Travel & Getting Around

The Cairngorms National Park is easy to reach by road, rail, plane or bike.

Whether you want to get here by plane, train, automobile or bus, the Cairngorms National Park is easily accessible…

The Park is situated in the heart of the Scottish Highlands and has great transport links, with regular rail and bus services, as well as Inverness Airport within easy reach. 

Trains travel direct to Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh and London, with an overnight Caledonian Sleeper service daily from Euston. 

For travel when you’re here, there’s also a wealth of options; in addition to ‘traditional’ bus or train, ebikes and regular bikes are gaining popularity as a sustainable way to travel. You can view a list of places where you can charge your electric car here.

Listed below are a few helpful contacts for transport arrangements, timetable and directions. We look forward to welcoming you to our special place! 

For traffic information:

Check the TRAFFIC SCOTLAND website which has real time information to help you plan your journey, including roadworks, planned roadworks, journey times, road traffic incidents and weather-affected routes.

For information on accessibility:

If you need assistance getting to and around contact First ScotRail’s Assisted Travel helpline on 0800 912 2 901 or the Assisted Travel Typetalk (for the hard of hearing) on 18001 0800 912 2 901. For more general advice phone Badenoch & Strathspey DisabilityAccess Panel on 01479 810004.

For train information:

Plan your trip and get the best ticket deals online with National Rail, thetrainline and raileasy.

For information on trains in the west of the Park:

There are railway stations in the west of the National Park at Dalwhinnie, Newtonmore, Kingussie, Aviemore and Carr-Bridge. Trains between London’s Kings Cross and Inverness stop off at either Kingussie or Aviemore.  There are 10 services each way daily and a sleeper service from London Euston. 

For information on trains to the east of the Park:

Aberdeen is the nearest railway station to the Royal Deeside area in the east of the National Park.  There are regular services to and from Aberdeen including a Sleeper Service from London. You can drive to the Park in an hour from Aberdeen station or catch a bus, or even cycle on the Deeside Way. 

Steam Railway

Why not use our very own Strathspey Steam Railway between Aviemore, Boat of Garten and Broomhill at Nethy Bridge? This is a wonderful experience in itself! 

For bus & coach information:

Stagecoach operate local buses.

Timetable details Aviemore area here

Ballater & Braemar area here

The new (May 2023) Aviemore Adventurer bus operates between Aviemore and Cairngorm Mountain 7 days a week, hourly throughout the day and has space for bikes and skis. View the timetable here.

For information on express coaches:

Express coaches from London Victoria, and all over the country, make the journey up through Scotland to the Cairngorms National Park in the west, and to nearby Aberdeen in the east. Travel with Citylink and Megabus.

For information on local buses:

Local Bus timetable operated by Stagecoach Stagecoach

01463 239292 / 01343 540298 / 01382 614552 / 01224 597590

Maynes Coaches 01542 831219

Speyside Dial-a-bus 01343 562533

Strathdon A2B Dial-a-bus 01224 665599

Use RailBus if travelling by train to Aberdeen

Where 2 Today Minibus Service between Aviemore and Laggan and Aviemore and Nethy Bridge

For information on air travel:

The nearest airports to the Cairngorms National Park are at Aberdeen (to access the east of the Park) and Inverness (to access the west).

For information on coach hire:

Bremners of Aviemore 01479 812322 

Meffan’s Coaches Angus Glens 01575 572130 

For information on travelling by bike / foot:

National Cycle Route 7 runs from Glasgow to Inverness, passing through the west of the Cairngorms National Park.  Cycle route 7 is a combination of on and off-road sections and links up the communities of Badenoch & Strathspey.

The Deeside Way runs from Aberdeen on the east coast to Ballater in the east of the Cairngorms National Park.  The Deeside Way provides an off-road cycling route linking up Dinnet and Ballater in the Royal Deeside area of the Cairngorms National Park.

Cycle touring on and off-road is a great way to get to, and around, the National Park. 

Sections of the Speyside Way and Dava Way are also suitable for cycling.

The Speyside Way runs from Buckie on the Moray Coast to Aviemore in the Cairngorms National Park and links up the communities in the Badenoch & Strathspey area of the Park.  A spur of the Speyside Way runs also from Ballindalloch to Glenlivet and Tomintoul.

The Dava Way runs from Forres near the Moray Coast to Grantown-on-Spey in the Cairngorms National Park.

For information on local taxi firms:

Information on approximate travel times: