Ace Adventures - Camping with Activities in the Scottish Highlands

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Sometimes you just need to get away from it all and have a proper adventure….

My best friend and I have been talking about taking our kids camping in the beautiful Scottish Highlands for years. 

Morayshire is where we grew up, and not a lot of people know just how stunningly beautiful it is. There are gorgeous beaches, forests, hills to climb, lochs to explore and rivers to….raft along! 

With this in mind we booked a camping adventure at Ace Adventures near Forres and started collecting the essentials (head torches, giant marshmallows, gin!) and planning our adventure.

Location

Ace Adventures is about 5 ½ hours drive from Newcastle, in the North East of Scotland near a town called Forres. We split the journey up with a stopover in Edinburgh, staying with our friends on the way there, and drove straight back (with plenty of stops!).

It is a long journey, but for us it was doable and especially beautiful when you drive through the Cairngorms on the A9 North of Edinburgh. We stopped at places with playparks and took plenty of snacks so the kids were happy.

Ace Adventures is in the middle of the beautiful Scottish countryside but close to the local town Forres where you can stock up at Tesco’s.

It’s near the river Findhorn, where they organise all sorts of adrenaline-fueled activities for kids and adults. If you’re brave enough you can try white water rafting as a family (from age 4-5 upwards) and they provide everything, as well as a knowledgeable trained instructor is on the boat with you.

Accommodation

Ace Adventures has a lovely collection of pre-pitched bell tents, all in their own little private spot on the edge of the forest. They sleep up to 7 adults, so there was loads of room for us (2 adults and 3 kids). The have names like Middle Earth and Sleepy Hollow, which we stayed in.

The bell tents come with 7 super comfy mattrasses and a log burner, which we lit every night to make it nice and cosy for the kids going to bed.

Bell tents start at £65 per tent, per night (low season) and £78 per tent, per night (high season). Dogs are welcome but do need to be kept on a lead due to an agreement with the local farmer and other nearby land users. 

We then sat outside next to the fire pit and had a few drinks before turning in ourselves. The place is so peaceful that we all slept better than we have in a long time, and all the kids slept in till past 8.30am! This alone is reason to book in my opinion.

Outside each bell tent there are logs or benches to sit on surrounding a heavy-duty steel fire pits. The fire pits come complete with a steel griddle plate that can be used to cook BBQ on or swivelled out of the way if you just want to toast marshmallows.

Each bell tent is located on the back of a ridgeline which breaks up the wind whilst enabling good airflow to disperse campfire smoke in one direction. It also keeps the few famous midges that can be experienced at certain times of the year at bay.

Other accommodation options here include Shepherd's Huts (sleeps up to 2) and they have camping / semi wild camping pitches available too. 

See here for more info: aceadventures.co.uk

Onsite facilities at Ace Adventures

The bell tents at Ace Adventure are a short walk from really good shower and toilet amenities, as well as a washing up area and communal kitchen with running water and a gas cooking hob.

They’re a couple minutes walk from the bell tents up a little hill, and this is the wilderness so make sure you bring a torch! Our kids loved using their head torches to go and brush their teeth.

At reception, there is power available to charge devices along with free wifi if you have to get that digital fix. A small kiosk offers tea and coffee, snack food and drinks.

Activities at Ace Adventures

Family white water rafting

Ace Adventures offer up to Grade 3 white water rafting, ideal for young families or as an introduction to white water rafting. It’s the ideal first time white water rafting experience for young families, first-timers or those who enjoy a scenic journey down a river with a splash of adventure! 

Our kids were just a little too young so we didn’t end up going out on the river this time, but definitely will be back in the future as its something I’ve always wanted to do. Here are some reviews from families on Trip Advisor:

“We had an amazing half day on the Findhorn with the ACE Adventures team whilst visiting Scotland.

We had our 10 year old son with us, who is quite adventurous, but as a first timer we were slightly concerned at how he would handle things, but the team of Alex, Dougie and Aofie looked after the group so well and put any fears we had to bed. Our son had the best day ever.”

“ Went with my two boys and had a brilliant time. Staff were amazing and it was well organised. We can’t wait to go again. My boys were 9 and 12 and loved it. A brilliant family activity.”

Family White water rafting is suitable from age 5+ and costs from £48.80 each at low season which includes all safety equipment, wetsuits and transport to and from the activity centre. Professional photos are also available to buy on the day.

Tubing at Ace Adventures

You can also use inflatable river tubes to float down rapids, go over and swim under waterfalls with cliff jumping in deep pools. Age 7+. From £48.80 each at low season

High Ropes at Ace Adventures

We had a great time on the new high ropes course at Ace Adventures. Its suitable from age 7 upwards (they also have a low ropes playground for the littler ones).

The high ropes go through the forest with zip lines, a skateboard, climbing nets and more to tackle. We had great fun, and felt very safe in our harnesses with the instructor down below and ready to rescue anyone who needed it. 

It’s £25 for adults and £20 for kids and you get an hour, which is enough time to complete the course twice.

Disc Golf

We had our first go at disc golf at Ace Adventures. It’s below the high ropes course and there’s plenty of trees to negotiate which made it more challenging!

For those that have never played it before, disc golf involves throwing a frisbee into a net within a number of throws (e.g. par 3 = 3 throws).

Then whoever gets it in with the least amount of throws wins that ‘hole.’ You write it all down on your scorecard which also has a map of the course on it. We really enjoyed it (well, until Leon beat me!).

There are loads of other activities to do at Ace Adventures including canoeing, canyoning, paintball – or you can just relax! Its entirely up to you Outdoor Adventure Activities in Scotland | ACE Adventures

Things to do near Ace Adventures

There are plenty of things to do near Ace Adventures. Here are a few that we like:

Brodie Castle - Brodie Castle | National Trust for Scotland (nts.org.uk)

National Trust for Scotland owned pink fairytale castle with a lake to walk around and a lovely play area home to the biggest bunny sculpture in Scotland.

Brodie Countryfayre - Brodie Countryfare | Fashion, Homeware, Scottish Gifts & More

Upmarket countryside department store with farm shop and a great café with play area.

Nairn - Nairn, Scotland's Highland Playground - Visit Nairn (nairnscotland.co.uk)

Lovely seaside town on the beautiful Moray firth with great beaches. Has a Sainsburys for shopping.

Forres - History in the Forres area | Forres Local

Pretty town with lots of cultural highlights including Suenos Stone and Nelson’s Tower. Forres has links to Macbeth too. Tescos and Aldi for shopping.

Ace Adventures Discount Code

We had a fantastic time at Ace Adventures. It was our kids’ first time camping and it was so great staying in a bell tent which was spacious, comfortable and the bonus was we didn’t have to put them up!

The staff are super friendly and the facilities and things to do at Ace Adventures are spot on. We cant wait to come back and try out more of the activities on offer when the kids are a little bit older.

Use code Adventure10 to get 10% off your booking.

Find out more and book here: https://aceadventures.co.uk/