Forest bathing at Mar Lodge Estate (Linn of Dee)

Mar Lodge Estate is Britain's largest National Nature Reserve, over 29,000 hectares in the heart of the Cairngorms, cared for by the National Trust for Scotland. Centuries of felling and grazing reduced its native Caledonian pinewood, and the Trust has been cutting red deer numbers so that the young pines can come back. Walking among them gives you a sense of a forest slowly returning, with young trees coming up among the old.

The Linn of Dee, west of Braemar, is the place to start: a narrow gorge where the river squeezes through the rocks, once a favourite picnic spot of Queen Victoria. From the car park, waymarked trails follow the river through regenerating pinewood and up into Glen Lui, and there is an easy access trail too. Beyond the Mar Lodge area paths are rough and the country is remote, so dress for mountain weather. Toilets are open from Easter until October.