Day 17: Caringorms National Park

We are back to nature again after a very nice visit to Inverness. Cairngorms National Park is the largest park in UK, even from the highways, we can see the beautiful mountains in the horizon.

Rothiemurchus, located at the heart of the park, is an absolutely stunning place to visit. There is a hiking trail loop around the beautiful Loch an Eilein (loch of the island) that’s only about 3 miles, perfect for an easy day of hiking. A castle ruins sits on a small island in the loch, creating a perfect backdrop for a very Scottish scenery. The castle played a role in 1600’s historical events, but due to the rising water of the loch after the construction of a dam, it’s now in the middle of water and no longer accessible by foot.

The best place to see is actually located near a trail that branches off the main one, stretching into another smaller loch. What we found here certainly belongs to postcards.

After we checked into our hotel, we visited Ruthven Barracks ruins, one of the four barracks that the English military built during the Jacobite rebellion. It’s also a place the retreating Jacobite soldiers gathered after the Culloden defeat.

The weather is absolutely perfect today, hopefully we will have it again tomorrow!Read more