Aviemore is the main gateway town to the Cairngorms National Park: a small Highland town that has been a ski resort centre since the 1960s and a walking base for rather longer. It's not particularly attractive — the 1960s development left a legacy of functional rather than beautiful buildings — but it has everything a visitor needs: a railway station on the Inverness-Edinburgh line, gear hire, supermarkets, pharmacies, and accommodation from hostels to comfortable guesthouses. The Caledonian Sleeper from London arrives here.
The town sits at the edge of the forest and is genuinely convenient for most of the park's attractions: Rothiemurchus is within easy cycling distance, the Cairn Gorm car park is 15 kilometres up the ski road, and the Speyside Way long-distance path passes through. The Strathspey Steam Railway operates heritage steam trains between Aviemore and Broomhill in summer.