1 destination · 22 things to do

Scotland

The Cairngorms are Britain's wild roof: the largest national park in the UK, a plateau of arctic-alpine tundra holding five of the six highest summits in the country, ancient Caledonian pine forest that shelters red squirrels and capercaillie, and a free-roaming reindeer herd found nowhere else in Britain. Aviemore is the base camp, a Highland resort town where the steam train whistles at the station, the funicular climbs toward the clouds, and glens fan out in every direction. This guide books it properly: the reindeer hill trip, the Highland Wildlife Park, Loch an Eilein's island castle, Ben Macdui and guided mountain days, osprey watching, husky kennels, the Dalwhinnie distillery, and Royal Deeside's Balmoral and Braemar, with Ben Nevis and the Nevis Range gondola as the western bookend. Then it matches you to a hotel, from forest-edge resorts to Victorian coaching inns, because in the Highlands where you sleep decides how much of the day is mountain.