Out and about

The county of Perthshire lies at the geographical heart of Scotland, and Pitlochry is a small Victorian town set in its centre. It lies in a natural amphitheatre just north of Dunkeld where the highland hills first rise out of the Strathmore Valley.

It is a much loved place for it has the flavour of Scotland: clean air, clean stone houses, tumbling streams and rounded heathery hills. Roads radiate from the town to Braemar and Balmoral; to the wide, fertile Strathmore Plain; over the Tay to the Kingdom of Fife and the East Neuk villages; to Oban and the West through Dark Glencoe. There is fishing for salmon and trout in the Tummel; pony trekking at Blair Castle; good golf on the Pitlochry Course with Gleneagles, Rosemount, Saint Andrews and Carnoustie all within easy reach.

While you are staying with us we will be delighted to chat about suggestions for walks, cycle rides, drives, viewpoints, shopping and many other local attractions. Until then, the following is a miscellany of favourite things to do, buildings to see and landscapes to view.

For the historians amongst you, how about -

• Scone Palace where forty two Scottish Royal Sovereigns were crowned on the Stone of Destiny, recently returned north of the border to Perth Museum.
• Dunsinane Hill between Perth and Dundee where the real King Macbeth was defeated in 1054.

• Killiecrankie, the scene of Bonnie Dundee's great victory in 1689. Why not try to repeat Donald McBane's leap over the falls to escape pursuing Jacobite highlanders ?
• Roman Scotland is surprisingly well represented in the area, with Ardoch Roman Camp near Auchterarder a good example of their time north of the wall.
• Perthshire was a Pictish homeland and evidence of their times can be studied at The Pictish Stone Collection at Meigle Museum near Blairgowrie. Closer to home why not visit Pitlochry's own Dunfallandy Stone at the south end of town.
• The Scottish Crannog Centre at Loch Tay now has it's iron age village ( and coffee shop ! ). Archaeologists are also busy reconstructing one of the dwellings that once ringed the edge of Loch Tay some 2,500 years ago.
• Alternatively, you can visit one of the places that captivated Queen Victoria: Queens View on Loch Tummel was a particular favourite, though it wasn't named after her - it was originally named after the wife of Robert the Bruce.
• Dunkeld - a former Scottish capital chosen for it's inland location away from any marauding Vikings, with its cathedral on the banks of the Tay founded in 1107.
• Sixteenth century Castle Menzies near Aberfeldy, ancestral home of Clan Menzies,  where Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed on his way to defeat at the Battle of Culloden.
• Blair Castle home to the Murray's of Atholl, it's gardens and grand trees, where the Duke commands the Atholl Highlanders - Europe's only legal private army.
• Balmoral Castle in Deeside made famous by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Built in 1856 it is a fine example of Scottish Baronial architecture.
• The current Braemar Castle dates back to 1628 and is a possession of Clan Farquharson.
• At Loch Leven you will find the island castle where Mary Queen of Scots spent a year in captivity, before her escape.
• Croft Moraig on the road to Aberfeldy features a pre-historic stone jamboree. Built around five thousand years ago, it features concentric rings of stones and outliers on an artificial platform.

For those more interested in the area's beautiful scenery, open spaces and it's range of wildlife, flora and fauna -

• Drummond Castle near Crieff, with it's terraced formal gardens dating back to the seventeenth century.
• Europe's oldest tree at Fortingall churchyard in Glen Lyon, dating back approximately five thousand years.

• The Giant redwoods at Cluny Gardens by Aberfeldy along with a Himalayan influenced hillside garden.
• The National Trust's Branklyn Gardens in Perth. Two acres of peace and tranquillity within walking distance of Perth city centre.
• The Birks of Aberfeldy made famous by Robert Burns' poem. This circular ravine walk takes you through mature mixed woodlands and lies in the heart of the town
• The Birnam Oak, sometimes known as Macbeths' Oak, sits on the south bank of the Tay near Dunkeld and is a relic of Shakespeare's Birnam Wood.
• Staying with the Dunkeld area, the Parent Larch is a primary seed source for the large scale plantings carried out by the eighteenth and nineteenth century Dukes of Atholl.
• The Hermitage Woodland Park contains numerous native and exotic trees. A path through these leads to Ossian's Hall, a folly built by the 2nd Duke of Atholl's nephew. Here one can view the River Brann and the roaring waterfall below.
• The tranquil Loch of the Lowes Observatory just outside Dunkeld with its nesting Osprey and abundant wildlife. Other ospreys can be found at Boat of Garten and within the Cairngorm National Park.
• Rannoch Station, at the west end of Loch Rannoch is as far west as one can drive, and gives magnificent views over the wild Rannoch Moor to Glencoe and the Grampian Mountains. From here you can take the train for a day trip to Fort William and the West Coast fishing port of Mallaig.
• Just a mile or so north of Blair Castle, the Falls of Bruar provides a spectacular setting for a walk along to view the waterfalls and it's tree covered slopes. On a more prosaic footing, The House of Bruar at the same site, is a new concept in shopping in the area. There is a Food Hall, Cashmere Shop, Golf Shop, and Garden Shop, earning it the modest accolade of the 'Harrods of the North'.

What about the 'Water of Life ?' Well the area can offer you the following distilleries to be getting on with -

• Blair Athol - opened in 1798, this Highland single malt provides the key ingredient in the best selling Bells blend.
• Edradour - opened in 1825 by a group of local famers, it means 'between two rivers' in gaelic.
• Dalwhinnie - A Highland malt meaning 'meeting place', it is Scotland's highest distillery at 1,070 feet.
• Tullibardine - On the go since 1949, this distillery is based in the village of Blackford, close to the Ochil Hills and the Danny Burn.
• Aberfeldy - Recently spruced up with a new visitors centre, Aberfeldy malt is the key component in the Dewars Blend.
• Glenturret - Two miles northwest of Crieff and arguably Scotland's oldest, it's secluded site harks back to illicit bothy stills.
• Lindores - Based in Newburgh, this modern lowland whisky distillery sits directly opposite the ruined Tironensian abbey.

For those of you hell bent on a life of exercise and adventure in the great outdoors, the area offers -

• Water based activities - several companies in the locality can provide not just white water rafting, but also canyoning, river bugging, abseiling, river duckies, bungee jumping, paddleboarding and kayaking. Closer to home the Boating Station at the foot of Clunie Bridge Road provides some of the above as well as fishing permits and rowing boats.

• Etape Caledonia - The UK's original closed-roads sportive, this cycle ride through the Scottish Highlands should be on every keen cyclists calendar each May.
• Highland Safaris - Escorted vehicle tours reaching heights of almost 3,000 feet are available, along with red deer tours, axe throwing, gold- panning, archery, not to mention cruises on Loch Tay.
• Craigower, Ben Y Vrackie and the Bealach - the first of these three belongs to the National trust of Scotland and provides a short hill ascent above the town's golf course. Ben Vrackie or 'Speckled Mountain' at 2759 feet is a good deal more challenging, while The Bealach climbs the open moorland above Pitlochry to cross over and reach Killiecrankie.
• The Allean Forest - Overlooking Loch Tummel, this area was home to generations of farmers before the widescale planting of conifers. On your walk watch out for an eighteenth century homestead and a Pictish Fort.
• The Linn of Tummel - A nineteen hectare woodland property where the rivers Garry and Tummel converge. The Linne which means 'deep pool' features an Edwardian fish ladder and a small obelisk to commemorate a visit by Queen Victoria.
• Lochs Ordie, Oisinneach and the Bothy at Loch Skiach - The first is a long but easy-going walk into the quiet moorland north of Dunkeld and the freshwater hill loch that is Loch Ordie. Set in the hills above Ballinluig and Logierait, lochs Oisinneach and Skiach form part of a wide network of paths well suited for both walking and mountain biking.
• The Rannoch Forest - This forest lies on the southern shores of Loch Rannoch and forms part of the Tay Forest Park. The area includes remnants of the ancient Caledonian Forest that once covered much of scotland.
• Carn Liath and the Beinn a'Ghlo Range - The later is a massive and complex mountain towering above Blair Atholl and Glen Tilt. Along its crests are three Munro summits. Cairn Liath is the lowest of these at 3199 feet, but is also the most accessible.
• Glen Tilt - Regarded as one of Scotland's most beautiful glens, there are good views throughout its length. The sixth Duke of Atholl's attempt to close the glen to the public was successfully contested by the Scottish Rights of Way Society in 1847.
• Glen Banvie -The next glen west of Glen Tilt, Glen Banvie is accessed from the same Blair Atholl car park. A seventeen kilometer walk follows a loop up through the glen and then descends down past the Falls of Bruar.
• Scheihallion - This mountain's isolated position in Breadalbane and it's regular shape made for a ground-breaking experiment to estimate the mass of the earth in 1774. More colloquially, it holds a place in Scottish folklore as the 'Fairy Hill of the Caledonians' as well as being an entrance to the underworld.

While the above list is far from exhaustive, it helps highlight Highland Perthshire as arguably the perfect place to take a fresh look at Scotland's past and to discover what's best of its present. So, however you choose to spend your time here, we hope that you will go home laden with wonderful memories, and filled with plans for your next visit to Pitlochry and Perthshire.