Culloden Battelfield and Cairngorm Mountain Range

Our First Visit of the day is to the fantastic Clava Cairns, a well-preserved Bronze Age cemetery near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.The stone circles and burial chambers at Clava Cairns date back 4,000 years to the Bronze Age. This isn’t the earliest known use of the site either, as archaeological excavations has found it was once used for farming. Some of the early farm buildings may even have been recycled and incorporated into the burial site. Today, the remains of Clava Cairns are located on two separate sites. The main site – Balnauran of Clava sits in a quiet, leafy setting. It consists of three large burial cairns, each surrounded by a stone circle. Two of the cairns are passage cairns, where the central burial chamber is accessed via a narrow corridor. Between the two passage cairns sits a kerb cairn, with an enclosed central burial chamber. Cup and ring markings, which commonly occur during this period, can be found on the cairns and stones. Sadly, the true meaning of this ancient art has been lost in time so we can only guess at the significance

Culloden Battlefield Visit the powerfully moving site of the final Jacobite Rising – the last and most harrowing pitched battle to be fought on British soil. Explore the interactive visitor centre, view fascinating artefacts from both sides of the confrontation, and experience the battle in the immersive surround cinema. The richly researched, stimulating and sensitive Culloden Visitor Centre, which stands beside the battlefield, features artefacts from both sides of the battle and interactive displays that reveal the background to the conflict. It stands as a monument and a guide to a pivotal day in history. Discover how a bloody fight that lasted only an hour changed life in the Highlands forever.

A visit to Culloden is a poignant experience. Headstones mark the graves of hundreds of clansmen who gave their lives for the Jacobite cause; a 6m-high memorial cairn honours the fallen; and an eerie silence often falls across wild Drummossie Moor – there is no escaping the emotions Culloden evokes.

Travel then to Ruthven Barracks they were built by George II’s government in the early 1700s after the failed Jacobite uprising of 1715. The troops stationed there were to maintain law and order and enforce the Disarming Act of 1716.The barracks saw action twice. A 300-strong Jacobite attack failed to take the barracks in 1745, but a more heavily-armed attack the next year forced the barracks’ surrender. The Jacobites rallied here after their defeat at Culloden before conceding

The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain of the Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national park on 1 September 2003. Ride the Funicular Railway, and experience the mountain and its history, stopping at The Ptarmigan Restaurant which boasts phenomenal, panoramic views of Loch Morlich and the surrounding area from over 3,500ft. There is also access onto a viewing terrace, where you can experience the wild mountain environment. Don’t forget to buy and mail your postcards from the highest postbox in the British Isles in the Top Station!

Spend some time exploring the town of Aviemore , situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. The town is popular for skiing and other winter sports, and for hill-walking in the Cairngorm Mountains. There are excellent views of the Cairngorms from various places within the town, especially from the railway station.