As we left Stonehaven we decided that we would head inland towards the Cairngorms as we had heard so many wonderful things about the area as a whole. So first stop for us was the royal castle of Balmoral. We arrived at the castle late in the evening but worked out that we were allowed to stopover for the night in the visitor car park. This way we would be in the right place to take a tour the following morning. The only other noteworthy point was that on my quick jaunt out towards the castle gates I noticed that there were a bunch of journalists on the grass on the opposite side facing the gates and the heavily armed guards that protected the castle.

Little did I know, until we entered the castle’s visitor centre, that there were no visits permitted at this time of the year as the queen was in residence. It was a shame, but the weather was pretty miserable again, so we were not too unhappy to get back on the road.

We were greeted with fantastic driving road with little traffic and plenty of forest and scenery to accompany us on the route. As we travelled through the countryside we came to the Glenlivet Estate and the mountain bike park they have created.

BikeGlenlivet, Glenlivet, Scotland

BikeGlenlivet, Glenlivet, Scotland

We decided to stop as I really wanted to explore the BikeGlenlivet trails, (www.glenlivetestate.co.uk/outdoor-activities) and it was a fantastic few hours spent in the howling winds on some great trails. They are well maintained and I was the only biker on them as it was mid-week. It is a gem in the middle of nowhere.

Once I was suitably warn out, it was time to move on and find somewhere to camp. We figured, as Loch Ness was reasonably close that we would find a camp site and stay there for the night.