In reply to John Ww:
> Just checked on Google maps - even from West Yorkshire, it's a six hour (minimum) drive to Aviemore, and approximately £70 in petrol each way.
It isn't necessarily all bad. I'm even further from the Cairngorms than you are, so driving isn't at all practical. On the other hand, I can get a sleeper train up one night after work, get out the next morning at a whole bunch of places with potentially interesting touring, squeeze in a day or two of skiing and when I get back home my work is 15 minutes walk from the station.
There's a lot less stress potential there than there is with airport transfers and baggage allowances. The snow train to france tends to be much more expensive, and there's the occasional cross-paris transfer to contend with...