Speyside Way Easter 2013
Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 1:42 pmI walked the Speyside Way over five days at Easter, and I’ve been meaning to write this trip report up for a while.
Day 1: Aviemore to Nethy Bridge (10 miles)
I decided to have an easy day on day one, so I only walked as far as Nethybridge. Nethybridge is popular with bird watchers, hoping to catch sight of capercaille, black grouse, and crested tits. I have seen a crested tit in Nethybridge before; a few years ago, it was on a bird feeder in someone’s garden.
I tend to walk early when I am doing these treks on my own, so I tend to eat early as well. As the hotels were not serving dinner until about 6pm, I made do with something to eat in the local golf clubhouse (very nice and cheap too).
Highlight of day one was stopping by Loch Garten and the view of the osprey nest at the RSPB centre. The ospreys were in residence when I was there but not on the nest.
Day 2: Nethybridge to Cromdale (10 miles)
Day two was another day of easy walking, but this time the Speyside River was in sight more often than it had been the previous day. There is a welcome break in Grantown en route (coffee and scones shops), followed by a pleasant walk through forest towards Cromdale. I was staying overnight with friends in Cromdale, which was good fun; photographing pheasants in their garden, and dressing up in a beekeeping suit as I observed them tending their bees.
Day 3: Cromdale to Aberlour (21 miles)
Not only was this going to be the longest stretch of my walk, but also the most demanding in terms of ascent. Fortunately however, my Cromdale hosts introduced me to the first six miles of the route – the uphill bit – from the road, as a passenger in their van.
There are many whisky distilleries along the Speyside Way; a great walk for a stag party I expect.
The fish and chip shop in Aberlour serves up fine fodder – I recommend the fish and white pudding.
Day 4: Aberlour to Fochabers (15 miles)
As I left Aberlour, I saw my first lambs of spring. This was in contrast to my Easter long-distance walk last year (Hadrian’s Wall Path), where spring lambs were everywhere!!! (Easter was earlier this year). This was followed by a very enjoyable walk uphill at Craigellachie forest.
Fochabers is a nice wee town/village which is reported to have the best weather record in the North East (a man in Buckie told me this).
Day 5: Fochabers to Buckie (15 miles)
I would recommend that anyone doing a long distance walk path walks towards the sea – it is a fantastic way to finish a walk, dramatically different after walking in the countryside for so long.
Highlights include: first glimpse of Spey Bay; passing a seal colony at Port Gordon; and the old conservation village part of Buckie (folk havin’ their washin’ oot on the line on the salty sea front).
I got a taxi from Buckie to Keith (pricey, missed the earlier bus and only a few run per day), where I caught a train via Aberdeen back to Glasgow. Taxis along the Speyside Way also provide baggage transfer but it’s easier and much cheaper to carry your rucksack for the duration of the walk.
The Speyside Way is a pleasant enough walk but if I was doing it again, or recommending it to others, I would add on the Tomintoul spur (see the walk route here on Walk Highlands and the official Speyside Way web site for details) to make the Cromdale to Aberlour section I did more interesting and manageable (over two days instead of one). I would also highly recommend the Moray Coast walk – that particular part of the coast is gorgeous and ideal for spotting birds and wildlife.
The few birds and wildlife photos I took along the walk are posted here in Walk Highland’s wildlife section...
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32952
- Start of the walk at Aviemore
Day 1: Aviemore to Nethy Bridge (10 miles)
I decided to have an easy day on day one, so I only walked as far as Nethybridge. Nethybridge is popular with bird watchers, hoping to catch sight of capercaille, black grouse, and crested tits. I have seen a crested tit in Nethybridge before; a few years ago, it was on a bird feeder in someone’s garden.
I tend to walk early when I am doing these treks on my own, so I tend to eat early as well. As the hotels were not serving dinner until about 6pm, I made do with something to eat in the local golf clubhouse (very nice and cheap too).
Highlight of day one was stopping by Loch Garten and the view of the osprey nest at the RSPB centre. The ospreys were in residence when I was there but not on the nest.
- Walking towards Boat of Garten from Aviemore
- Loch Garten
- Osprey nest at the RSPB centre
Day 2: Nethybridge to Cromdale (10 miles)
Day two was another day of easy walking, but this time the Speyside River was in sight more often than it had been the previous day. There is a welcome break in Grantown en route (coffee and scones shops), followed by a pleasant walk through forest towards Cromdale. I was staying overnight with friends in Cromdale, which was good fun; photographing pheasants in their garden, and dressing up in a beekeeping suit as I observed them tending their bees.
- Greylag geese
Day 3: Cromdale to Aberlour (21 miles)
Not only was this going to be the longest stretch of my walk, but also the most demanding in terms of ascent. Fortunately however, my Cromdale hosts introduced me to the first six miles of the route – the uphill bit – from the road, as a passenger in their van.
There are many whisky distilleries along the Speyside Way; a great walk for a stag party I expect.
The fish and chip shop in Aberlour serves up fine fodder – I recommend the fish and white pudding.
- Distillery
- Spey bridge
Day 4: Aberlour to Fochabers (15 miles)
As I left Aberlour, I saw my first lambs of spring. This was in contrast to my Easter long-distance walk last year (Hadrian’s Wall Path), where spring lambs were everywhere!!! (Easter was earlier this year). This was followed by a very enjoyable walk uphill at Craigellachie forest.
- spring lambs
- Craigellachie forest
- Craigellachie forest
- Fochabers
Fochabers is a nice wee town/village which is reported to have the best weather record in the North East (a man in Buckie told me this).
Day 5: Fochabers to Buckie (15 miles)
I would recommend that anyone doing a long distance walk path walks towards the sea – it is a fantastic way to finish a walk, dramatically different after walking in the countryside for so long.
Highlights include: first glimpse of Spey Bay; passing a seal colony at Port Gordon; and the old conservation village part of Buckie (folk havin’ their washin’ oot on the line on the salty sea front).
I got a taxi from Buckie to Keith (pricey, missed the earlier bus and only a few run per day), where I caught a train via Aberdeen back to Glasgow. Taxis along the Speyside Way also provide baggage transfer but it’s easier and much cheaper to carry your rucksack for the duration of the walk.
- Spey bay
- seal colony at Port Gordon
- walking towards Buckie
The Speyside Way is a pleasant enough walk but if I was doing it again, or recommending it to others, I would add on the Tomintoul spur (see the walk route here on Walk Highlands and the official Speyside Way web site for details) to make the Cromdale to Aberlour section I did more interesting and manageable (over two days instead of one). I would also highly recommend the Moray Coast walk – that particular part of the coast is gorgeous and ideal for spotting birds and wildlife.
The few birds and wildlife photos I took along the walk are posted here in Walk Highland’s wildlife section...
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32952
. I was lucky with the weather being so early in April (stayed dry the whole 5 days) but still glad to hear Easter will be later next year (that's when l usually take a week off for a long-distance path).