Rewilding Scotland: The Cairngorms Walking Tour

What you get on this adventure:

• Experienced local guides
• 4 days of guided walks, excursions and presentations
• 5-nights accommodation in a room with private facilities
• All meals (breakfast, picnic lunch and 3-course dinner)
• Minibus transportation during the tour
• Transfers from Kingussie at approx. 4pm on the day of arrival
• Transfers to  Kingussie at approx. 10.30am on the day of departure

What’s not included:

• Transportation to/from the Cairngorms
• Travel insurance — mandatory
• Alcoholic drinks
• Personal expenses
• Guide gratuities — optional

This hiking tour is beginner-friendly, but some level of fitness does help. If you can walk at a leisurely pace for four to six hours (or up to 5 miles) a day with little elevation gain, you are good to go! Keep in mind, you’ll also be carrying a daypack filled with water and other things you might need throughout the day. However, with some preparation and willpower, you should be able to handle this tour no matter your age or skill level.

If you’re a more advanced hiker looking for a challenge, check out this hiking tour in the Cuilin Hills or these hiking tours in the Isle of Skye.

Here’s a list of the equipment you need to bring:

• Day pack large enough to carry all the items listed (25L bag)
• Hiking poles — optional
• Water bottle or hydration bladder (2L capacity)
• Lightweight hiking boots or shoes
• Comfortable hiking clothes 
• Spare clothes for layering and 4 days of hiking
• Waterproof rain jacket
• Sunhat
• Toiletries (sunscreen, hand sanitizer, bug spray, toilet paper, etc.)
• Headlamp or flashlight
• Sunglasses
• Camera — optional (but recommended)

Dress comfortably and for the weather in clothes you can move in. We suggest bringing clothing appropriate for the season. Layers are best and don’t wear jeans.

Rewilding is a process of nature recovery that leads to restored ecosystem health, function and completeness. The goal is to maintain and expand areas of wildlife in a manner that has a positive impact on the climate and encourages biodiversity. The vision that unites rewilding at different scales is one of restoration and recovery – a commitment to transform degraded ecosystems so that they work in all their colourful complexity. SCOTLAND: The Big Picture is a Scottish charitable company that promotes rewilding across Scotland. 

You will stay in Ballintean Mountain Lodge, a beautifully converted farm steading located in Glenfeshie, near the village of Kincraig in the Cairngorms National Park. The lodge has a rustic, contemporary feel, and the rooms have private facilities, with the Wi-Fi throughout. Mobile phone reception is generally good.

You will enjoy breakfast and evening meals in the Lodge, prepared by the local catering team. Expect home-cooked, wholesome food prepared with fresh, local ingredients. In the field, you’ll have picnic lunches and home-bakes, with an occasional coffee-and-cake stop along the way.

Your guides can cater to a range of dietary requirements, taking into consideration allergies and health conditions, as well as ethics, faiths and cultures. Please indicate your requirements during booking and your guides will do their best to accommodate your needs.

Group sizes and pricing

• For this adventure, the usual client-to-guide ratio is up to 8:1

Hiking in Cairngorms can be arranged for larger groups up to 12 people. Contact us to make arrangements.

Min. age requirements

• If you are older than 18, you’re good to go.

To get to Ballintean Mountain Lodge in Kingussie, the starting point of the tour, most people fly into Inverness Airport (1 hour away by car and 2 hours away by train) or Aberdeen International Airport (2.5 hours away by car or 4 hours away by train). Once you reach Kingussie, your guides will transfer you to your accommodation.

Your guides offer complimentary transfers from Kingussie at approx. 4pm on the day of arrival and approx. 10.30am on the day of departure. Airport transfers are arranged depending on other peoples arrivals.

Your guides can also pick you up at Inverness Airport on arrival day for a flat fee of £50 per person. They can also drop you off on the last day for the same fee. Your guide will suggest the best place to meet. 

Weather in the Scottish Highlands is very changeable and at any time of year, you should expect anything from warm, calm conditions to wintry squalls. Temperatures are likely to range from 0 to 10°C (32 to 50°F) in autumn and 10 to 22°C (50 to 72°F) in the spring/summer.

Yes. After covering the necessary costs associated with the trip itself, such as accommodation, food and transport, the hosts are left with a small surplus which gets reinvested into rewilding work. The visit allows the hosts to train and employ local staff and to purchase supplies and services from local businesses. In doing so, they demonstrate that rewilding is an economically viable land use in Scotland.

We highly recommend that you cover all your bases with both emergency medical and travel insurance. 

With medical insurance, if you have an accident or medical emergency on or off the mountain, you’ll avoid paying out of pocket for costly expenses. This covers everything from hospital treatments to emergency air transportation and more. Travel insurance covers canceled flights, natural disasters and other scenarios that may interrupt your travel plans. 

We also expect you to respect local regulations and take measures to protect yourselves, your guides, and the communities you’re traveling to. For more information on travel recommendations and restrictions in Cairngorms, Scotland please refer to the Cairngorms National Park COVID-19 guidelines and the official COVID-19 guidelines for travel into the United Kingdom.

If you need assistance selecting the right insurance for your group, let us know and we will be happy to help!