Touring route

Travel, touring routes and accommodation in Scotland
About Scotland Touring Route
Perth - Pitlochry

Between Perth and Pitlochry

On this page:
Map
Driving and detours
Accommodation

Between Perth and Pitlochry

On this page:
Map
Driving and detours
Accommodation

Driving and Detours:

Approximate distance: 28 miles or 45 km.

From Perth the M90 motorway becomes the A9....still a fast road with some dual-carriageway sections.

The Hermitage

National Trust for Scotland Woodland walks.

Dunkeld

A small town set amongst woodland covered hills (a favourite haunt for wild mushroom gatherers).
The town and old cathedral (mostly ruined) is well worth a visit; it's just below the A9 to the east. Dunkeld was declared the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland by Kenneth MacAlpine in 850.

Pitlochry

In 1863 the Perth to Inverness railway was opened and Pitlochry became accessible for visitors from the South who wanted a taste of the newly discovered romanticism of the Scottish Highlands. This fashionable appreciation for the wilds of the north was the result of many writers and artists publishing enthusiastic reports of their itineraries, culminating in the visits of Queen Victoria which began in 1842.

Since Victorian times the town has grown hotels, guest houses, and bed and breakfasts like mushrooms in the rainy season, and today there is a great choice. Pitlochry is surrounded by hills with heathery tops and woodland slopes. Below the town runs the River Tummel which today is regulated by a hydro-electric scheme. Consequently there is a "fish ladder" to help migratory salmon and sea trout reach Lochs Tummel and Rannoch. You can go inside a special observation chamber to watch them underwater through glass windows as they climb from section to section.

Since 1951 the Pitlochry Festival Theatre has grown in popularity and is now a magnet for theatre goers from far afield, regularly staging acclaimed productions, both traditional and more avant-garde. The season is from Easter to early October (Box office tel: 01796 472680.

Pitlochry is an ideal base for touring the area. There are many day or half-day drives you can make which can take you to remnants of the ancient Caledonian Pine forest at Loch Rannoch, to Blair Atholl Castle or along Deeside to Braemar and Balmoral, Highland home of Queen Elizabeth II. Also, it's an ideal base for walking in the hills and woodlands around about.

Scone Palace

(pronounced "Scoon"). Built around the 16th century core, this is the family home of the Earl and Countess of Mansfield who have owned it for over four centuries, and is open to the public between April and October. (tel: 01738 552300, fax: 01738 552588)
In the grounds of the abbey which stood here until destroyed in the 16th century, is Moot Hill, once the site of the Stone of Destiny (the coronation stone of Scottish Kings and Queens) now in Edinburgh Castle.

Glamis Castle

Between Blairgowrie and Dundee is Glamis Castle, open April to October daily. Towers turrets and a very castle-like castle, with a lost haunted room.

On this page:
Map
Driving and detours
Accommodation

Accommodation en route or round about:

Bed & Breakfast accommodation:

Beinn Bhracaigh. Bed and breakfast also on the hill in Pitlochry.
Craigroyston House B&B. 8 ensuite bedrooms. Fine Victorian villa in a great position in Pitlochry.
Essendy House. Bed and breakfast with optional dinner, in the country near Blairgowrie, the house dates from the 1700's.
Newtonmill House B&B Between Dundee and Aberdeen, Carnoustie 30 mins, St Andrews 35 mins. - bed and breakfast with optional dinner.
Old Stables B&B in small market town of Alyth in the southern foothills of the Grampian mountains. 7 miles from Glamis Castle.

Self-catering houses and cottages:

Ashintully Castle Cottage Traditional stone cottage on 3000 acre estate in Perthshire, central Scotland. All weather tennis court, trout fishing hill walks. Sleeps 4.
Balmore Restored traditional estate Cottage on Dunalastair Estate near Pitlochry in central Scotland, amidst the wonderful landscape of Loch Rannoch. Fishing, walking, nature. Sleeps 4.
Littleton Farm Cottages. 2 cottages in a walled garden sleeping 2 each. Within easy reach of Dundee.