Kingussie - town in Highland, Scotland, UK

Kingussie is a small town in the Scottish Highlands, in the upper part of the Spey Valley as it descends from the lonely moors. It's a good base for exploring the western side of Cairngorms National Park.

Get in

By train

• Kingussie railway station, Ruthven Road PH21 1EN, 57.077904°, -4.053222°. 2020-05-03
  • Scotrail services link Kingussie with Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness several times a day.
  • LNER runs a daily service between Inverness and London via Kingussie. The service calls at principal stations including Edinburgh, Newcastle and York.
  • The Caledonian Sleeper leaves London Euston nightly except Saturday around 21:00 to reach Pitlochry by 07:00 on its way to Inverness. The southbound sleeper picks up around 22:00 and reaches Euston by 08:00. You might prefer to take the Lowland Sleeper from Euston towards midnight and change in Edinburgh for a daytime train. Returning south, you need to leave Pitlochry before 20:00 to join the Lowland Sleeper from Edinburgh around 23:30.

By car

• Kingussie is just off the A9, the main road north to Inverness.

By bus

Most of the buses along the A9 bypass Kingussie, and there's usually only one Citylink bus per day from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth.

Get around

The town can easily be explored on foot, but a car or bicycle could be useful for seeing the surrounding countryside.

See

• Ruthven Barracks, 57.072147°, -4.039508°. Always open. A ruined 18th century fort, stands just across the Spey about 1 mile from the railway station. Maintained by Historic Scotland. Free 2019-08-20
• RZSS Highland Wildlife Park, 57.1111°, -3.97472°, +44 1540 651270. Safari park and zoo. 2017-04-02
• Highland Folk Museum, Highland Folk Museum, Kingussie Road, Newtonmore, PH20 1AY, 57.06878°, -4.10443°, +44 1540 673551. Apr-Aug daily 10:30-17:30, Sep-Oct daily 11:00-16:30, Nov-Mar closed. Open air museum of ordinary highland life based in nearby Newtonmore. Free, donations welcome 2017-04-02
• Kingussie Cemetery, B9152 (Parking possible outside the entrance or on the opposite side of the road.), 57.08541°, -4.02658°, +44 1628 634221, info@cwgc.org. Cemetery with 14 Commonwealth war graves. 2021-04-26

Do

• Walk: Kingussie is a good base for walking in the Cairngorms.
• Newtonmore Highland Games and Clan Macpherson Annual Gathering are held in early August on "The Eilean" in Newtonmore, with the next on Saturday 5 Aug 2023.

Buy

• Co-op Food, 24 High St Kingussie PH21 1RH, 57.07997°, -4.05173°. Daily 06:00-22:00. Convenience supermarket. 2019-08-20

Eat

• The Cross gets rave reviews for its restaurant, see "Sleep".
• Tipsy Laird, 68 High St PH21 1HZ, 57.080604°, -4.049278°, +44 1540 661708. Daily 11:00-23:00. Restaurant and bunkhouse (beds from £20). Mains from £10 2019-08-20

Drink

• Several hotels have public bars, eg the Duke of Gordon in village centre.
• Speyside Distillery is two miles east of Kingussie on the back lane to Feshiebridge. The whisky is widely available but they don't offer tours.

Sleep

• Greystones B&B, Acres Road (At the Kingussie traffic lights turn up Ardbroilach Road. Take the 4th right turn into Acres Road, Greystones B&B is to the end on the right.), 57.08417°, -4.05007°, +44 1540 661052. Lovely house, very friendly owners who have dogs in the house. from £30 (breakfast from £6) 2017-01-29
• The Cross, Tweed Mill Brae, Ardbroilach Road PH21 1LB, 57.082739°, -4.053834°, +44 1540 661166. Excellent small hotel with top-class restaurant. B&B double £150 2020-05-21
• Arden House, Newtonmore Rd, 57.078613°, -4.056937°, +44 1540 661369. 2017-04-02

Connect

• Three and EE have 4G coverage, O2 and Vodafone only outdoors. 5G has not yet reached Kingussie.

Go next

• Aviemore is a good centre for exploring the Spey Valley and Cairngorms, though the ski centre remains closed.
• Fort William is on the doorstep of Ben Nevis.
• Blair Atholl is the first town south after crossing Drumochter Pass. It has a scenic castle.