Braemar and Ballater: Royal Deeside

Royal Deeside is the Cairngorms for connoisseurs. The magnificent pinewoods may be less extensive than their northern counterparts, but from this side the Cairngorms seem more individual rather than forming a great wall as they do from the Spey; and the long approach walks to reach the arctic plateaux add to the magic.

One of Scotland's fastest flowing rivers, the Dee flows out from the High Cairngorms to carve a beautiful course down through Braemar and past Balmoral Castle to Ballater and beyond. To the south rises the Mounth, a range of plateaux almost as extensive as the Cairngorms themselves, all presided over by the grand peak of Lochnagar. There are stunning lochs, with remote Loch Callater, majestic Loch Muick, and the beautiful birchwoods of around Loch Kinord and the Muir of Dinnet.