town, pick the month, swap any stop

Day 1 · the Cairngorms

  1. Balmoral Castle Category A listed, 11 km from Braemar
  2. Balmoral Exhibition 11 km from Braemar Next door to the last stop
  3. Abergeldie Castle 8.3 km from Ballater 3 km from the last stop
Lunch
The Highlanders Bakehouse 10 km from Ballater
If it rains
Royal Lochnagar Distillery 11 km from Ballater

Open day 1 in Google Maps

Night 1 · Braemar

3 bus stops within 400 m

Day 2 · the Cairngorms

  1. Braemar Highland Heritage Centre in Braemar
  2. Braemar Castle Category A listed, 1.1 km from Braemar 1 km from the last stop
  3. Morrone 3.3 km from Braemar 4 km from the last stop
Lunch
Farquharsons Bar and Kitchen in Braemar

Open day 2 in Google Maps

Night 2 · still in Braemar

Day 3 · the Cairngorms

  1. Creag Bhalg near Braemar 6.0 km from Braemar
  2. Mar Lodge Estate National Nature Reserve 9.2 km from Braemar 3 km from the last stop
  3. Lui Water, townships 800m to 2780m SE of Derry Lodge Scheduled monument, 9.7 km from Braemar 1 km from the last stop

Open day 3 in Google Maps

How this plan is made

No one picks these by hand and no one pays to be in them. The planner's rules take the places and roads the Cairngorms's pages rank, for anyone, any month: one town to stay in, and each day its best stop with the best ones close to it, three a day, with lunch nearby and an indoor stop if it rains. Distances are as the crow flies, so the road is longer. Check opening times on each place's page before you go. How the ranking works.

Questions

Where should I stay for 3 days in the Cairngorms?

Braemar. It is the town with the best stops within 15 km for this trip, so you don't pack up every morning. Braemar: 3 bus stops within 400 m.

What should I do first?

Day 1 is Balmoral Castle, Balmoral Exhibition and Abergeldie Castle: the best stop for this trip, then the best ones within 5 km of it.

Who picked these places?

Nobody. The same rules make every plan from the places and roads the site ranks with one open formula, and no place pays to be in a plan.

How it works, in full

Free, and made for the love of the UK

offyougo is free, with no adverts and no paid places. It is made by one person, Pavel, who loves this country, every park, coast, town and back lane of it, and would like people from everywhere on Earth to travel round it more. The servers and the AI that writes the short descriptions cost money every month. If offyougo helped you plan a day out, please consider a one-off gift.

A one-off payment through Stripe, from £2 to £2,000; the receipt comes by email. Or buy Pavel a matcha 🍵 on Ko-fi.

Have an idea, a place that should be here, a feature you would like, or want to work together? Write to offyougo@guzh.uk.