Walking navigation & mountaineering courses in Scotland

COUNTRY:
Scotland
LOCATION:
Cairngorms, Scottish Highlands
HOLIDAY TYPE:
Moderate walking holidays
DEPARTURES:
PRICE:
From £217 - £224 (2 days) excluding flights
MORE INFO:
From 2-8 days, excluding flights. Price depends on course and duration. Please state which trip you are interested in when submitting your enquiry.
VOUCHERS:
Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday
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Walking navigation & mountaineering courses in Scotland

Walking navigation & mountaineering courses in Scotland

Green travel discount
In direct response to growing Climate Change concerns and reports of Methane (a severe greenhouse gas) being released from Siberia's melting permafrost during the summer, we are offering those who travel up to us by train or bus to Aviemore a £15 discount on the price of their holiday or course. Travel plans must be notified to us by the time balance of payment is due (min 28 days before departure).
Departure guarantee
We are proud to continue to offer our unique departure guarantee*. If your booking is confirmed by us you can be assured that your holiday will run. We can offer this guarantee as we are unique amongst walking holiday operators in Scotland by providing all the parts of your holiday (guiding, accommodation and catering) in-house. * We reserve the right to alter the venue and itinerary of holidays advertised as based away from our lodge.

How Walking navigation & mountaineering courses in Scotland makes a difference

Although the Highland scenery is stunning, it's one of the less affluent areas of Britain. Our operation is entirely Highland based, both as a company and whilst delivering the holidays. With all our walking holidays & mountaineering courses we employ qualified local guides who live and operate in the Scottish Highlands. They're an integral part of the local community and they know the intricacies of the local mountains, about the wildlife, the local environmental issues, etc. Through employing local guides we maximise both your holiday experience and the benefit to the local economy, often at a time of the year when visitor numbers are low. We source as much produce as we can locally and we support a number of local business', both directly and indirectly.

Boat of Garten (our location) has an energetic and vibrant community putting on a good number of lively social events through out the year including comedy plays, ceilidhs and both festivals. We encourage our guests to support these by scheduling, where possible, courses to coincide with them.

During the winter months we maximise the use a wood Burning Stove to supplement the heating - the overall efficiency of these stoves is superb, particularly when you consider the energy used in production of other fuels. Wood is a renewable fuel and doesn't introduce any further carbon into the carbon cycle as fossil fuels do. As part of our continuing commitment to environmentally responsible holidays we are currently in the process of installing a wood pellet boiler here at the lodge (our main base for our walking holidays) here in Scotland.

May of our navigation courses take place during the spring - an especially important time of year for the wildlife. On all our holidays we have a 'leave nothing, take only photographs' policy. Our guides are asked to explain and encourage this policy. For Example, leaving an apple core or feeding a seagull on a mountain summit may seem innocuous but it detracts from the 'untouched wilderness' aspect and can have a detrimental knock-on effect e.g. on the indigenous wildlife.

Walking navigation & mountaineering courses in Scotland

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Walking navigation & mountaineering courses in Scotland

Reviewed 14 Aug 2009 by Kim Naylor-Vane4 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


There are so many positive things to say about this course – the supportive leader, the fantastic home made food, the beautiful highland scenery…but the happiest memories for me are of the people I met. Firstly Andy, the course leader, made the group feel at home. Not only did he spend every day of the course with us nurturing our navigation skills and answering our questions about the wildlife and landscape of the area, he also welcomed us back at the B&B with a cup of tea and slice of cake. Mmmm. Rebecca, his partner who runs the B&B, made sure we didn’t go hungry and impressed us all with her home made bread, ice cream and pasta. It was great too meeting like-minded people. We revelled in how geeky we were getting about map reading! Finally, it was an insight into the whirlwind that is a B&B. During our week we met Spanish cyclists, Irish birdwatchers, North Americans, and French and Scottish families.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Make sure you read the course notes thoroughly. They explain what kit you need and what fitness level is required.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


Andy and Rebecca have a very good knowledge of green issues. All the food we ate was home made and a high proportion was grown in their garden. A recycling point is available which we were asked to use. They offer a green travel discount if you travel to and from Aviemore by public transport. There was definitely more going on behind the scenes.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?


A brilliant week – none of us wanted to leave!

Reviewed 06 Aug 2006 by Harjit Mahl5 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


Seeing scotland for the first time, learning new skills, enjoying the company. The satisfaction of getting to the top of 2 munros.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


I don't think any tips are needed other than a good level of fitness for walking the hills for five days. The website and the organisers clearly explained any requirements.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


Our mountain guide was very good at pointing out environmentally do's and don'ts. Yes I did feel it benefitted local people in the sense you got to 'live' in the community and were exposed to the people in it.

4. Any other comments?


I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and our hosts were very hospitable and friendly, made you feel like you were a part of the family. Everyone at work commented on how refreshed I looked on my return!

Reviewed 17 Sep 2006 by Heather Martin4 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


We had a great time and felt we learned loads about navigation and being out in the hills in general. Best thing for me was increased confidence. I now feel in being able to venture out into the hills and find my way.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Tips I would offer: personally I wouldn't pay £10 for a map case again, a strong plastic bag would do! Also when buying a compass don't allow anyone to put it down on the counter and put a security tag near it, or it will no longer point north!! Also you do need to be reasonably fit as a fair bit of uphill is involved (not surprising really as the course is called mountain skills!)

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


Our accommodation at Fraoch Lodge was very good, a really cosy place and impressively environmentally friendly. All food is home cooked and made from local produce as much as possible.

4. Any other comments?


Overall I would rate holiday 4+ if that's allowed!
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