Believe it or not but Santa's reindeer get ready for the festive season by holidaying in Scotland - or at least that's what you can tell the kids when you take them to see Scotland's only free-roaming herd of these wonderful beasts ahead of the festive season.
Reindeer have taken up residence in the Cairngorms National Park since the early 1950s, and at the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre, you can get up and close and personal with them. The ideal way to build up anticipation ahead of Christmas, there are over 150 individual reindeer now part of this impressive herd which grazes on the hills of this spectacular location.
Established by Mikel Utsi and his wife Dr. Ethel Lindgren who brought some of their Swedish herd over here, and now run by two former volunteers, Alan and Elizabeth 'Tillie' Smith, the animals have thrived in what is, arguably the only place in the UK able to sustain them, with the area being so high and cold.
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Located in Glenmore village, just six miles east of Aviemore, the centre offers two ways to meet the herds with daily hill trips leaving at 11 am and taking people up to meet the reindeer in their natural grazing grounds on the hills, as well as getting to see the reindeer in their paddocks.
The second option is great for young children who can't do the hill walk, with both wheelchair and push chair accessibility, over the Christmas period, Santa himself will also be making an appearance which you can learn more about here.
Even better, in October each year, visitors to Glenmore may even be lucky enough to see the team training their new Christmas reindeer in and around the village. The younger reindeer are attached to sleighs and made to walk around the streets giving kids a glimpse of Santa's reindeer in training.
A daily occurrence, the 11 o’clock hill trip is a guided 30-minute walk up to the reindeer, where you will be in amongst the herd and able to take pictures with them over the course of an hour or so.
The team say that it is advisable to book these in advance with walks costing £20 per adult and £15 per child (children under 3 go free).
Keep an eye out for a female called Ochil and her stunning little white (leucistic) calf which was only born in May this year.
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