Highland hygge: 6 ways to find coorie in Scotland

Coorie is a Scottish Gaelic word meaning “nestle” or “snuggle.” While it’s a first cousin of Denmark’s world-famous hygge, the uniquely Scottish concept of coorie comes with a twist. The word most definitely means hunkering down against the weather…but only when you’ve explored outside first. It’s about looking out of the window at raging Scottish skies…and venturing out anyway. It’s that feeling of blowing in after a wild walk, getting warm…but still feeling the effects of the bluster on your cheeks. 

Lured by a dream of wild beauty, tartan blankets and whisky by the fire, I recently took a trip through Scotland. Mixing activities both outdoor (hiking and golf) and indoor (remote hostels and luxury spas), I experienced the best of the country’s coorie spirit.

1. Remote lochs and open fires: finding coorie by hosteling

Scotland has a great network of hostels, new and old, large and small, urban and remote. Some are particularly well placed for coorie adventures – such as the Glen Nevis Hostel, which sits right at the start of the path up the famous Ben. It’s a big, modern hostel with a mix of dorms and private en-suite rooms, and its comfortable leather armchairs in the lounge and proximity to the nearby Glen Nevis Restaurant (actually a pub) make it a great base for conquering the UK’s highest mountain – and deliver the perfect formula for coorie.

A half-hour drive away, Glencoe Youth Hostel is set in one of Scotland’s most spectacular glens. Depending on the season, it’s a hot spot for cyclists, walkers and even winter-sports enthusiasts. 

When it comes to remoteness, the Loch Ossian Hostel is hard to beat. You have to take the train from Fort William to Corrour, a tiny railway outpost in the middle of nowhere, disproportionately famous thanks to it having hosted an iconic scene in the 1990s film Trainspotting. (It’s now known affectionately as the “It’s shite being Scottish” scene thanks to Ewan MacGregor’s character]s memorable monologue.) When you disembark the train at Corrour, you have to walk further into the middle of nowhere to find your bed for the night. But when you do, it’s the perfect place to “coorie in”: just you, a resident hostel warden and 20 other hardy adventurers.

Picture a small corrugated dark-green building sitting in the fog at the skinny end of a long loch, the only evidence of its existence a plume of smoke from the open fire inside. There are male and female dorms at each end of the hostel building and, in the middle, a communal area – where you spend the evening, chatting with fellow travelers, cooking and playing games and sharing tales of derring-do. All in front of a wood-burning fire, above which hangs a pulley drying rack heaving with everyone’s wet-weather gear.

Planning tip: Hostelling Scotland has a network of 60 hostels, many of which are reachable by public transport and convenient for iconic Scottish hikes. Some hostels open all year round and some are seasonal. Check the website for details. 

2. The luxury side of coorie

You don’t have to rough it in the remote mountains to capture the coorie concoction of shelter, warmth and conviviality: it’s present in Scotland’s Lowlands, too. Take Mar Hall, a five-star hotel housed in an early 19th-century mansion on the banks of the River Clyde, just a 10-minute drive from Glasgow’s airport. 

This peaceful hideaway, a celebrity favorite, brims with coorie spirit. Maybe that’s because people have always been taken care of here: the building was used as a temporary hospital during WWII. Indeed, the wing where the nurses once slept now contains cozy lodgings called Coorie Rooms.  

Take care of you here they do. The biggest suites are so spacious they could swallow up a dozen hostel dormitories in one extravagant gulp. You really have to remind yourself that in order to experience the coorie joy of that four-poster bed, roll-top bathtub, velvet-covered furniture and pool table (yes, a pool table – in your own room!), you have to get outside first. 

3. Hike the hills

In Scotland, hikers can tackle everything from high-altitude scrambles to historic glens. But you don’t have to ascend challenging peaks to get your coorie on. In the Highlands, I walked a 12.1km flat loop around Loch Ossian in just 2.5 hours. It’s easy to complete the hike in an afternoon – before settling down for an evening of warmth and camaraderie in the eponymous hostel.

A harder option also on Loch Ossian’s doorstep, the Beinn Na Lapp route is an out-and-back 8km hike with an ascent of 557m. While I found the climb up tough – steep and boggy on the lower ground, steep and rocky on the summit – the 360-degree views at the top are well worth it, even in (very!) the windy conditions. I’ll never forget looking out at the huge expanse of rusty peaks all around, and down to views of the glassy loch and the little green dot of the hostel below. You can round off your hike with a delicious toasted sandwich at Corrour Station House cafe before taking the train back to civilization.

Planning tip: Exploring Scotland on foot delivers maximum coorie – all you need is an OS Map and decent map-reading skills. Famous walkways include the 96-mile West Highland Way, which starts in Milngavie, near Glasgow, and ends in Fort William. But you don’t need to be an ambitious, experienced hiker to enjoy the remote wilderness. The Door to Door Challenge lists 16 accessible walks that start at the doors of participating hostels, with directions and a route map indicated. Wherever you walk, Scottish weather can be extreme – so always check the forecasts before you set off to remote and high-altitude areas.

4. Dive into wild swimming

Finding Scotland’s coorie spirit doesn’t have to mean booking overnight stays, eating meals out or even partaking in a noggin of whisky. At its simplest, coorie is all about embracing the outdoors, then enjoying one of life’s small pleasures afterward. And it doesn’t get simpler than a bracing dip in a loch followed by a simple thermos flask of coffee on the shore. The cold water invigorates and provides a mood boost. The scenery is natural and beautiful. And the shock of the cold followed by a hot drink afterward is a bracing contrast. It ticks all the coorie boxes.

Loch Ossian Hostel is a great place for a wild dip – especially on the morning after a storm, with the loch that had looked so rough and mysterious the evening before now still and crystal clear. Steps and a railing just a few meters from the hostel’s front door provide access to the water. In summer, you can swim in between the archipelago of tiny tree-dotted isles that cluster at the western tip of the loch; in winter you can (and will want to!) quickly dip in and out before running back to the hostel’s hot showers.

Where to try it: Beyond Loch Ossian, seek out one of Scotland’s best beaches, or a top wild swimming spot.

5. Brave the elements on the golf course

If hiking isn’t for you, there are plenty of other ways to get out in the great outdoors in Scotland, from cycling and wildlife watching to a game of golf. Indeed, the birthplace of the game boasts such world-famous links as St Andrews and Gleneagles. Visitors can also find countless, less-intimidating options among the country’s more than 550 courses. The aforementioned Mar Hall, for example, offers a par-70, 18-hole golf course on its 240-acre estate alongside the River Clyde.

You might be asking, “How is golf coorie?”  Well, imagine the wind howling on the front nine, then dodging a challenging mix of thunder clouds, steep bunkers and sodden ground on the way back to the clubhouse or the nearest snug pub…and you have an experience as thrilling as any hike up a Munro.

Planning tip: You can find golf courses all over Scotland, many of them open to the public and with club rental available. At the top end of the scale – say, at St Andrews Old Course – you’ll usually either need to be a member or buy a deluxe golfing package.

6. Fill up on coorie at a Highland inn

From classics like haggis, neeps and tatties on Burns’ Night, to dishes that champion local bounty like fresh salmon and tasty game, to the distilleries that dot the mainland and islands and attract whisky aficionados, Scotland abounds with delicious things to eat and drink. And every bite and sip comes with a helping of coorie.

Just a few minutes’ walk from Glencoe Hostel is Clachaig Inn, one of Scotland’s most delightful historic pubs. Whether you’ve just spent the day scaling and scrambling to the top of the Pap of Glencoe…or only petting a few Highland cows on the head, you won’t regret donning a headlamp and walking down the pitch-black lane to this warm and welcoming place.

In operation for 300 years, the inn has a rich heritage as a mountain-climber’s haven, and was a regular haunt for such pioneers as Sir Hugh Munro. (In the late 19th century, Munro compiled the first-ever list of Scottish mountains over 3000ft; climbers have been proudly “bagging” them ever since.) These days, visitors will find three bars serving local food and drink – including a top shelf heaving with a staggering 400 whiskies. There’s also a regular schedule of live music.

Rachel Ifans stayed as a guest of Hostelling Scotland and Mar Hall. Lonely Planet staff members do not accept freebies in exchange for positive coverage.