Simon Penfold enjoys a breath of fresh air and superb scenery around the Scottish countryside – and goes wildlife spotting on a Caringorms safari.

There are many ways to get to Scotland – regular flights from Birmingham International, trains – but we chose to drive. It might seem a slog, but it proved to be the best way to see the increasingly majestic scenery as we headed north on the M6 from Wolverhampton.

By the time we crossed the border we could see snow-capped mountains – a sight that was to be a regular one during our five-day stay.

While the land is fairly flat around Aberdeen itself – once a major fishing port and now the base for much of the oil and gas industry in the North Sea – a short drive found us out in the Scottish countryside, up in the hills.

And it was in the nearby Cairngorms we enjoyed the highlight of our journey; a Scottish Highland safari.

A 4×4 Mitsubishi was the vehicle that took us up onto the tops of the mountains overlooking the town of Braemar – home of a traditional Highland Gathering every summer – where we discovered just how rapidly the weather could change. We soon found ourselves wrapped in heavy snow that made the going difficult even for our off-roader at the hands of our experienced guide.

As well as a skilled driver, Neil Bain has a wealth of local information, from homely stories about local landlords such as the Royal Family – Balmoral is just a short distance away – but also of the clearances that changed the shape of the Scottish countryside two centuries ago. Valleys once full of families were virtually emptied, leaving the space for sheep and the deer that abound on the hillsides, along with hares, grouse, ptarmigan and even golden eagles.

Later the in afternoon Neil managed to get us close to a number of family groups, as stags moved thorugh the woods with up to two dozen hinds at a time, along with yearling fawns still too young to leave their mothers.

It was a breathtaking sight, as when a group of companiable-looking red deer stags wandered across the road in front of us, one of them with an impressive 14 points spread of antlers making it a so-called “Imperial” stag.

Our guide also took us to the nearby rebuilt Victorian hunting home, Mar Lodge, with its macabre function room decorated thoroughout with more than 2,000 deer skulls.

Neil himself was every inch the Highlander, from his green tweed suit to his snowy white hair. The son of a local gamekeeper he took up guiding tourists around the hills of his home after retiring from his career in the police.

His local background resulted in a fund of folklore, such as the tale surrounding a tree from which a young lad was wrongly hanged for sheep rustling, bringing down a mother’s curse on the landowning family that still has resonance today.

All in all it was an afternoon soaked in the romance and the wildlife of the Scottish Highlands.

We also had a chance to try out some country pastimes at the Deeside Activity Park, near Dinnet, such as shooting and archery, as well as a thrilling circuit of an ice-covered karting track. Not too fast, but fun, as we slid and skidded around the tricky bends.

The food at the activity park also proved that good Scottish ingredients take a lot of beating – particularly those made from the Cairnton Aberdeen Angus cattle raised nearby.

In Aberdeen itself there is plenty to see and do, from the city centre with its host of shops and impressive Edwardian and Victorian architecture, as well as the city’s art gallery and its Maritime Museum.

Golfer’s paradise

And the gorgeously colourful Duthie Park, with its David Welch Winter Gardens originally built in 1899, is free and open seven days a week.

On bright sunny days there is also the chance to walk along one of the nicest, sandiest beaches for miles around. And the area is a golfer’s paradise, with an abundance of courses, as well as offering easy access to the nearby Scottish malt whisky trail of distilleries along the River Spey.

We stayed just outside the city at the Deeside Holiday Park, at Maryculter, in one of the largest and most comfortable mobile homes I have ever experienced. With its central heating, it was like a very well-appointed apartment.

Deeside is one of the Thistle Holiday Parks, a group of around 70 parks that come together to maintain high standards, so all currently hold four or five stars from the tourism agency, Visit Scotland.

It is also one of four sites owned and run by the Wood family. Kirsty Wood explained that the popularity of the site meant many of the mobile homes were owned by families coming back year after year, but investment in the site, including five luxury lodges as well as tent pitches, is making it an ideal base for people coming fresh to Highlands.#

Factfile:

There are 65 four-star and five-star Thistle Holiday Home Parks with top-quality holiday homes

For a free brochure see VisitScotland.com on 0845 22 55 121, e-mail: info@visitscotland.com or visit www.thistleparks.co.uk

Deeside Holiday Park, Maryculter, Aberdeenshire. Tel: 01224 733806, e-mail deeside@holiday-parks.co.uk

For Braemar Highland Safaris, Braemar, call 013397 41420, e-mail neil@braemarhighlandsafaris.co.uk, or visit www.braemarhighlandsafaris.co.uk