Aviemore, GB

A restaurant-with-rooms in a converted Victorian tweed mill on the Gynack Burn at Kingussie, and the area's destination dinner. The kitchen does a short modern-Scottish set menu and a tasting menu built on local game, fish and produce, paired from a deep cellar. For a special night out rather than a casual bite.

A small evening bistro in Boat of Garten run by a chef-and-front-of-house couple, leaning on Highland beef, venison and seasonal produce. The room is intimate and the cooking confident without being fussy, with homemade ice cream to finish. The best proper dinner in the Boat of Garten direction.

A small-plates restaurant on Aviemore's main street with a creative, frequently changing sharing menu that crosses Scottish produce with global flavours. It is the most ambitious cooking in the village proper, good for a relaxed dinner where you order a few plates between the table. Smaller and more inventive than the hotel dining rooms.

The dining room of a family-run country hotel overlooking Loch Alvie, a few minutes south of Aviemore. The kitchen plates traditional Scottish dishes alongside more original cooking, with loch-and-mountain views from the tables. A scenic, unhurried dinner away from the village bustle.

A long-running inn in an old cottage on the bank of the Spey, equal parts dining pub and locals' bar. Expect Highland steaks and hearty Scottish plates, a serious whisky and cask-ale list, a log fire and regular live folk music. The closest thing Aviemore has to a community living room.

A chalet-style pub on Aviemore's main road that still pours Cairngorm Brewery's local Wildcat ale alongside the mainstream draughts. The menu runs to pub classics and Scottish staples, and the mountain-view garden is the spot on a rare warm evening. The place to land after a day on the hill for a pint and a plate.

A quirky alpine-style bar by the Glenmore campsite, the only proper watering hole on the road between Loch Morlich and the mountain. It serves casual food, local lager and frequent live music in a ski-chalet room full of character. Handy for refuelling after the reindeer trip or a Glenmore walk.

A wood-fired pizza spot above the outdoor shop on Aviemore's main street, in the room that once held the much-missed Mountain Cafe. The Neapolitan-style pizzas come from a big wood oven, and the cosy upstairs seating is the draw on a cold night. The village's go-to for a relaxed pizza dinner.

A friendly all-day cafe in the Highland Home Centre on Aviemore's Dalfaber estate, doing big cooked breakfasts, soups and lunches with local ingredients. The Cullen skink served in a bread roll has a following, and the place is geared to cyclists and walkers fuelling up. A reliable, slightly off-the-high-street breakfast or lunch stop.

The cafe at the Rothiemurchus visitor centre in Inverdruie, plating lunches built on estate-reared Highland beef and venison plus home baking. The scones and cakes have a quiet local fame, and big windows look onto the forest. An easy stop before or after a Rothiemurchus walk.

A proper old-fashioned village cafe in Newtonmore with home baking served on cups and saucers, light lunches and a dog-friendly welcome. It is the kind of place locals treat as a second kitchen, away from the Aviemore crowds. Worth the short drive south for a calm coffee and a slice.

A small daytime cafe on Carrbridge's main street doing cooked breakfasts, soups, sandwiches and baking, with good gluten-free choices. It is the village's main sit-in spot and a natural pairing with the old bridge and the adventure park. Casual and local rather than a dinner destination.

An Italian gelateria and deli on Aviemore's main street churning its own gelato in a wide rotation of flavours, alongside Italian-style panini and shelves of Scottish and Italian treats. The line out the door on a sunny day is locals as much as tourists. The village's dessert-and-ice-cream stop.

A flat three-mile loop around Loch an Eilein through old Caledonian pines, with the island castle in view for much of the way. It is the easiest of the classic Cairngorm walks, on good path the whole way, and suits buggies, dogs and small children. Allow about an hour and a half at an easy pace.

The Green Lochan in the Ryvoan Pass, an unnaturally emerald pool below scree slopes a short walk in from the Glenmore forest. The out-and-back from the Glenmore car park is gentle and short, popular with families, and links onward to the Ryvoan Pass for longer days. Folklore says fairies dye the water green.

A short waymarked loop around the Uath Lochans at Glen Feshie near Kincraig, with an optional steep climb to the Farleitter Crag viewpoint over the strath. The lower loop stays easy in the trees; the crag spur adds the big view for modest extra effort. A quiet alternative to the busier lochs.

A standout hill walk above Glenmore, climbing to an 810-metre summit set apart from the main massif for a wide view over Loch Morlich and the northern corries. The usual round goes via the Ryvoan Pass and Green Lochan, making a satisfying half-day loop. Real hill walking with a steady, sustained climb.

The walk to the 1,245-metre summit of Cairn Gorm itself, a Munro on the edge of the high plateau, usually started from the ski-centre car park. The reward is a vast view across the Cairngorm tops, but this is serious mountain terrain with sudden weather. For experienced, well-equipped hillwalkers only.

A web of waymarked paths through the ancient pine forest of the Rothiemurchus estate, fanning out from the Inverdruie centre toward lochs, the Spey and the foot of the mountains. Routes range from short flat strolls to longer half-day links, all on good forest track. The flexible everyday walking ground right by Aviemore.

A heritage steam line running restored locomotives between Aviemore, Boat of Garten and Broomhill through the strath. The round trip is a relaxed 90 minutes or so of Highland scenery from a vintage carriage, with themed and dining services at times. An easy outing that works for all ages and any weather.

A forest theme park at Carrbridge mixing treetop rope courses, water rides, a fire tower and nature trails among tall pines. It is squarely aimed at families and rewards a full day, with enough indoor and sheltered bits to survive a shower. The headline kids' day out in the area.

A safari-style park near Kincraig run by the same charity as Edinburgh Zoo, with a drive-through reserve of bison, deer and Highland cattle plus walk-round enclosures for snow leopards, wildcats and polar bears. The focus is northern and mountain species suited to the climate. A strong family day, indoors-and-out.

An open-air museum at Newtonmore spread over a mile of grounds, with reconstructed Highland buildings from a 1700s township to a 1930s schoolroom and working croft. Costumed staff bring the trades to life, and the township stood in for an Outlander filming location. Free to enter and genuinely educational for kids.

An independent brewery at the north end of Aviemore that has made the strath's local ales since 2001. Pre-booked tours walk you through the brewhouse and finish with a tasting, and the shop sells the full range to take away. A short, low-key indoor outing and a good rainy-hour filler.

A high-ropes aerial adventure course strung through the pines at Rothiemurchus, with zip lines, rope bridges and crossings at height. Instructors kit you out and coach nervous first-timers, and there are courses pitched for different ages and nerve levels. An outdoor adrenaline hit close to the village.

The watersports centre on the sandy shore of Loch Morlich, renting kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and sailing dinghies and running lessons through the warmer months. The calm loch and forest-and-mountain backdrop make it an easy place to try paddling for the first time. Beach, cafe and gear hire all in one spot.

A Highland single-malt distillery in Tomatin, on the northern edge of the area toward Inverness, offering tours of the stills and warehouses with tastings to finish. It is a relaxed, less-crowded distillery visit than the big Speyside names. An adult-leaning indoor outing and a rainy-day standby.

A quiet loch in the old Caledonian pines of Rothiemurchus with a ruined 13th-century castle marooned on a little island near the shore. The flat circuit around it is the walk locals send first-time visitors on, and the visitor point sells maps and ice cream in season. Good for an unhurried morning with kids or a dog.

A freshwater loch with an actual sandy beach backed by Glenmore forest and the Cairngorm tops, on the road up to the ski centre. People swim, paddleboard and picnic here in summer, and the watersports centre rents kayaks and SUPs. The most family-friendly loch in Strathspey.

The ski and snowsports centre on the slopes of Cairn Gorm, and the gateway to the high plateau. In winter it runs the lifts for skiers; the rest of the year it is the start point for serious hillwalking plus tubing and an adventure play area at the base. The mountain railway runs when conditions and operations allow.

Home base for Britain's only free-ranging reindeer herd, which roams the Cairngorm slopes above Glenmore. The draw is the guided hill trip, where you walk out to the herd and hand-feed them in the open. Booking ahead is essential and the walk needs decent footwear, but kids and adults alike remember it.

A stark 1719 government infantry barracks on a green mound just outside Kingussie, built to police the Highlands after the Jacobite rising and burned by the retreating Jacobites in 1746. The roofless walls are free to wander and floodlit at night. One of the most photographed ruins in the area.

The oldest stone bridge in the Highlands, a slender 1717 arch over the River Dulnain in Carrbridge village, stripped to its bare ribs by an 1829 flood. It was built so funeral parties could cross to the church when the river ran high. A two-minute look from the riverbank rather than a destination in itself.

A cluster of small dark lochans tucked in pine and heather at Glen Feshie, near Kincraig, with a short forest loop and a steep optional spur to a viewpoint over the strath. Quieter than the headline lochs and a favourite of locals who want trees, water and no crowds. Best on a calm day for the mirror-still reflections.

A working Highland estate of ancient Scots pine forest, lochs and farmland between Aviemore and the Cairngorms, laced with waymarked paths for all abilities. The visitor centre at Inverdruie has a farm shop and cafe and books the estate's activities. The default place for an easy forest wander straight out of Aviemore.