Get away from it all, switch off and reconnect with nature in a remote wilderness.
Google ‘off grid holiday’ and you’ll find all of those terms used to describe the kind of back-to-basics break which is becoming increasingly popular.
‘Unique,’ ‘exclusive’ and ‘bespoke’ are some of the other words you’ll turn up with just the click of a mouse.
And so when my wife Frances and I headed to the eastern Highlands of Scotland with our dog Milo, we had high hopes for a relaxing couple of days.
We were off to the Cairngorms for a self-catering woodland break on the outer edge of the UK’s largest national park.
Distiller’s Bothy, the Scots pine forest home for two nights for Andrew, Frances and their dog Milo (Image: ANDREW WHITE)
Our home for two nights was to be the Cairngorm Bothies complex, a series of 12 glamping units deep in a Scots Pine forest.
It was difficult to find – a tick in the off-grid box – but as we pulled up outside our temporary home, we knew the words ‘remote’, ‘tranquil’ and – most notably – ‘beautiful’ would apply.
Each of the bothies is named and we were in the Distiller’s Bothy – and the best word to describe our first impressions is ‘cosy’.
The cosy interior of the bothy, heated by a woodfired range (Image: CAIRNGORM BOTHIES)
The most obvious feature which qualifies this accommodation as off-grid is the woodburning range, complete with a pile of logs and handy firelighters – an integral part of the experience.
The woodburner doubles as a heating system via the towel rail radiator and when roaring, it more than amply warms the room. The back boiler provides the hot water for the showers and taps.
There is an oven alongside the fire and a hot plate above – it took us some time to get the hang of this unusual (for us) way of cooking our tea, but once we did we were well away.
Sustainability is very much part of the ethos of this place, the custodians taking great care to minimise any environmental impact, while still providing a degree of luxury.
But in my view, easily the biggest draw of this location is the stunning location, both within the immediate forest surrounding the bothies and in the wider Cairngorms mountain range.
Milo takes in the early morning sunrise at the Cairngorm Bothies site (Image: ANDREW WHITE)
There are walks and trails aplenty in the Blelack Forest, where the bothies are situated. But one of the best times to experience the forest is at night for some of the darkest skies in the UK. Staring up at the stars with no light pollution to spoil the view must be one of the best ways of getting that back-to-nature feeling.
Frances and I only had one full day to explore the Cairngorms, so we decided to pack in as much as we could and breathe in as much as the area had to offer we could.
Although remote, there are centres of population within easy reach – Ballater, Aboyne and Tarland among them.
We dropped into Ballater, a pretty-as-a-picture Victorian village, the highlight of which was the old railway station, closed in the 1960s but beautifully restored as an information centre, restaurant, tearoom and public library.
This part of the world is renowned for its spectacular scenery, so we headed to a place that we were told was a ‘bucket-list’ destination for many.
Andrew and Milo in the vast Burn O’Vat cavern, carved out by glacial meltwater thousands of years ago (Image: ANDREW WHITE)
Burn O’Vat is essentially a large pothole, carved out of the rocks by glacial meltwater at the end of the last ice age.
It’s reached via a short walk through the achingly pretty Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve, worth a visit in its own right.
The approach to Burn O’Vat is not promising – a jumble of rocks with seemingly no way through. But wait – suddenly a slim gap appears and a short scramble and plodge later you’re in the middle of a giant granite cavern and a hidden waterfall.
We lingered a while to take in the towering granite walls which were ground out thousands of years ago. Truly magical.
Andrew and Milo in front of the stream tumbling into the Burn O’Vat glacial pothole (Image: ANDREW WHITE)
Frances and I are suckers for a bit of neolithic action and this part of Aberdeenshire is renowned for recumbent stone circles, so our next stop was Tomnaverie.
This monument on a wide hilltop was built by someone a mind-blowing 4,500 years ago. Just a short walk from a small roadside car park, circles of this type are characterised by a huge stone laid flat – the ‘recumbent’ with two standing stones on either side, known as flankers.
The feature at Tomnaverie frames a stunning backdrop, with the magnificent Lochnagar mountain – snow-capped when we were there – dominating the landscape. There are many other stones dotted about this ancient monument, the purpose of which may never been known.
The huge recumbent stone and flankers at the Tomnaverie circle, with the mighty Lochnagar and the Cairngorms in the background (Image: FRANCES WHITE)
Scotland is, of course, the home of many lochs and we were close to one of the most scenic. So it was off to Loch Muick next.
Part of the Balmoral Estate, this freshwater loch lies at the foot of Lochnagar and includes several walking routes from the visitor centre, close to the car park.
The walking is easy, but the views are stunning. I should add that we were there on a freezing cold day in winter which, in my view, made the scenery even more special.
Andrew and Milo in front of the beautifully framed Lock Muick (Image: FRANCES WHITE)
The word breathtaking is overused, but I’m struggling to find a different one to describe this loch surrounded by its wonderfully craggy rocks.
We would have liked to have completed a full circuit, but with time against us and the weather and the evening closing in, we took the wise decision to cut across the head of the loch to the other side and back. We’ll come back another day, that’s for sure.
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All of the attractions we visited were within a short distance of the Cairngorm Bothies, easily reachable by bicycle if sustainability is one of your main reasons for visiting.
There are many other attractions nearby and a little further afield that we would love to have visited if time had allowed – Balmoral, Braemar or one of the many distilleries, for example. A perfect reason for a return, as if we needed one.
And so, at the end of our visit, I’ll provide one more word to sum up our Cairngorm adventure – awesome.
TRAVEL FACTS
Andrew and Frances stayed at the Cairngorm Bothies, near Aboyne in Aberdeenshire.
Prices from £139 per night, minimum of two nights booked.
The site is are petfriendly, there is a geocache trail through our woods and a Cairngorm excursions programme is expanding to collaberate with local guides to offer a 2025 walking programme staring in the spring.
Fore more details and to book, visit www.cairngormbothies.co.uk/
Special Winter Break Offer for readers:
Save 10 per cent on winter stays booked with APR10 – book by January 31 for stays in January, February and March (excludes special dates) for a minimum of two nights.