When we travel in Europe, we often choose not to hire a car, even when we are planning to spend most of our time hiking. In fact, perhaps because we are hiking, we particularly enjoy travelling without a car. It encourages us to slow down, use local transport and discover places along the way that we might otherwise simply drive past.
Most people who come to stay at Fraoch Lodge arrive in their own car or hire one when they reach Scotland. But you don’t have to.
We’re seeing an increasing number of guests who travel here without their own transport, and we’ve also developed a self-guided walking week with Scot Mountain Holidays based at Fraoch Lodge, where we arrange the transport needed for the walking days.
So, if you’re wondering whether you can have a proper Cairngorms holiday without hiring a car, the answer is yes – although a little planning helps.
Here are some of the ways you can explore the area from Fraoch Lodge without having your own vehicle.
Getting to Boat of Garten without a car
Boat of Garten is surprisingly well connected for a small Highland village.
There are regular bus services linking us with Aviemore, Inverness and Grantown-on-Spey, making it possible to reach Fraoch Lodge by public transport from further afield.
You can also combine different forms of transport. Arrive in Aviemore by train or long-distance bus, for example, and continue to Boat of Garten by local bus.
And if you’re travelling light and fancy arriving under your own steam, the Speyside Way provides a walking route to Boat of Garten from both Aviemore and Grantown-on-Spey.
For a rather different experience, you can also travel from Aviemore to Boat of Garten on the Strathspey Steam Railway. It is not necessarily the quickest option, but if you’re looking for a more leisurely and memorable way to arrive, it’s part of the adventure.
Getting around the Cairngorms on foot, by bus or by bike
Once you’re here, you don’t necessarily need a car to explore the surrounding villages.
Boat of Garten is connected with neighbouring communities by a combination of footpaths, cycle routes and bus services. Aviemore and Nethy Bridge can both be reached on foot, including via the Speyside Way.
Carrbridge is also accessible by bike or on foot, including the largely off-road Route 7/Docharn option.
Public transport opens up still more possibilities. From Boat of Garten you can travel towards Aviemore, Nethy Bridge and Grantown-on-Spey, and continue further afield towards Aberlour and Elgin. In the other direction, Aviemore provides rail connections towards Newtonmore and Dalwhinnie, opening up possibilities for days out without a car.
The important thing is to check the current timetable and plan your connections – Highland public transport is perfectly usable, but it isn’t an urban transport network where you can simply turn up every five minutes and catch the next bus.
Walking and hiking from Fraoch Lodge
This is where staying at Fraoch Lodge without a car really comes into its own.
There are walks that start directly from the lodge, as well as others that can be reached by local bus, train or bike. You can make a day of walking between villages, follow sections of the Speyside Way, explore the forests around Boat of Garten or use public transport to reach a different starting point and walk back.
We’ve written more about walking from Fraoch Lodge here, including some of our favourite routes.
And if you’re interested in a longer walking holiday without having to work out all the logistics yourself, our self-guided walking week combines accommodation at Fraoch Lodge with planned walking routes and the transport needed for the walks.
Wild swimming without a car
Wild swimming has become enormously popular in recent years, and the Cairngorms offer plenty of opportunities for those who enjoy swimming outdoors.
From Fraoch Lodge, you can reach a number of popular swimming spots by a combination of walking, cycling and public transport, including Loch Garten, Loch Vaa, the River Spey bathing pool, Loch Morlich, Loch an Eilean and the River Dulnain.
Conditions and access can vary, of course, so always check local advice before swimming. But if wild swimming is part of your ideal Highland holiday, not having a car doesn’t mean you have to leave your swimming costume at home.
For more ideas, we particularly recommend Alice Goodridge’s book on wild swimming in Scotland.
Visit the Highland Folk Museum
One of the places that several of our guests have successfully visited without a car is the Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore.
From Boat of Garten, this involves changing buses in Aviemore, but the connections can work well enough to make it a very worthwhile half-day or full-day excursion, depending on the timetable.
During the summer there are also regular heritage days, including demonstrations of traditional skills. These are particularly interesting if you enjoy history, crafts and traditional Highland life – and fans of Outlander may recognise some of the setting.
There are also occasional Jacobite re-enactment events, although these require a little more careful planning around the dates and public transport.
Whisky distillery tours
You don’t need a car to visit a whisky distillery either.
Two of the more straightforward options from Fraoch Lodge are The Cairn Distillery near Grantown-on-Spey and Dalwhinnie Distillery.
The Dalwhinnie journey can be made using public transport via Aviemore, and the distillery has the added advantage of an excellent café, separate from the distillery itself.
As always, check tour times and public transport connections before setting off, particularly if you’re planning to make this a day trip.
A day in Inverness – and perhaps further afield
If you’d like to explore beyond the Cairngorms for a day, Inverness is relatively straightforward to reach by public transport.
You probably won’t want to combine everything into one day, but depending on your interests you could visit Inverness itself, continue towards Loch Ness, or plan a trip to places such as Fort George or Culloden Battlefield.
Many of our guests also use a quieter day during their stay to explore Inverness.
If you do, don’t miss Leakey’s Bookshop, Inverness’s famous second-hand bookshop in a converted church.
For history, we’d recommend either Fort George, where you may also have the opportunity to look out across the Moray Firth for dolphins, or Culloden Battlefield. The visitor centre at Culloden is particularly good, with an immersive film that puts you right into the events of the battle.
Cycling and mountain biking
You don’t need to bring a car-load of equipment to enjoy cycling in the Cairngorms either.
There are several local bike hire options, including Ride in Boat of Garten and Aviemore Bikes, so you can hire a bike once you’re here.
Mountain biking and gravel riding are particularly well suited to the area because there are so many tracks and forest routes away from busy roads.
Road cycling is also possible, although hiring a suitable road bike can take a little more planning. For most visitors, we’d suggest making the most of the quieter tracks and off-road routes instead.
If you’re not sure which routes will suit you, ask us. We know the local area and can suggest options based on the type of cycling you enjoy and the weather conditions.
What about Cairngorm Mountain, Glenmore and Rothiemurchus?
This is where we’d be realistic: not absolutely everywhere in the Cairngorms is equally easy to reach without a car.
Cairngorm Mountain, Glenmore and Rothiemurchus are all possible without driving, but you need to plan around the available transport and allow more time than you would if you had a car.
And perhaps that’s not such a bad thing.
When you’re on holiday, you don’t necessarily have to maximise every available hour. There can be something rather liberating about leaving the car behind, checking the timetable, walking a little further and allowing the day to unfold.
Sometimes the unexpected part of the journey becomes one of the best memories.
Staying at Fraoch Lodge without a car
If you’re considering coming to the Cairngorms without a car, let us know when you book.
We can help you work out what is practical during your stay and suggest walks, cycle routes and activities that fit around the available public transport.
You may not be able to do absolutely everything without a car – but you can certainly have a very enjoyable Cairngorms holiday without one.
And if you’re coming here to walk, cycle, swim, explore or simply spend some time in the landscape, you may find that leaving the car behind makes the experience even better.