Town in Scottish Highlands, Scotland
Aviemore
A railway stop that became Scotland's ski capital, with a free-roaming herd of reindeer on its doorstep and an osprey-watching hotspot down the road.
Key information
- County
- Scottish Highlands
- Nation
- Scotland
- Population
- About 3,200 (2011 Census)
- Known for
- Skiing on Cairn Gorm, the Cairngorms, reindeer, the Strathspey Railway
- Famous people
- Mikel Utsi, Ethel Lindgren (reindeer pioneers linked to the area)
About Aviemore
The town that reindeer made famous
Britain's only free-ranging herd of reindeer lives on the hills above Aviemore. They arrived in 1952, when Mikel Utsi, a Swedish Sami reindeer herder, and his wife, the anthropologist Ethel Lindgren, brought a small group to the Cairngorms. They reckoned the high, mossy plateau looked a lot like Lapland. They were right. The herd has been here ever since, and you can still join a guided walk to feed the animals from the Reindeer Centre at Glenmore, a short drive from town. Reindeer had once lived wild in Scotland, but they had died out centuries earlier. The herd is a neat reminder of what Aviemore has always been: a small place that sits next to some very big, very cold landscape.
From railway halt to ski capital
Aviemore's name comes from the Gaelic for 'big face', and for centuries there was little here beyond a scatter of farms. Then the railway arrived in 1863, on the line linking Perth to Inverness. Aviemore became a junction and a place to change trains, and Victorian visitors discovered the pine woods and mountains outside the window. The real transformation came in the 1960s. Scotland's first big ski development took shape on Cairn Gorm, and the Aviemore Centre opened in 1966 with an ice rink, entertainment halls and a very modern idea of a Highland holiday. Concrete and chalets arrived, and Aviemore was suddenly Scotland's winter-sports town. The resort has been reworked many times since, but the formula has stuck. Come for the snow, stay for the hills.
The funicular that took five years to reopen
The Cairngorm Mountain funicular opened in 2001 and carried visitors up towards the Ptarmigan station, near the summit of Cairn Gorm, making it the highest railway in the UK. It closed in 2018 after structural problems were found, and the long wait for a fix became a national talking point. It reopened in early 2023. The ski slopes themselves date back further than the railway. A chairlift went up in 1961, and the area still gives Scotland some of its most reliable snow. In a good winter, locals will tell you the season can run well into spring. Cairn Gorm stands at 1,245 metres. Its neighbour Ben Macdui, at 1,309 metres, is the second-highest mountain in Britain.
Ospreys, lochs and a very old pine forest
Aviemore sits inside the Cairngorms National Park, the largest national park in the UK. On its doorstep is the Rothiemurchus Forest, a remnant of ancient Caledonian pinewood. It shelters red squirrels, capercaillie, crested tits and pine martens. Loch Morlich has a proper sandy beach, ringed by pines and watched over by mountains. Loch an Eilein has a ruined island castle that looks like a film set. Nearby Loch Garten is the home of Scotland's most famous ospreys. The birds returned to nest there in 1954 after disappearing from Britain, and the RSPB has watched over them ever since. Just above the town is Craigellachie, a crag whose name is the rallying cry of Clan Grant: 'Stand Fast, Craigellachie'. It is now a national nature reserve, and the walk up is short but rewarding.
Steam, sled dogs and Wildcat ale
Aviemore's heritage line, the Strathspey Railway, runs steam and diesel trains through the pines to Boat of Garten and Broomhill. It reopened in 1978 and has Broomhill station, which many will remember as the fictional Glenbogle in the TV series Monarch of the Glen. Every January the hills fill with the barking of huskies at the Cairngorm Sleddog Rally, where teams pull wheeled rigs, or sleds if the snow allows, through the forest. It is one of the biggest events of its kind in Britain. For refreshment, there is Wildcat ale from the Cairngorm Brewery, formed in 2001 from the merger of Aviemore Brewery and Tomintoul Brewery. Local menus lean on Highland venison, game and smoked fish, which suits the weather.