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CASTLES, WHISKY & WILDLIFE

5 days
£750pp (Includes guest house accommodation, breakfast and lunch)
£650pp (Includes bunk house accommodation, breakfast and lunch)
£495pp (Course only; arrange your own food and accommodation)
For 4+ people booking together we offer a discount of £50pp
Round trip transportation to / from Inverness airport £50pp

Full On Adventure has designed this tour for people who’d like to see the highlights of the Scottish highlands, but rather than being passive participants on a coach tour, this holiday is for the adventurous traveller. You’ll take part in a range of adventure sports and get up close to the native wildlife each day, as well as sampling the culture and history of this dramatic region of the UK.

You will take canoes into the Craig Meagaidh nature reserve to explore the Castle and empty sandy beaches of Loch Laggan, the set for the popular BBC drama ‘Monarch of the Glen’. We raft the UK’s best rafting river the Findhorn, before sampling the highland whisky made from the water of its’ tributaries. Explore the wild beauty of the Cairngorms National Park by mountain bike. Our guides will take you on rides that will inspire you with the excitement of the Scottish highlands and mountain biking. You’ll walk to the top of Ben Nevis, the biggest mountain in the UK, but our guides will take you a special way that most travellers miss with stunning views across the highlands. The week ends in the highland capital of Inverness, after you have spent the day sea kayaking in the Moray Firth, which is one of the most important areas in the UK for whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans).

ACTIVITIES

• Canoeing
• Canyoning
• Mountain Biking
• Sea Kayaking
• Munro Trekking
• White Water Rafting

ITINERARY

DAY 1

If you’re flying to the highlands you’ll pass over some spectacular mountain scenery before landing at the small but well connected Inverness Airport, where one of our guides can meet you. You travel to Aviemore highland resort where you’ll move into your guest house or chalet. You can then relax or explore the village. If you are travelling by car you’ll pass through increasingly grander mountain scenery on the road from Perth before passing through the gateway to the Cairngorms National Park, the Drumochter pass near Dalwinnie, and then on to Aviemore to your accommodation.

DAY 2

Beautiful mountain biking around the Cairgorms National Park

Following a full Scottish Breakfast it’s time to start exploring the Cairngorms National Park on a quality mountain bike. Our guides will show you the best trails and have lots of knowledge about the local history and surrounding mountains. We take a packed lunch with us so that we can spend the whole day exploring the wild areas.

DAY 3

Time to head west, to the Creag Meagaigh national nature reserve. We launch our canoes below the last water fall on the river Pattack, which is a classic highland river and follow it for its’ last few gentle miles into Loch Laggan. We stop for a snack on the natural sandy beach at the head of the loch before paddling past the castle used in the Monarch of the Glen BBC TV series. After stopping for lunch on an island with ancient ruins we finish below the mountains of Creag Meagaidh. Looking up the valley the magnificent ice-carved crags of Coire Ardair are just one of the attractions of this nature reserve stretching from loch shore to mountain top. It provides a vivid demonstration of how readily native woodland of birch, alder, willow, rowan and oak recovers when the number of grazing animals is controlled. There is a great horse shoe mountain walk to do here, but as that takes another day we move on to the big one, Ben Nevis. However for those with a little more time, why not extend your stay with some guided Munro days which we’ll add at either end of this trip, so you can go to Creag Meagaidh or any of our other great mountain areas for more days’ walking, scrambling or climbing.

DAY 4

After spending the night in Fort William, ‘Adventure Capital of the UK’, we head up Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles. Rather than using the tourist track our guides will show you the north side of the mountain. You’ll pass below the great cliffs that are world famous for climbing, then via the Carn Mor Dearg ridge to the summit. There are many excellent scrambles on the steeper ridges of Ben Nevis that require one guide to two clients and make an excellent extension to this week if you have the time and a head for the exposure. See the extension available below.

DAY 5

Sea Kayaking among the Moray Firth's famous dolphins

So to rest the legs from the big mountain day on the Ben, we take to the Sea Kayaks to explore the Moray Firth. A great place to try sea kayaking if you’ve not done so before and, equally rewarding for those who have, the cliffs, remains of war time sea defences and other historic sights all add to the interest. We often see bottlenose dolphins and porpoises and always see a wide range of other wildlife like seals and sea birds.

Then, a barbeque on the beach, as the Moray Firth is one of the sunniest places in Britain and of course there is a good pub just in case it isn’t so sunny.

Your adventure tour finishes with a night out in Inverness the highland capital.

TRIP EXTENSIONS

We know that five days aren’t enough for many of you in this amazing place and we’ve so many more great adventures to share with you. So here is a selection of extensions to choose from, or if you have something else in mind, just ask as we are very flexible.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

• Scrambling
• Kayaking
• Full day mountain biking
• Munro Trekking

A day’s Scrambling - £125pp 2+ people or £250 for private guiding

On a one to two maximum ratio of client to mountain guide, tackling classic Cairngorms granite scrambles. Good level of general fitness required.

Full day’s guided wild mountain biking - £125pp 2+, £75pp 3+ people booking. £250 for private guiding

The best wild single track action with the best local guides.

Introduction to Kayaking - £125pp 2+, £75pp for 3+ people booking. £250 one to one

Where better to learn this great sport, surrounded by stunning highland scenery. The day includes introduction to the Kayak roll and basic strokes. If you stay for a second day we hit the river. For two days booked together we offer you a 20% discount on both days.

Munro Trekking - £125pp 2+, £75pp for 3+ people booking. £250 one to one

Munro Trekking or, as it’s known in Scotland, Munro Bagging. Choose from a wide range of wild and beautiful mountain areas and get out on those Munros with one of our fully qualified and experienced mountain guides.

Full On Adventure
24 Cairngorm Ave. Aviemore, PH22 1RY Scotland
Telephone: +44 (0)7885 835 838
Email: info@fullonadventure.co.uk