After finishing our long 4-munro hike in the Cairngorms we got back in the car and set off for our home for the next 2 nights - Wigwam holidays Glenlivet. Thankfully (considering my legs were nearly jelly at this point) it was just a short 45 mins from the Cairngorm Mountain centre to the Wigwam site!
[Disclosure - this was a gifted stay by Wigwam. The activities we chose as well as the words below are all ours :) ]
To get to the Wigwam site you drive through one of my favourite parts of Scotland - the Cairngorms. While we were now on the outskirts, the views around are still stunning and driving through the local town
Tomintoul, we had an awesome view back to the
munros we'd climbed earlier that day.
When we pulled into the Wigwam Holidays Glenlivet site we had a lovely welcome from Val who checked us in and gave us some local walk recommendations, and then we drove over to our cabin.
Outside, the cabin has a large porch area (with table and chairs) and a gorgeous fire and bbq pit to the side. Inside, the cabin is really roomy and has everything you need, plus, running water!! It was such a treat for us to have a nice warm shower after a hike when not at home 😅. There is a double bed as well as a pull-out sofa bed that also converts to a double so you could fit up to 4 easily. For more cabin specifics click
here! One thing I do want to mention is how clean it was - given its a dog friendly cabin I would have expected a few hairs from the previous guests but there was nothing at all. 10/10!
After unpacking and washing the boys I got the fire going and started cooking dinner (bbq on the fire pit ofc!) then it was early to bed. The plan had been that the boys would sleep on the sofa, but within about 2 mins of turning the lights off they cosied up with me in the bed. I woke up nice and slow in the morning and had coffee and breakfast while planning where we would go for a walk.
Val had given us one of the Glenlivet guide leaflets which was very handy - definitely pick one up if you're going for a visit! It had 10 walks marked as well as a further 8 trails so plenty of choice! You can view a list of all of the walks and hikes
here. We ended up doing walk 1 -
the Glenmullaich viewpoint trail - which was just a short walk away from the cabins (note, you need to walk alongside the road for 5 minutes) and the boys loved.
When we got back to the cabin I gave the boys a quick wash off then tucked them up in their
Ruff & Tumble coats so they didn't get the floor all soggy! I had time for a quick lunch then set off for some afternoon activities. I left the boys in the cabin to snooze for the afternoon because (a) they were shattered and (b) I wanted to have a bit of time to myself!!
First up on my mini-tour of Glenlivet was Drumin Castle where I had planned to do the short circular path. Unfortunately when I got there the castle path was closed for repairs so I continued on to our next stop - the Packhorse Bridge.
Then, I set off to find a coffee before heading on to my final activity of the day, which turned out to be an impossible task!! I tried heading for nearby towns to find a cafe but couldn't really spot anywhere so brought up Google maps and things just got worse... it tried to take me to a manor house(?) by about 6 different entry paths - all closed - before I finally found the main one which was also shut! By this point I had been on the hunt for a coffee for 45 mins and so decided I would try one last track before giving up and going on to the next activity. After getting about 100m down the track I saw that again, this path was also closed BUT (and the thing that made this whole coffee saga worth it) just as I stopped to turn the car around a red squirrel ran out in front of the car, across the road and into the trees to the left of me! My first time seeing a wild red squirrel! I was so happy. My only regret from our trip was not going and doing the red squirrel trail, so if you too love squirrels, add it to your list (and maybe leave the dogs in the cabin!).
Onto the final activity of the day - visiting
The Glenlivet whiskey distillery. With so many distilleries in the area (and there being a whole
Whiskey trail through the Glen) I couldn't
not do one, and if I was going to, it had to be the original. While I appreciate the work and skill that goes into it, I am not a big fan of whiskey so I wasn't too sure how much I would enjoy the tour. I went for the standard/cheapest one
'The Original' and it was awesome. I really, really enjoyed it and would 100% recommend! You learn about the process in a really interactive way from start to finish and the tour finishes with a tasting of 3 whiskeys. If you're driving they give you mini-glass bottles that you can pour your tasting whiskey into so that you don't miss out which was a great touch!
By the time I got back to the cabin it was about half 5, the sun was out and looking beautiful through the trees so I sat out on the porch and chilled for an hour or so. After the initial excitement of me being back, the boys went right back to sleep on the decking and it was so nice and peaceful just listening to the birds. I then got the fire going to have a final bbq of the trip and I cracked out my mini whiskey bottles!
In the morning it was hard to wake up... we were all so cosy in the bed and the weather outside was pretty gloomy so there was 0 motivation to move! I cooked breakfast and managed to set off the fire alarm (remember to open the window above the cooker!) which really woke us up 😂 and then started packing the car to head back home again.
If you're wanting to go glamping in the Cairngorms, we'd definitely recommend staying with Wigwam!
