Towns & Activities › Kingussie
Shinty
If Kingussie Shinty team are playing at The Dell (their local ground), you will have the opportunity of watching one of the oldest Gaelic field sports performed by a team with an unrivalled record of championship and cup wins in the modern era. According to the Guinness Book of Records 2005, Kingussie is World sport's most successful sporting team of all time, winning 20 consecutive league championships and going 4 years unbeaten at one stage in the early 1990s. Kingussie currently play in the Marine Harvest Premier League and their second team play in North Division 2.
Activities
Welcome to Kingussie, the capital of Badenoch in the Scottish Highlands. It’s a small, lively town right beside the famous river Spey in the midst of the glorious Cairngorms National Park and almost exactly in the centre of Scotland!
Surrounded by stunning landscape where sports of every kind can be enjoyed from cycling to skiing, golf and fishing to watersports, walking and much more, Kingussie is a paradise for outdoor activities and for those who appreciate invigorating Highland air, dramatic scenery and Highland hospitality.
Visitors can enjoy award-winning restaurants, live music, festivals every month, and speciality shops.
Fishing
The Badenoch Angling Association manages and stocks a long section of the River Spey from (and including) The Spey Dam above Laggan, right down to the mouth of the River Tromie, below Kingussie, together with fishing on Lochs Laggan and Ericht. The fishing is mostly brown trout with the occasional salmon. Permits can be bought locally.
RSPB Insh
2 miles from Kingussie is the RSPB Insh Marshes Reserve, one of the finest wetlands conservation areas in the UK. Two hides, an information viewpoint, and a two and a half mile trail are accessible from the car park and are open at all times. There is another nature trail near Insh village.
The Folk Museum – Kingussie
The Highland Folk Museum is situated on two sites: one in Kingussie; the other at Newtonmore.
The Museum in Kingussie houses the nationally important collection established by Dr Grant and greatly expanded over the years. A wonderful resource, the collections include, furniture, household items, agricultural implements and tools as well as buildings such as the ‘Smoke House’, ‘Clack Mill’ and iconic ‘Blackhouse’.
Highland Wildlife Park
As well as the red squirrel, pine marten, ospreys, badgers and other wild animals that have their natural home around Kingussie, you can experience Scottish wildlife past and present in the spectacular setting of the Highland Wildlife Park. You drive around the Main Reserve in your own car and then investigate the walk-round area by foot. The wildlife park is only 7 miles north of Kingussie on the B9152 between Aviemore and Kingussie. Well worth a day out.
Mountain Biking
Constructed and opened in 2004, The Laggan Wolftrax is a purpose built mountain bike centre giving enthusiasts the opportunity to bike through some of the Scotland's most scenic areas. The Centre includes a choice of trails to suite all abilities, has bike hire and trail guiding. The Centre is approximately 13 miles from Kingussie on the A86 Kingussie to Spean Bridge road, 2 miles west of the village of Laggan.
Golf
Kingussie’s challenging 18 hole hillside golf course, established in 1891, rises to 1,000 ft above sea level, offering spectacular views of the National Park. Other courses nearby are boat of garten, Carrbridge, Grantown on Spey and the new championship course in Aviemore.
Ruthven Barracks
On the outskirts of the town is the old ruins of Ruthven barracks, last occupied in 1745 by the Jacobites on their way to Culloden. What visitors to Ruthven Barracks see today is pretty much what was left by the departing Jacobites on 17 April 1746. Most of the exterior walls remain, but little of the interior structure, and no flooring or roofing. But come here on a quiet day and you can have Ruthven Barracks entirely to yourself.
Shopping, Eating & Drinking
Kingussie has a range of shops providing groceries, household items, hardware, pharmacy, clothing, gifts, pottery and much, much more. There are a range of places to eat out, ranging from tea rooms to takeaway and not forgetting the restaurants and hotel restaurants that serve the highest quality ingredients from farm, river and sea.
Walking - Hill Walking
There are so many walks in and around the Cairngorms National Park that you really are spoilt for choice. From short and long forest walks to the climbing of the Munros and Corbetts in the area. The views are stunning, walking in this area is a must for any tourist!
