Carrbridge- Scotland

[lcm1993]

Hi Guys

I’ve won a competition at work for a holiday for a week to Carrbridge in Scotland end of February for ten people.

We plan on taking our one year old and three year old, upon asking the grandparents if they wanted to go they politely declined and to my surprise said we were fools for taking our kids to such a place that time of year.

Am I missing something ? Or will it be ok ? We plan to fly from Gatwick to Inverness then take a rental car to the lodge in Carrbridge.

Regards

Lewis

You'll be absolutely fine.

Landmark adventure park is open Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays at that time of year & is well worth a visit.

Not much else to do at that time of year though.

Are you walkers?

Oh lucky you - that’s fantastic! There is loads to do in the area. If the weather is dodgy you might be able to get a day pass to the MacDonald Resort - swimming pool, soft play, etc. in Aviemore. There’s the Strathspey steam railway (as seen on The Traitors). Beautiful lochs for walks. Loch Morlich has a lovely beach if you get a nice day. I think they will be missing out!

Lucky you, Carrbridge is lovely, you can get a train from London, it's a beautiful train journey. It will be cold and might have snow so wrap up warm. Nearby aviemore has shops, a visit to the reindeer park is lovely but a bit of a trek with young children.

You are close to The Highland Wildlife Park, Landmark and Aviemore. Even Inverness is easily doable.
Yes it will be cold, you might get snow so take warm clothes but honestly it sounds like it will me a huge change from home so embrace it and I’m sure you’ll love it

You aren't far from the Cairngorms there, if it's running while you're there definitely go on the Cairngorm Mountain Railway. We went with our kids earlier this year (7 and 3) and they both loved it!

I guess it depends on the kind of holidays you enjoy, and a bit on what your 1 and 3 year old are like, but I have to say a week in Carrbridge with toddlers in February probably wouldn't be my first choice. I like being in the Scottish countryside, but it's going to be cold and dark, some attractions will be closed, and others might only be enjoyable if you get nice weather. Also if you have to fly there, you won't be able to take loads of toys and stuff for your kids to do, so you'd have to hope the lodge will be well equipped for little children as self-catering with toddlers is always more effort than being at home. I'd be looking at the cost of the flights, hire car and anything else you have to pay for yourselves and then thinking about whether you'd choose to pay that much for this holiday if you hadn't won the actual stay.

I'd be more into it if I didn't have little children; I quite like a wintry hike and you can ski there too.

It’s lovely in winter. The funicular up Cairngorm mountain is great and you can use sleds etc. highland wildlife park, reindeer herd, good local ale but perhaps not for the kids! Steam railway may not be operational but do take binoculars as the wildlife is amazing including red squirrels and birdlife (no osprey though as winter). For dinner out we ate at the boat of garten golf club, proper old school menu (prawn cocktail to start!) but was made so welcome and the locals were trying to get us to move there!

Congratulations! It's a fabulous prize and Aviemore is an all year resort - just a few miles from Carrbridge. Landmark is probably the best place to take kids ever - I go a few times a year with assorted nieces, nephews and GCs.

Good pool and soft play at the Macdonald resort as a PP said. We used to go to the Coylumbridge hotel when my DCs were young but it went way downhill - I understand it has greatly improved. Huge soft play area.

The wildlife park is great but wrap up warmly. Loch Morlich is beautiful any time of year and the pub might be open which is always good fun. Good food at the Loch Insch watersports centre. Not been on the mountain railway since it reopened but that was a good day out.

Hopefully you'll have a roaring fire to sit around and tell stories in the evenings!

It will be an adventure! Take lots of warm stuff for the kids- wellies, warm snowsuits. Warm socks and gloves.

Some local walks if you get the weather www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/aviemore.shtml

All of this, it sounds lovely. Op your parents are being a bit silly,

You're not far from Inverness which has an excellent leisure pool that my kids still rave about years later. It's a lovely part of the country and because of the skiing is set up for year round visitors. You'll have a lovely time. Ignore the GPs and see if you can get some friends to come with you.

The fact there might be snow could be a big plus for your eldest- sledging, snowball fights and building a snowman.

^ that.

Carrbridge is a lovely slice of the Cairngorms, a brilliant place to visit any time of the year.
You will need a car, but within 10-15 miles you have some of the finest scenery in the UK from Aviemore up to Cairngorm mountain, or down Speyside, even just the woods around Carrbridge, Nethy Bridge and Loch Garten are just stunning....

Thankyou all so much !