As Storm Abigail bashes and batters the outside of our house on this windy, wet, cold Shetland winter’s day, and the flickering lights mean the electricity is still holding on, I am daydreaming of warmer temperatures and the family adventures of times gone by.
Last year my husband and I took our younger two children for a summer holiday adventure south to the UK mainland. We packed the car with our camping gear, took the overnight ferry 200 miles south and drove from Aberdeen through the eastern side of the Cairngorms to Edinburgh for an overnight stay. We then spent five nights camping in the Lake District before heading down to Garstang to visit friends, and then back up again to the Cairngorms for three nights camping in Aviemore before heading back north to Shetland.
It was a rather grand (and incredibly expensive!) adventure, but we made a lot of memories on that trip.
One of my favourite experiences was the day we went mountain biking through the Cairngorms.
Mike’s Bikes bike shop and hire is nestled in the centre of some ideal mountain biking trails in Aviemore, beside the tennis courts at Rothiemurchus. Staff there were very knowledgeable and friendly, and they kitted us out with helmets and three bikes – a trailer bike for my husband and our youngest, and perfectly sized mountain bikes for myself and Madam.
We were handed a map with the best family-friendly trails on it and there was just enough of a breeze to keep the relentless blood thirsty midges away.
The off road trail we were taking was very well maintained, and any areas where we might have to cross a road were well marked and signposted. I was really impressed with these trails – so very safe when cycling with children.
Our trail took us west through the forest to Loch Morlich and back – a 15 mile round trip.
Afterwards, since the hostile Scottish midge population prevented the possibility of any sort of outdoor cooking, we picked up a pizza (again – we might have eaten here all three days of our Aviemore stay!) at La Taverna, makers of mighty fine thin crust pizzas. Would you believe that it was here we ran into one of DD’s classmates and mother? Hundreds of miles from home and we bump into someone from Shetland…
While we waited for our pizzas to cook we watched the dramatic weather over the nearby mountains. A truly stunning place (with a lot of midges – have I mentioned the midges yet?).
All in all it was a pretty fantastic day trip and definitely something I would recommend for families visiting Aviemore. Prices from Mike’s Bikes start from £15 for four hours bike hire.
For more information on the Cairngorms National Park visit their website.
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This is not a sponsored post. We paid for this trip ourselves and just wanted to share our experiences.
Daydream adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Calls Shetland home, for now. One eye is always on the horizon.
ipm says
Those pictures are awesome. It is interesting, I wish I could visit there too
Packing my Suitcase says
Sounds so much fun! And the place really is stunning!
How odd to find someone you know there 😀 small world!
Beautiful pictures!
Thank you for linking up with #MondayEscapes
David Clarke says
7th photo reminding me of ducks walking, nice photos 🙂
Aditi says
Mountain biking sounds rather thrilling and adventurous! As much as ‘m scared of falling off the bike… (and I do fall off each time I ride ;))… I’m adding this to my list of things to do! 😀
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
What incredible views! I would love to have somewhere like this to go mountain biking every day.
Janie says
Oh, those views! Looks like you had a fantastic time, I’m sure good pizza helped! 😀
Janie x
Jen says
Stunning views, it’s been years since I last rode a bike, really should get back in the saddle again.
Katie Bryson says
Oh wow what a fab adventure… i’m loving the sound of this trip Elizabeth and fancy something like this with my boys next summer… love going on adventures in the countryside. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
I would love to do something similar with my two kiddoes. Get fit in beautiful surrounding.
Christine says
This brings back memories as 20+ years ago I completed my Duke of Edinburgh expedition in the Cairngorms and I remember walking alongside Loch Morlich. It was a very warm day and everyone was sunning themselves on the sand whilst we were clomping past in all our walking gear and huge rucksacks! Sorry to hear about the midges on your visit, blooming things! #countrykids
Nazima Pathan says
gorgeous pictures! my two are just starting to enjoy 2 wheeled bike rides so looking forward to next summer. I did think of you as we saw the satellite pictures of the storms heading your way. Glad you are ok x
Coombe Mill says
What a great trip for you all, it’s great that you managed to hire bikes and they gave you a map with kid friendly tracks to follow. I did chuckle that you could consider Scotland south as it’s so far north. It looks like a beautiful place to have been able to explore as a family. Thanks for linking up with me on Country Kids.
Chloe says
Wow your pictures are absolutely stunning. What a beautiful place to go mountain biking. I always seem to bump into people from home when I go away, it’s such a small world isn’t it. My partner loves mountain biking and keeps harping on about going away all together. I’d love to go somewhere like here. It’s so beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing this on #whatevertheweather x
Elizabeth says
Aw thanks Chloe!
Georgia says
Your photos are beautiful, this reminds me of my childhood holidays, we’d go to centre parcs a lot and I loved cycling though the forest!
Elizabeth says
Aw thank you! It’s a stunning place to photograph!
Rebekah says
What a beautiful place for a bike ride! Its all flat here in Florida. I think pizza is a great meal wherever you are;) linking up with you at #whatevertheweather
Elizabeth says
It was a stunning place to cycle and I’m glad we did it. Florida has some seriously awesome swamps to explore, doesn’t it? 🙂
Jenny says
We camped by Loch Morlich in August and loved it, despite the relentless midges!! The bike trails look good, we’ll definitely have to try them out when The boys are a bit older. Typical you meet one of your daughters friends miles from home. I remember a holiday in Italy with my parents and at the top of Mt Vesuvius we bumped into a teacher my dad new from his work (he was a teacher too), very bizarre!
Thanks so much for linking up to #Whatevertheweather 🙂 x
Elizabeth says
Loch Morlich seemed a really busy place. We were camping nearby too, but in a more secluded area. It’s funny how we can bump into people in the strangest of places, isn’t it!
Diana says
The pictures are STUNNING! Sounds like you had so much fun, me and my husband have been planning to go mountain biking for a while now but still didn’t find the time to do it.
Elizabeth says
Aw thanks! It’s a stunning place to visit, but I’m wishing I’d stopped to take more photographs!