Things to do in Perthshire

Aviemore is the main gateway town for the Cairngorms National Park, the largest national park in the British Isles, and has been developed since the 1960s as a year-round outdoor recreation destination serving the ski fields, walking country, mountain biking trails, wildlife watching and watersports that the surrounding landscape offers in exceptional abundance. The town itself is a functional resort rather than a historic settlement, its modern hotel and leisure infrastructure reflecting its purpose-built character, but the landscape it serves is of the most remarkable quality. The Cairngorm plateau, the high arctic mountain environment that forms the core of the national park, covers an area of over five hundred square kilometres above five hundred metres and contains five of the six highest mountains in Britain. The plateau's character is genuinely subalpine: harsh, exposed, subject to violent weather at any season and supporting plant and animal communities more typical of Scandinavia than of most of the British Isles. Dotterel, ptarmigan, snow bunting and the Scottish subspecies of the crossbill breed here in summer, while reindeer, introduced to the Cairngorms in 1952, roam the open mountain slopes in a herd that is the only free-ranging population in Britain. The Cairngorm Mountain funicular railway, one of the highest mountain railways in Britain, carries visitors from the Coire Cas ski area to a visitor centre near the plateau summit, providing year-round access to the high mountain environment for those who prefer not to walk. The ski area is Scotland's largest and operates from approximately December to April in most years, though snow reliability has reduced in recent decades with changing climate patterns. In summer the ski area transforms into a mountain biking and walking venue of considerable scope. The River Spey, one of Scotland's great salmon rivers, flows north from the national park through Aviemore, and the surrounding forests of ancient Caledonian pine, remnants of the great forest that once covered much of the Scottish Highlands, support capercaillie, red squirrel, crested tit and osprey in habitats of international conservation importance.

Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Britain at 1,345 metres, and the tourist path, officially known as the Mountain Track but colloquially as the Ben Path or Pony Track, is one of the most walked mountain routes in the country, carrying an estimated 150,000 ascents annually up the western side of the mountain from the visitor centre near Fort William to the vast plateau summit. The path was originally built in the nineteenth century to service a meteorological observatory on the summit and the route it follows, while not technically challenging, involves a considerable and unrelenting ascent of approximately 1,300 metres over approximately seven kilometres with correspondingly demanding descent. The experience of ascending Ben Nevis via the tourist path is one of contrasts. The lower section through the valley of the Allt a' Mhuilinn is gently graded and passes through pleasant moorland and river scenery before the path begins its sustained ascent of the mountain's broad western shoulder. The upper section above the Red Burn is increasingly exposed and demanding, the path crossing boulder fields and scree before reaching the plateau, where the walking surface becomes more level but the conditions can deteriorate rapidly and dramatically at any time of year. Snow can remain on the summit into August and the plateau is subject to violent weather that claims lives every year among walkers who underestimate the mountain's conditions. The summit plateau provides one of the most dramatic mountain experiences in Britain on clear days, with panoramic views extending across the Scottish Highlands to the distant peaks of the Cairngorms to the northeast, Ben Lomond to the south and, on exceptionally clear days, the mountains of Ireland to the west. The ruins of the Victorian observatory, the emergency shelter and the memorial cairn mark the summit area, and the dramatic cliffs of the northeast face, falling nearly 700 metres to the Coire Leis below, provide a sudden and vertiginous contrast to the gentle western approach. The Mountain Track approach via the Allt a' Mhuilinn should not be confused with the much more serious mountaineering routes on the north face, which include some of the finest winter climbing in Britain.

Cairngorm Mountain at 1,245 metres is the sixth highest summit in Britain and the highest peak within the Cairngorm massif that forms the core of the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands. The mountain provides some of the most extensive and most serious high mountain terrain in Britain, its plateau summit and the great corries cut into its northern and eastern faces offering exceptional walking in summer and world-class ski mountaineering and winter climbing in the right conditions. The Cairngorm Mountain funicular railway, one of the highest mountain railways in Britain, provides year-round mechanical access to the plateau edge for visitors who prefer not to walk the ascent. The summit plateau of Cairngorm and the broader Cairngorm plateau extending toward Ben Macdui and beyond is the largest area of high arctic mountain terrain in Britain, a landscape of shattered quartzite, permanent snow patches, high-altitude lochs and the characteristic dwarf plant communities of the sub-arctic environment. The species that inhabit this landscape, including ptarmigan, dotterel, snow bunting, mountain hare and the insects associated with snowfield and late-melting snow patches, are found nowhere else in Britain at such density and scale, and the Cairngorms plateau is therefore one of the most important conservation areas in the British Isles. The Ptarmigan restaurant at the upper funicular station at 1,097 metres is the highest restaurant in Britain and provides a remarkable viewpoint over the summit plateau and the surrounding mountains. In winter it overlooks the ski area, which at its best can offer challenging alpine skiing on north-facing runs that hold snow reliably when lower Scottish ski areas are struggling. The walk from the car park at Coire Cas to the summit cairn is a relatively straightforward hill walk in summer conditions but the summit plateau is notorious for rapid deterioration in weather and navigation is essential for safe travel away from the tourist path.

Corrour is the most remote railway station in Britain, a halt on the West Highland Line to Fort William on the bleak and beautiful moorland of Rannoch Moor at 411 metres above sea level, accessible only by train as there is no public road within several kilometres of the station. The combination of the extraordinary remoteness, the bleakness and the beauty of the surrounding Rannoch Moor landscape and the memorable experience of arriving or departing by the single railway line that crosses this uninhabited expanse creates one of the most distinctive and most memorable railway destinations in Britain. The station became widely known following its appearance in Danny Boyle's 1996 film Trainspotting, in which the characters travel to Corrour to walk on Rannoch Moor in a sequence that captures the appeal of this remote place with unusual accuracy. The station tearoom, the only facility within walking distance, provides warmth and refreshment that takes on an outsize significance in this context of extreme remoteness. The walking available from Corrour on Rannoch Moor and to the surrounding mountains is exceptional, the complete absence of roads creating a landscape of genuine wilderness quality unusual in the Scottish Highlands where most mountain walking involves road approaches. The circuit of Loch Ossian from the station is one of the finest accessible wilderness walks in Scotland, and the more demanding routes to the Munros of the surrounding hills provide serious mountain walking of the highest quality.

The Fortingall Yew in the churchyard of Fortingall village in Perthshire is the oldest living organism in Europe, a yew tree estimated to be between 3,000 and 9,000 years old whose survival in the quietly beautiful Glen Lyon church garden provides one of the most extraordinary natural heritage encounters available in Scotland. The range of the age estimate reflects the difficulty of dating ancient yews, but even the minimum estimate makes the Fortingall Yew incomparably older than any other living thing of comparable significance in the British Isles. The yew was already ancient when it was described by visitors in the eighteenth century, when its girth was measured at 52 feet and a funeral was recorded as passing through the interior of its hollowed trunk. The centuries since that measurement have seen the tree change considerably, the great trunk splitting and the various sections developing separately, but the living sections of the ancient tree continue to grow and to carry the genetic material of an organism that was already substantial when the first iron tools appeared in Scotland. Glen Lyon, the longest enclosed glen in Scotland, provides an extraordinary landscape setting for this pilgrimage to the oldest tree in Europe. The glen's remoteness, its character of deep pastoral beauty and the atmospheric quality of the ancient church and its incredible yew create a combination that ranks among the most distinctive natural and cultural heritage experiences in Scotland.

Glencoe is the most dramatic and most historically resonant mountain valley in Scotland, a great glacially carved trough in the western Highlands whose combination of towering mountain walls, the dark waters of the River Coe flowing through the valley floor and the melancholy historical associations of the Massacre of Glencoe create an atmosphere of brooding grandeur that has made it one of the most visited and most emotionally powerful landscapes in Britain. The National Trust for Scotland manages extensive areas of the glen and the surrounding mountains, and the visitor centre at the head of the valley provides orientation for the extraordinary landscape. The mountains surrounding Glencoe are among the finest and most varied in Scotland. The Three Sisters, the great buttresses projecting from the south wall of the glen, and the Aonach Eagach ridge on the north wall, the most technically demanding ridge traverse in mainland Scotland, frame the valley in rock walls of enormous scale. Bidean nam Bian, the highest peak in the former county of Argyll at 1,150 metres, occupies the massif behind the Three Sisters and with its satellite peaks provides some of the finest mountain walking in the Highlands. Buachaille Etive Mòr at the eastern entrance to the glen, the great pyramid visible from the A82 approach, is one of the most photographed mountains in Scotland. The Massacre of Glencoe in February 1692 is one of the most notorious acts of calculated treachery in Scottish history, when government soldiers billeted with the MacDonald clan turned on their hosts in the early morning and killed approximately thirty-eight men, women and children in an attack that violated the ancient Highland laws of hospitality and trust. The massacre was carried out on the orders of the Secretary of State for Scotland and with the knowledge of King William III, and the bitter memory of it has contributed to the atmosphere of the glen ever since.

The Glenfinnan Viaduct is the most celebrated piece of railway engineering in Scotland and one of the most famous in the world, a concrete viaduct of twenty-one arches carrying the West Highland Line 30 metres above the valley floor at the head of Loch Shiel in the Highlands, its combination of elegant construction, dramatic mountain and loch setting and global fame as the location of the Hogwarts Express sequence in the Harry Potter films making it a destination for visitors from every country. Built between 1897 and 1901 by Robert McAlpine's construction company using innovative mass concrete technology, the viaduct demonstrates that functional infrastructure and landscape beauty need not be in conflict. The viaduct curves gently as it crosses the valley, following the natural contour of the hillside rather than cutting across it in a straight line, and this gentle curve gives the structure its characteristic profile in the most famous viewpoint photographs taken from the hillside to the south. The 21 semicircular arches, each spanning approximately 15 metres, carry the railway in a graceful sweep that complements the surrounding mountain scenery rather than dominating it. The Jacobite Steam Train, which operates the summer service between Fort William and Mallaig, crosses the viaduct twice daily and provides the dramatic image of a steam locomotive on the great curve that has become one of the defining photographs of the Scottish Highlands. The valley of Glenfinnan carries enormous historical weight quite apart from its railway heritage. It was here at the head of Loch Shiel on 19 August 1745 that Bonnie Prince Charlie raised the Jacobite standard and began the last rebellion that came closest to restoring the Stuart monarchy to Britain, the campaign that ended at Culloden eight months later. The Glenfinnan Monument on the lochside, managed by the National Trust for Scotland, marks the spot with a tall column topped by a kilted Highlander. The combination of the viaduct, the monument, the loch scenery and the steam train makes Glenfinnan one of the most layered and most rewarding destinations in the Highlands.

Glenshee Ski Centre on the slopes of Cairnwell in the Cairngorm Mountains between Braemar and Blairgowrie is the largest ski area in Britain, a network of runs on four mountains accessible from the highest main road summit in Britain at the Cairnwell Pass that provides the greatest vertical descent and the widest variety of terrain available at any Scottish ski resort. The combination of the altitude, the extent of the ski area and the quality of the terrain makes Glenshee the most complete skiing destination available in Scotland when snow conditions are good. The ski area extends across Cairnwell, Meall Odhar, Glas Maol and Cairn Aosda, four mountains linked by ski lifts and drags that create a network of runs of varying difficulty from gentle beginner slopes to more demanding terrain on the steeper faces. The total vertical descent available, approximately 220 metres on the best runs, provides a skiing experience comparable to modest Alpine resorts rather than the limited terrain of smaller British ski areas. The summer use of the Glenshee area for walking and mountain biking provides a year-round visitor offer that complements the ski season, and the Cairnwell Pass road over the highest main road summit in Britain provides dramatic mountain scenery accessible by car for those who prefer not to ski. The surrounding Cairngorm landscape of moorland and high mountain plateau provides excellent walking in one of the finest wilderness areas in the British Isles.

The Hermitage near Dunkeld in Perthshire is one of the finest and most dramatic landscape walks in Highland Perthshire, a designed landscape of the eighteenth century around the gorge of the River Braan that combines the extraordinary Ossian's Hall folly, the Black Linn waterfall where the Braan plunges through a narrow gorge in a fall of considerable power and the tall Caledonian pine and Douglas fir woodland of the surrounding forest in one of the most atmospheric and most completely realised designed landscape experiences in Scotland. The National Trust for Scotland manages the site. The Black Linn waterfall is the centrepiece of the Hermitage, the River Braan forcing its entire volume through a narrow rock gorge before plunging approximately 15 metres in a fall of considerable drama, the rock walls and the height of the surrounding forest creating an enclosed atmosphere of natural power that the eighteenth-century designers exploited brilliantly. The viewing platform at the fall provides the most dramatic vantage point and the combination of the sound, the spray and the visual drama of the water creates one of the finest waterfall experiences available in Perthshire. The Birnam Oak and Sycamore, survivors of the ancient Birnam Wood that Shakespeare immortalised in Macbeth in his prophecy that Macbeth would remain safe until Birnam Wood came to Dunsinane, stand in the riverside walk below the Hermitage and provide a direct connection to one of the most celebrated passages in English dramatic literature.

The Pass of Killiecrankie in Perthshire is one of the most dramatic and historically significant gorges in Scotland, a deep wooded ravine through which the River Garry forces its way below the road that follows the old military route through the Highlands, and the site of the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689, one of the most dramatic Jacobite victories and the occasion of one of the most remarkable feats of individual athleticism in Scottish military history. The National Trust for Scotland manages the visitor centre at the pass and the wooded walking routes through the gorge. The battle of 27 July 1689 was fought between the Jacobite Highland forces of Viscount Dundee, fighting for the deposed James VII of Scotland, and the government troops under General Hugh Mackay. Dundee's Highland charge, launching from the hillside above the pass in the late afternoon sunlight directly into the government infantry before they could fully deploy, was one of the most devastating individual military actions of the period, routing a larger force in minutes. Dundee himself was killed in the moment of victory by a stray ball, and his death effectively ended the rising as a serious military threat despite the tactical success of the battle. The Soldier's Leap, a point in the gorge where a fleeing government soldier is said to have jumped an eighteen-foot gap across the River Garry to escape pursuing Highlanders, is one of the most visited specific locations in the pass and provides a vivid human focal point for the battle narrative. Whether the leap was actually made and whether it covered the distance attributed to it has been debated ever since, but the gorge at this point is undeniably formidable. The oak woodland of the gorge is one of the finest examples of Atlantic oakwood in the central Highlands, its ground flora of ferns, mosses and wood sorrel particularly rich in the damp, sheltered conditions of the ravine.

Loch Rannoch in Perthshire is one of the finest and most scenically complete Highland lochs, a freshwater loch of approximately 19 kilometres in length set between the conifer forest plantations of Rannoch Forest to the north and the ancient Black Wood of Rannoch on the south shore, whose combination of the loch scenery, the wild Rannoch Moor visible at the western end and the ancient Caledonian pine remnants of the Black Wood creates one of the finest loch and forest landscapes in Highland Perthshire. The loch is the drainage basin for the extensive Rannoch Moor to the west. The Black Wood of Rannoch on the south shore of the loch is one of the largest and finest surviving fragments of the ancient Caledonian pine forest that once covered much of the Scottish Highlands, the old Scots pines with their gnarled and spreading forms quite different from the straight plantation conifers across the loch creating a woodland of ancient and atmospheric character. The wood supports red squirrel, Scottish crossbill, crested tit and a range of ancient forest invertebrates and fungi associated with Caledonian pinewood habitats. The driving and cycling circuit of Loch Rannoch provides one of the finest accessible loch landscape drives in Perthshire, the varying character of the loch shore from the oak and birch woodland of the eastern end to the more open shores of the western section creating considerable variety in a route of approximately 40 kilometres.

Loch Tay is one of the largest freshwater lochs in Scotland, stretching approximately 23 kilometres through the magnificent scenery of Highland Perthshire between the towns of Killin at its western end and Kenmore to the east. At almost 150 metres deep in places, the loch holds more water than any other body of fresh water in Scotland south of Loch Ness, and its dark, cold depths support significant populations of brown trout, perch and pike, making it an important game fishing destination. The landscape surrounding Loch Tay is characterised by the rounded green hills of Highland Perthshire, rising steeply on both sides of the water and giving way to the broader mountain country of the Breadalbane. Ben Lawers, at 1,214 metres the highest mountain in the southern Highlands, dominates the northern shore and is famous among botanists for its exceptional arctic-alpine plant communities. The nutrient-rich mica-schist geology of the mountain supports over 160 species of flowering plants including many rare species that exist here at the southern edge of their natural range. The National Trust for Scotland manages much of the Ben Lawers massif and maintains an interpretive centre with information about the mountain's ecology. Human history along Loch Tay stretches back thousands of years. The loch's shores preserve some of the best-known crannog sites in Scotland, particularly the reconstructed Iron Age crannog at the Scottish Crannog Centre near Kenmore. Crannogs were artificial island dwellings built in the shallow margins of the loch on wooden piles, and dozens of these structures lie beneath the water of Loch Tay, some dating back 5,000 years. The Crannog Centre offers fascinating hands-on demonstrations of Iron Age crafts and technologies. The village of Kenmore at the eastern end is one of Scotland's prettiest planned villages, its whitewashed cottages arranged around the green with a charming arched bridge across the Tay. Killin at the western end sits below the dramatic Falls of Dochart, where the river tumbles through a series of rocky rapids in the centre of the village, creating one of the most photographed scenes in Highland Perthshire. Both villages serve as excellent bases for exploring the loch and surrounding countryside.

Queen's View at Loch Tummel in Perthshire is the most celebrated viewpoint in the Scottish Highlands, a panoramic vista from the clifftop above the eastern end of Loch Tummel that looks west along the full length of the loch with the great mass of Schiehallion, the fairy hill of the Caledonians, rising in a perfect cone at the far end of the loch in one of the most perfectly composed natural landscapes in Scotland. The view takes its name from a visit by Queen Victoria in 1866, though the viewpoint was celebrated long before the royal endorsement. The combination of the loch, the surrounding birch and pine woodland, the reflection of Schiehallion in the still water and the sky of the Highland morning or evening creates a view that appears almost deliberately designed in its compositional perfection. The Visitor Centre at the viewpoint provides interpretation of the landscape and the history of the area, including the ancient Pictish and medieval heritage of Perthshire visible in the surrounding countryside. The Tummel Valley more broadly provides excellent walking and cycling on the marked trails through the forest and along the lochside, and the combination of the walking and the celebrated view makes the Queen's View area one of the most rewarding visitor destinations in the Perthshire Highlands.

The Nevis Gorge below Ben Nevis leads to the Steall Falls in Glen Nevis, one of the most spectacular and most accessible gorge and waterfall walks in Scotland, following the Water of Nevis through a deep and dramatic gorge of birch woodland and exposed rock walls before emerging into the upper valley where the Steall Falls drop over 100 metres from the cliffs above in a curtain of white water that is the second highest waterfall in Britain. The combination of the gorge walk and the waterfall makes this one of the finest short mountain excursions in the Highlands, entirely accessible to walkers of ordinary fitness despite its dramatic character. The gorge path begins at the upper car park in Glen Nevis and threads through the narrow ravine on a well-maintained path that clings to the valley side above the rushing river. The combination of the overhanging rock walls, the roaring water below and the mature birch woodland creates an enclosed and dramatic environment that builds tension before the sudden opening of the path into the wide upper valley. The contrast between the constricted gorge and the sudden expansive mountain valley above, with the Steall Falls visible from a considerable distance and the surrounding mountains closing in on all sides, is one of the finest landscape revelations in the Highlands. The wire bridge crossing the Water of Nevis to the ruins of the cottage below the falls, a three-wire suspension crossing that tests the balance and composure of most visitors, provides access to the base of the falls themselves and to the upper valley beyond. The falls are at their most impressive after prolonged rain or during the spring snowmelt, when the volume of water increases dramatically and the sound of the fall is audible from far down the valley. The upper Glen Nevis above the gorge provides access to some of the finest and most remote mountain terrain in the Ben Nevis range.

Pitlochry is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Scotland, a Victorian spa town on the River Tummel in the heart of Perthshire whose combination of attractive townscape, spectacular Highland scenery, excellent walking, the Pitlochry Festival Theatre and the remarkable Pass of Killiecrankie nearby make it one of the most versatile and most rewarding bases for exploring the central Highlands. The town was developed as a resort following Queen Victoria's enthusiastic endorsement of the Perthshire Highlands in the 1840s and the arrival of the railway in 1863, and retains the confident Victorian architecture and the quality visitor infrastructure that characterise the best Scottish resort towns. The scenery around Pitlochry is exceptional. The Tummel Valley, sometimes called Tummel's Queen of Scottish Lochs, combines the drama of the river gorge below the town with the wider loch landscape of Loch Tummel above, the viewpoint at Queen's View providing one of the most celebrated prospects in Scotland. The Pass of Killiecrankie immediately to the north provides dramatic gorge walking and a famous battlefield, and the wider network of paths on the hills above the town gives access to moorland and mountain of increasing grandeur at every altitude. The Pitlochry Festival Theatre, one of Scotland's most important producing theatres, runs a programme of six plays in repertoire throughout the summer season, making Pitlochry an unusually cultural destination for a small resort town. The hydroelectric power station on the Tummel below the town includes a fish ladder through which salmon and sea trout can be observed ascending the falls during the run, a remarkable combination of engineering infrastructure and natural spectacle. The Edradour Distillery, claiming to be the smallest traditional distillery in Scotland, is accessible by a pleasant walk from the town.