The cottage is only 5 minutes’ walk from the railway station and it is an easy 10 minute walk to the main street where there is a grocery shop, small supermarket, cafés and a hotel bar/restaurant.

The Wildcat Experience offers a delightful way to explore Newtonmore fully, with over 100 colourful painted cat statues dotted all around the village. Pick up a pack from the Wildcat Centre on the main street and follow the trail to try to spot as many as possible - there is even a prize if you can find more than 50.

Walkers and climbers can walk right out and up a munro directly from the cottage, which is named after the Carn Dearg munro. This impressive peak stands at 3,100 feet and takes the best part of a day to climb.

The Highland Folk Museum (1 mile) is an open air museum (open Mar - Oct) made up of over 30 traditional buildings that offer a fascinating insight into the living conditions of the Highland people from the 1700s right up until the 1960s. If you are interested in tracing your family heritage then the Clan Macpherson Museum is a good place for genealogical research and even more Highland history.

Every August the Highland Games come to Newtonmore with pipe music and Scottish dancing, as well as the games which include shot put and tossing the caber. The village is also known for its love of shinty (a cross between hockey and lacross) and you may well be lucky enough to see one of the fast-paced Saturday games being played on the shinty ground.

The RZSS Highland Wildlife Park (8 miles) has a range of wonderful wildlife to see with everything from wild cats and elk to polar bears, red pandas and stunningly beautiful snow leopards.

There are 30km of excellent mountain biking trails to try at Laggan Wolftrax (10 miles) or if watersports are more to your liking you can canoe/kayak, sail or windsurf on Loch Insh (10 miles). You can even take a quad bike tour around the Ardverikie Estate and along the sandy shores of Loch Laggan. There is skiing and snowboarding at the Cairngorm Mountain Ski Resort (24 miles) where Scotland’s only funicular railway takes you right up to the top with amazing views to admire as you ascend. Lessons are available and all the necessary equipment and clothing can be conveniently hired on site.