My little piece of Scotland: Aviemore

MY FAVOURITE place in Scotland is Aviemore. My Mummy and Daddy took me there for the first time this winter, and I'd like to go back again and again and take all of my friends with me too.

I really loved our hotel. It was called the Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort. It was really big and there were lots of other children there to make friends with. The best part was that there was a giant soft-play area. It was brand-new and it seemed like it was ten stories high. It had a big chute and a special machine that you have to fill up with balls. I love to go swimming as well, and the wave machine and flume in the pool are pretty cool too.

On the second day there, we went to the Highland Wildlife Centre to see Mercedes the Polar bear. She was really cute and fluffy but my mum says she's wild and can be a bit fierce. My favourite animal was Yuri the tiger. He looked amazing and was much bigger than my granny's cat, which is more like the wildcats, with a stripy coat.

The wildcats had tunnels between the trees in the forest, and you could walk underneath them. We saw a red squirrel there as well. There was a group of monkeys too, and we watched them having lunch. They have bright pink faces, and there was a little baby one that kept climbing the trees to eat its apples in peace. I bought two pencils at the gift shop – one for me and one for my best friend Carla.

In the car on the way there, and at the hotel, we were surrounded by mountains and they were covered in snow and ice. Some people looked like they were going skiing but I prefer to stay in the cosy hotel. Maybe when I'm older I can go skiing too. And I'd love to watch the sled dogs race.

There are lots of different places to eat, but my favourite was the fancy restaurant in our hotel. You can pick anything you want to eat and the piano can even play itself.

Sophie Maher (five), Auchterarder

This article was originally published in Scotland on Sunday on 28 February 2010