Mar Lodge Estate

Mar Lodge Estate is Britain's largest National Nature Reserve, 29,000 hectares of the Cairngorms west of Braemar, cared for by the National Trust for Scotland since 1995 and holding fifteen Munros, including Ben Macdui, Britain's second highest mountain. The easy walks were Queen Victoria's favourites: the Linn of Dee, where the river squeezes through a rock gorge below a Victorian bridge, the Linn of Quoich, and the track through Glen Lui to Derry Lodge into the heart of the hills. The Caledonian pinewood is being restored after centuries of felling, and the estate is home to red deer, red squirrels, pine martens, golden eagles and black grouse, with otters on the Quoich wetlands. The lodge itself is let as holiday apartments; there is no visitor centre. Reviewers come for the walks and the scenery, and warn about midges in August. Tips from regulars: the pay and display car parks are free for members, and keep dogs close from April to July for nesting birds.