Loch Tummel Queen's View
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.