Highlands for Families no.2, Landmark Adventure Park

This is the second in our series about places to go as a family in the Highlands of Scotland. There's four of us, myself James, my wife, Stella and our two boys, E and A. In July of 2021 we visited Landmark Adventure Park just outside of Aviemore.

We arrived at the park by car, though I see on the website you can get there by bus or train. There are plenty of cyclists in Aviemore, so I imagine some people may come that way and we saw some bicycle racks while walking in. Regardless, there's plenty of space to park your vehicle.

Landmark Adventure Park isn't a typical theme park. There are rides and a roller coaster, but the primary draw is to offer adventure sport style thrills that are suitable for kids. There are for example, three separate difficulties of treetop adventure climbing (Ropeworx, Tarzan Trail, Wee Monkey Trail) challenging entrants to balance on beams and scramble across ropes while 5m up in the air. Another climbing themed activity is 'The Pinnacle', a big climbing wall. There is also a rather terrifying drop into open air described as a 'skydive'. It's a bit like a bungee jump, except you are at least right way up when you do it and is suitable for older children/adults. All such activities are managed well by the efficient and competent staff, who while we were there wore spacesuit-esque clothing as a covid measure, an interesting sight in and of itself.

For younger children there is a large wooden tower (Ant City)which can be scaled and slides which carry you back down to the ground again, as well as a dinosaur exhibit and a few other small distractions that may meet with approval. Some were closed while we were there and others namely 'The Lost Labyrinth', made almost pointless by the mandatory one way system.

One for all the family is the 'Bamboozeleum', set off towards the exit. It's a house of mirrors that shares much in common with Edinburgh's Camera Obscura. Another of interest to the whole family, and especially those unable to enjoy the more active rides is 'The Butterfly House'. You find yourself surrounded by large and beautiful flying insects, although in our case this resulted in a premature exit as our youngest son decided climbing the trees was preferable to the creepy crawlies.

We bought food in the park, which was palatable and not too expensive. The park wasn't too crowded initially but got worse as the day went on. I suggest arriving early or late to avoid queues.

All in all I would recommend Landmark Adventure Park. The price tag at first seems steep for what you find as you enter, but it grows on you as you move around. We did find that we got through the entirety of the park fairly quickly however, so don't expect to spend your whole day here unless you are someone who likes to do the same things a few times over.