Winter Adventures with Scottish Hostels and Wild Scotland

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This trip was a paid trip with Scottish Hostels and Wild Scotland to showcase that a break in Scotland in winter can be just as amazing as summer and to encourage you to get out and explore more in the shorter, colder days. All views expressed are my own. 

Winter Adventures with Scottish Hostels and Wild Scotland

I have stayed in quite a few Scottish Hostels over the years on various trips, so I was delighted to get the opportunity to work with both them, and Wild Scotland for a recent trip up north. Combining my two favourite things………overnight stays and outdoors adventures.

Now I imagine for most folk the thought of a trip in Scotland at the end of December is not at the top of their to do’ list. But going away in winter in Scotland is one of my favourite times to travel. Everywhere is quieter, the weather is mixed, which means more chance of those fleeting weather windows, or dramatic storms, days are shorter, which means forced downtime and more time to relax in the evenings, and often you’ll get places to yourself, which is perfect, if like me, you need a bit of time to recharge. 

Seaside getaway in Portsoy

My trip started with a drive north to Portsoy in Aberdeenshire. Now I will admit, I hadn’t heard of Portsoy before, and being almost a 4 hour drive away, it's not somewhere I would pop to for a day trip, but I was excited to stay at the relatively recently completed Sail Loft Hostel.

The drive took me north towards Aberdeen before snaking off to the Moray Firth. Its a long drive, but any tiredness I felt disappeared as soon as I rounded the corner and saw the stunning location of my first night's accommodation. 

Check-in at Sail Loft

Sail Loft, Portsoy, is tucked into a hidden little bay with the water pretty much on its doorstep. I genuinely couldn’t believe my luck. What an absolutely stunning location. 

I was given a quick tour of the accommodation by the manager Ian, and explained how the restoration worked. At £25 a night, it’s an absolute bargain, and the perfect destination to explore the coast. The rooms range from 6, 3 and 2 berth, or there is a self contained flat, called the Ledingham, which is where I was staying. It has its own bathroom, single room, kitchen, dining and living area. It’s absolutely perfect if you prefer your own space, but want the hostel experience. 

The communal areas are large with plenty of space, which is ideal in the COVID times that we find ourselves in, and even if it was busy, I don’t think I would ever feel like it was crowded. 

Now the hostel itself is incredible and the rooms are lovely and clean, but the Sail Lofts real selling point is its location. I love being able to hear the sea from my room, although it was a bit chilly to keep my window open all night, but I imagine on a stormy day this place is breathtaking. 

Exploring Portsoy

I had a picnic lunch in my room provided by Portsoy Coffee Shop, who provided me with delicious gluten free sandwiches, and some homemade gluten free cake! 

Then it was time for my walk with Alison from Coast Aberdeenshire. 

Alisons opening line was that she was worried that I would be underwhelmed with the area given that I’m from Shetland, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Given it was after 2pm, we decided on the coastal walk between Portsoy and Sandend, pronounced ‘Sanine’ if you’re local. It’s about a 6km walk, with very easy walking and coloured arrow signposts marking the route. You can pick up a Portsoy Walking and Cycling Leaflet which shows all of the lovely routes in the local area. 

We started our walk straight from the hostel door, which leads you through the town itself and along the harbour. The sun was low in the sky and the light was absolutely beautiful. The path meanders up onto the banks overlooking the sea and the views just go on for miles. I don’t know what was prettier, looking back on the village or over the miles of coast and sea. I haven’t been able to be near the sea in a while, so this was just what I needed.

The sun set about 3.30pm, and it was incredible to see the moon rise into the pink sky. Shalders  and curlews were wandering along the beach and I genuinely felt the most content I have felt in a very long time. The beach at Sandend was deserted apart from a couple walking their dog, and the moon was reflecting perfectly on the beach as the tide went out. I was in heaven. 

It took about 2 hours to walk between Portsoy and Sandend, but that included A LOT of photo stops plus stopping to listen to the birds and watching the waves. 

Refreshed and on a total high from my lovely walk and chat with Alison I headed back to the accommodation to get changed, before popping to The Station Hotel for a delicious dinner of Cullen Skink and Smoked Haddock risotto. The food was incredible and if you are up in this area then you have to try the Cullen Skink, as this is the region where it originates from. 

Stuffed from my dinner and after a lovely detour back to the Sail Loft to admire the extensive Christmas Decorations in Portsoy, it was time for a cup of tea and to settle down on the sofa to relax after a long, but lovely day. It was great to hear the waves crashing on the shore from the living room and bedroom, and I swear I slept a little bit sounder as a result.

Another great thing about travelling at this time of year is the ability to catch a sunrise, without having to get up ridiculously early. With sunrise being about 9am, meant I had plenty of time to get breakfast and get packed up and squeeze in a sunrise wander before heading south to Grantown on Spey. 

I walked the opposite direction from the previous day's walk and headed along the headland towards the sunrise. The sky was full of beautiful pinks and soft light as I headed along the path. It was a gorgeous morning and I was sad to have to cut my walk short. But it's always best to leave somewhere wanting more and I definitely want to see more of Portsoy. I can’t wait to go back. It really left a mark on me. 

Wildlife watching with Speyside Wildlife

The next part of my trip was a Wildlife Watching Experience with Kate from Speyside Wildlife. We set off towards the local Anagach Woods, a community owned woodland in Grantown. The sun had disappeared on my drive down and I had driven into the eeriest low lying fog. It made for a very atmospheric walk. Anagach Woods is huge and is full of bird and squirrel feeders which keep the local wildlife going over the winter months. After only a short distance into the woods Kate pointed out some Red Squirrels feeding and chasing each other through the trees. I never get bored seeing these amazing animals, and watching through the telescope made it an even better experience. 

We left the woods and headed to see if we could spot any eagles or Capercaillie in Davaar Moor, but despite the clear blue skies that appeared there was nothing to be seen, so we headed for lunch with a gorgeous view over the Cairngorm plateau. 

After a tasty lunch it was onto our final stop of the day, Loch Garten, but en route we couldn’t resist stopping at Loch Morlich as the sun was just setting below the mountains and the water was flat calm. A highlight for me was when Kate appeared with some bird feed for the ducks. It’s the simple things, but I never get bored seeing their colourful little heads. 

We pushed on to Loch Garten to get the last of the light, and we took a short walk into the woods where I was lucky enough to feed some Coal Tits from my hand. I felt like a child as I stood with my palm outstretched waiting to see if any would be bold enough to come and snatch a seed. After the first one landed, it was a free for all and a wee curious Robin even turned up, although wasn’t quite brave enough to come and grab a seed. 

Despite not seeing the elusive Capercaillie or Crested Tit I thoroughly enjoyed my day with Speyside Wildlife and it was lovely to see a different side of the Cairngorm mountains that I so often miss due to always being up the hills. 

Winter Skills course in the Cairngorms

My final stop of the trip was Fraoch Lodge as part of my Winter Skills Course with Scot Mountain Holidays. I was welcomed by Andy who would be leading the skills course over the next 2 days, and his wife Rebecca who does the cooking in the ‘all inclusive’ stay.

I was shortly joined by a lovely couple who were also taking part in the Winter Skills Course and we all chatted about our experience and expectations over dinner before being given an extensive safety briefing and demonstration about crampon fitting and what kit to pack for the day ahead.

The following day after a lovely bowl of porridge and some gluten free toast, with bags packed and kit checked, we set off to Cairngorm mountain in search of snow. Sadly the majority of snow from the previous weeks had disappeared, however there was still plenty to be had in the corries. We covered kicking in steps and self arrest and discussed at length avalanche awareness. Andy has a lot of information regarding this subject, and it's very important to know, however I found it a bit of information overload, but that’s probably due to the fact I learn by doing or seeing, rather than getting too much information thrown at me. 

Practising ice axe arrest and self arrest was great fun and we all thoroughly enjoyed tumbling down the slopes again and again to perfect our skills. The sun was starting to set as we called it a day and made our way to the summit of Cairngorm, my  3rd time here! The views were spectacular! The moon was rising, and the sun was just starting to dip below the Braeriach massif. I couldn’t believe my luck to be up the hills in such glorious conditions. The summit was busy with various groups, but there was a definite hush as we all sat in awe watching the sun dip below the horizon. 

With the sun gone, we started making our way down, due to the clear skies we didn’t need our head torches until the final few hundred metres, where we managed to find some more snow, and took the opportunity to strap on our crampons again for some more practice and to aid our descent. 

Then it was back to the lodge for homemade cake and tea. The lodge has a great drying room, and the rooms are nice and cosy, so there are no issues in getting kit dried for another day in the hills. 

I managed some downtime to quickly get changed, then it was downstairs for dinner and a debrief. 

Dinner was phenomenal, Rebecca had made Cottage Pie with Polenta topping and it was delicious, finished off with home made sticky toffee pudding. Proper winter comfort food, just what you need after a day in the cold Scottish mountains. 

After this, I had time to grab a quick shower before Andy asked us to meet in the sitting room to go over Avalanche Awareness again. Andy had printed out some sheets for us which were really handy, but after a long day in the hills I needed some downtime, so at about 9.30pm I excused myself as I still had to sort my kit for the next day and do some work. Also being a closet introvert, it's nice to get a breather to recharge. 

Day two consisted of heading back up to Cairngorm Mountain and heading into Coire an t-sneachda. Unfortunately for us the most amazing cloud inversion was taking place behind us, but we ended up spending the day in the shade of the corrie in search of more snow and ice to test our crampons skills. 

We found a steep piece of snow and practised kicking in steps and using our crampons on ice. It’s really great to see what your crampons are capable of and to gain some confidence in varying conditions. 

Before calling it a day we briefly discussed emergency procedures and spent a good 45 minutes digging out snow holes. Well, the rest of the group did, safe to say my attempt was awful, I’m convinced I hit a patch of ice and would have frozen in more challenging conditions. It is however an important skill to know about should the worst come to the worst.

Calling it a day about 3pm meant we got to catch the last bit of light as it swept across the cloud inversion. It’s possibly one of the best inversions I’ve seen in the Cairngorms, so it was a shame that we missed it from being in the corrie all day, but getting to catch this last bit of light almost made up for it. Then it was back to the lodge again for tea and cake and to say goodbye to the other participants of the Winter Skills Course, who all seemed happy at the skills they had learned. 

For a change of scenery I had dinner booked at The Boat Country Inn and Restaurant, which is located a 5 minute walk from the lodge. It was lovely to get some much needed downtime and I was lucky enough to catch up with my friend Phil who had also been taking a Winter Skills course over the last few days. 

As usual I couldn’t decide between 2 starters, but the waiter highly recommended the Cullen Skink and said it would be one of the best I had tasted and he wasn’t far wrong………it was delicious! I then had fish and chips, which was amazing as it came in gluten free batter. I felt really well catered for and there were lots of gluten free options, so I didn’t feel like I was missing out which is so often the case. 

Feeling well fed and having had a lovely catch up I wandered back to the lodge for my final night and some much needed sleep.

My final day started with a breakfast of gluten free toast before heading to my final stop of the trip, and they really did save the best for last.

Trying new activities with Craggan Outdoors

My final morning involved a visit with Craggan Outdoors doing mountain biking, lunch and then archery in the afternoon. Now I’ll be honest, I had mixed feelings when I saw archery on the itinerary. But I was excited to try something new and not something I would necessarily book for myself. 

The day started off meeting the owner of Craggan Outdoors Keith and his son Ashley who was going to be my guide for the day. It was lovely to learn this was a family owned and run business and I got such a sense of how important community and working with other providers was to them. 

After a brief tour, Ashley took me to get fitted for a bike and helmet, before talking me through how to quickly check my bike for any issues before we set off. We headed back to Anagach Woods, which I had visited a few days prior with Speyside Wildlife, so I was able to stop and point out the squirrel feeders and we were lucky enough to spot a few feeding while we cycled past.

The weather was freezing and there was a low lying fog, which made everything seem so much more dramatic and atmospheric. We even spotted a wee deer creeping through the mist. Ashley was a great guide and company and shared lots of knowledge about the woods with me. We made our way to an allegedly stunning viewpoint which was sadly non-existent due to the fog. 

But the highlight was about half way through when Ashley produced a flask of hot juice. It was just what I needed and heated me up from the inside out, before we headed back through the frozen woods.

We cycled just over 10km, with nothing being overly difficult or testing. Just a lovely meander through some trails, with a couple of steep hills chucked in, but I survived. 

After putting the bikes back, we headed for lunch at the Speyside Centre, now despite being in this area plenty of times, I had never heard of this little gem. The cafe was amazing and again they had plenty of gluten free options. I had soup and a toastie and enjoyed more chat with Keith and Ashley. 

All warmed up it was time to head back to Craggan Outdoors, which also has the Glenelg bunkhouse and Bothy accommodation, for a shot at some archery. If I’m honest I thought it would be a bit boring and not really my thing, but it was honestly one of my favourite parts of the whole trip. Ashley was a great teacher and made it so much fun, by creating challenges and games and making it a bit competitive. It was all great fun until I inadvertently won with absolutely no skill, but Ashley took it well. 

Then before I knew it, it was the end of my trip and time to say goodbye. I was on such a high from my time with Craggan Outdoors. Everything was fun and interesting and Ashley was such easy company, who put me right at ease with anything I was worried about. He is an absolute credit to Craggan Outdoors and was great fun to spend the day with. I really cannot recommend my experience with Craggan Outdoors enough. Active, informative, interesting and most importantly great, great fun. Get yourself booked on one of their experiences. 

I had such an incredible time on my trip with Scottish Hostels and Wild Scotland. I love exploring Scotland in the winter months as it is such a different experience, less crowds, different weather and plenty of time to explore but plenty of time to relax as well. 

I always knew Scotland has a lot to offer all year round, but I probably didn’t realise there was quite as much or quite as much variety. So try something different, pack your warm kit (and waterproofs) and explore Scotland out of season. You won’t be disappointed.

You can read more about Wild Scotland Nurture campaign here.