A wild yurt in the Cairngorms, the perfect base for hiking and biking. Get away from it all and into the hills...

The yurt is a cosy space set in wonderful isolation on the hillside above the river Spey. The owners told us they were, "a bit like The Wombles" and when you see a yurt sitting on recycled fence post decking, furnished with a grand Victorian double bed, a tapestry tub chair and an old mahogany writing table, you can really believe it. Nothing is ever thrown away if it might turn out to be useful, as the truck wheel barbecue shows. The wood-burning oven is state of the art, and means the canvas yurt is habitable even in the intense Scottish winter – though that shouldn’t stop you from bringing your best extra thick patterned jumpers. The shower and loo are housed in a converted farm outbuilding where there’s also a little place for making coffee. Please note that these are both quite a walk away, roughly 700 metres and over some rough terrain.
Isolation is all part of being at Inshriach. You're perfectly set up for forays into the Cairngorms, safe in the knowledge that a comfortable haven is yours to come back to.

• Esentials
• Getting there
• Eating & Drinking
• Things to do
• Booking terms
• Meet your hosts

The essentials

The important stuff

• Kids are not unwelcome, but there is no room for an extra bed.
• Pets are welcome at Inshriach
• There is no electricity in the yurt
• Mobile phone service with most providers
• You can hear the A9 on a very still day
• Gardens around both the house and the cottages are off limits to guests
• EXTREME WEATHER ALERT! Due to its location Inshriach Yurt can experience a fair bit of snow, icy temperatures and low daylight hours in winter. It can be great fun for hardy campers but you have been warned – consider bringing thermals!

Sleeping arrangements

Kids & Pets

Cooking

• A woodburning stove with a hot plate and oven
• A fire outside that doubles as a barbeque with a supply of charcoal if you don’t fancy cooking on wood
• Crockery
• Kettle
• Tables and chairs

Washing

• A hot shower and a flushing loo at the farmhouse are 300m away up a grassy footpath. The room is shared by guests of the yurt and Beer Moth. There are no laundry facilities on site or nearby.
• There is a kit drying room, which is shared with other guests when there is a course on such as bush craft or yurt building.

Heating, lighting & bedding

• There is no electricity in the yurt so a torch is always handy
• A proper Victorian double bed
• All bedding and towels provided

Getting there

By car - BEWARE SAT NAV, it will take you to the wrong house.

Take the A9 to Aviemore, at the roundabout at the south end of the town turn towards Coylumbridge, then take a right turn to Inshriach and Feshiebridge on the B970. After 4 miles go past the Inshriach Nursery Gardens and Inshriach Farm is your next turning on the right.

By train 

Aviemore is 4 miles from Inshriach, taxis or bikes can take you the rest of the way.

By Boat

Come down the Spey. You enter Inshriach waters half a mile from Loch Insh, 2 miles later keep your eyes peeled for a yurt on your right hand side. Disembark.

Eating & drinking

At Inshriach House

The Old School Shop at Rothiemurchus sells meat from the neighbouring estate, as well as the best selection of whisky and wine in the area and good local cheeses. And right next door is the well-known Inshriach Alpine Nursery Garden where, as well as plants, there is an excellent cake (we can vouch for their delciousness) and coffee shop open every day except Wednesday. Whole cakes to take away can be ordered in advance.

The Ord Ban Restaurant, Aviemore (2 miles). An intimate space now open every night with excellent local food all beautifully prepared.

The Old Bridge Inn, Avienmore (2.5 miles). An excellent pub with fine food.

There are plenty of bars in Aviemore and a handful of distilleries within reach of Inshriach for that tasty nightcap.

Things to do

Outdoor & active

The National Park has something for everyone, Loch an Eilean and Glen Feshie are an easy hike from the house and, for the more determined, the Argyll stone gives spectacular views down Glen Einich and into the Cairngorms.

Rothiemurchus estate offers all sorts of activities from mountain bike hire to clay pigeon shooting, off road driving and dog sledding.

Sailing, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing and fishing are available on Loch Morlich and Loch Insh.

Alvie Estate have a riding school and also offer falconry, archery and more.

Swing through the trees at Go Ape! Crathes Castle, with Tarzan swings and epic zip wires aplenty.

Or you can go flying at the gliding school, climbing at the climbing wall or in the mountains, or to the Kincraig Wildlife Park to see the tigers.

If all of this sounds a bit too much, kick back and go fishing with the Inshriach Fishings or take a stroll around one of the local museums.

Places to visit

Inverness is a 45 minute drive if you feel the need to do any shopping in its old Victorian Market or new, award winning shopping complex.

Loch Ness is only an hour away should you fancy your chances of seeing the monster.

Festivals, celebrations and special days

Festivals & events

Inshriach house is home to the Insider Festival, which showcases some of the hottest folk and emerging acts from across Scotland over a LONG weekend in June. For 2012, it's the 15th -17th. The festival is a celebration of local music, crafts and locally sourced food and drink, of course.

Meet your hosts

Inshriach House was originally a grand sporting lodge built in 1906 for the Black family. It was passed on to the famous alpine gardener Jack Drake before coming into the Micklethwait family in 1970. The whole estate needed restoring by the time Walter Micklethwait and his mother Lucy, (an antique dealer turned serial DIYer and art historian respectively) took over 2 years ago, setting about the renovations in a characteristically resourceful style. Now that the main house (all 10 bedrooms of it) is finished and getting a following for itself, Walter has turned his attention to the other buildings on the estate and to running the yurt, as well as a sideline restoring classic British cars down on the farm and hosting The Insider Festival.

The Micklethwaits view themselves as being a bit like The Wombles. All over Inshriach you will find resourceful re-use, from stiles to bridges, furniture to fencing, all made from foraged and flung out materials. The platform for the yurt is made from discarded fence posts, scaffold planks and timber, the barbecue from a truck wheel and all the furnishings are relics from the house and restored bits from junk shops. There are extensive kitchen gardens at Inshriach and at certain times of year the family and other residents on the estate get to gorge themselves on salad.

Inshriach is also the scene of the Insider Festival, another exercise in making brass from muck. All the bars and backdrops are made from recycled, donated and reclaimed materials. The festival features some of the hottest folk and emerging acts from across Scotland, and this year also turned its attention to firewood, renewable fuels and whittling things from wood. It is also a chance to taste the best food in the valley, all locally sourced, and a fully Scottish (as in very full and sourced from Scotland) bar.

Wildlife

There are 3 separate SSSIs on the estate and they are working with the RSPB to improve habitats for rare birds. Keep your bacon in the yurt or the badgers or pine martens will have it. You get the odd wild cat and red and roe deer come down from the moors through the winter to graze in the gardens. There are red squirrels in the trees, ospreys nesting across the river, buzzards, eagles and other birds of prey in the sky. Along the river you could meet anything from oystercatchers to goldeneye ducks, otters and voles. There are also highland ponies kept on the farm, highland cattle, a small spaniel cross called Monty and there have even been recent sightings of a panther in the woods.