Places to Visit

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Castles History and Heritage | Walks and Rambles | Gardens and Parks |
Things To Do | Places To Visit

In the Local Area outwith Aberfeldy.

Weem
Nearest very small village with Weem Hotel. General Wade stayed here in 1733 whilst the Wade Bridge over the Tay from Aberfeldy was being constructed.
Also old chapel with burials of the chiefs of clan Menzies.

Kenmore & District
5 miles

Loch Tay
The Loch Tay runs Westward from here, and in good warm sunny summer days the sandy beach is a safe bathing area for children.

Kenmore Hotel
Said to be the oldest coaching house in Britain still in use. The old coaching Inn, with the poem inscribed by Robert Burns in his own hand, still to be seen on the wall above the fireplace.

The Scottish Crannog Centre
A reconstructed crannog, the ancient loch dwellings built on wooden stilts over water, where the people lived from 5,000 years ago until the 17th century. This one is on Loch Tay and was built to the original design following underwater archaeology in the loch .

Fortingal & Glenlyon
Picturesque architect designed village at the foot of Glenlyon by McLaren. Thatched cottages.
Glenlyon - the longest glen in Scotland always interesting at all times of year, particularly in the autumn. A journey up here can be completed by crossing the pass from Bridge of Balgie to Loch Tay.

Visit the Fortingal Yew tree. Said to be the oldest living thing in Europe. Guesstimated as between 3,000 and 9,000 years old!

Killin
The main road through this Old World village at the West End of Loch Tay passes over the Falls of Dochart, one of Scotland’s most scenic spots; the river in spate here has been a featured on many calendars.

Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve
(North Side Loch Tay near Killin)
National Trust for Scotland – One of Scotland’s greatest mountain habitats with a visitor centre, nature trail, guidebook, majestic landscape.

Balquhidder
10 miles approx South of Killin just 1 mile off the A85 at Kingshouse is the home of Rob Roy. His grave is in the churchyard just above the road. His house is still inhabited, at the farm of Inverlochlarig, 7 miles further up the very scenic single track road which skirts Lochs Voil and Doine.

Loch Tummel and Loch Rannoch
‘The Road to the Isles’ Two really beautiful quiet lochs – with roads on the North and South sides both lochs can be driven around. The scenery is exactly as one has always imagined as typical of Scotland at it’s best. The only original remains of the old Caledonian forest in the Black Wood of Rannoch, natural birch woods along the shores of both lochs, every few miles the enormous shooting lodges built in the industrial revolution for the ‘nouveax riche’ to rent during the shooting season. Cecil Rhodes, Winston Churchill, Andrew Carnegie, Neville Chamberlain, Elizabeth Taylor have all been here.
The Queen’s View on the North side of Loch Tummel gives a view of all Loch Tummel with the sharp peak of Schiehallion in the background.

Pitlochry 15 miles
The Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Repertory from May 4th to 13th October. In main season a different play each night, mainly light comedy. Separate concerts and shows featuring big bands, Scottish fiddlers, classical music, Gilbert & Sullivan etc. Good Restaurant.

The Hydro Electric Dam - includes its famous salmon ladder with viewing chamber & window.

Atholl Curling Rink – open winter months.

Edradour Distillery - the smallest distillery in Scotland continues to produce it’s malt whisky more than 170 years after it was established. Free guided tours and shop. Free dram!

Blair Atholl Distillery
Enjoy a guided tour here, at the Eastern entrance to Pitlochry, where the Blair Atholl 12 year old malt is the contribution to the famous Bell’s Whisky, the most popular blended whisky in the UK. Home of Bell’s Whisky in Pitlochry.

Blair Atholl 20 miles

Blair Castle - open daily April to end October. Winter opening as advertised
Scotland’s most visited private Historic House, and a premier visitor attraction. 700 years of history in one day in 32 rooms. Ranger walks, Guided tours, Licensed restaurant. The last besieged house in Scotland 1746.

Atholl Country Collection - on the main street in Blair Atholl
Local Museum. Agricultural museum with domestic tools and artefacts of yesteryear.
Established and run by local farmer.

Grandtully
Canoeing. Watch the canoes on the slalom course at Grandtully which hosts many major competitions throughout the year.

Killiecrankie
B8079 3 miles North of Pitlochry.
On 27 July 1689, the Pass of Killiecrankie echoed with the sound of battle cries and gunfire when, nearby, a Jacobite army led by 'Bonnie Dundee' defeated the government forces under General Hugh Mackay, although Dundee himself was killed. One soldier evaded capture by making a spectacular jump across the River Garry at the ‘Soldier's Leap’. The spectacular wooded gorge, much admired by Queen Victoria in 1844, is tranquil now. The Visitor Centre exhibition features the battle, natural history and ranger services. In the Centre, visitors can now watch birds nesting, via a remote camera in the woodlands.

Meikleour Beech Hedge
10 miles East of Dunkeld on the A93.
You can’t miss viewing yet another biggest in the whole world. The tallest hedge in the world, (Guinness Book of Records), an incredible wall of beech, planted in 1745, and presently recorded as being 100ft high and 1/3 of a mile long. Requires trimming from fire brigade ladders!

Queens's View
6.5 Miles west of Pitlochry on the B8019.
The view across Loch Tummel to Schiehallion is one of the most famous in Scotland. Although Queen Victoria took tea here, it actually commemorates Queen Isabella wife of Robert the Bruce Queen from 1306 to 1329.
Visitor & information centre.

Bannockburn
off M80/M9 at Junction 9 - 2 miles South of Stirling
Open from 1st March.
On the battlefield nearby, in June 1314, King Robert the Bruce routed the forces of King Edward II (sent him homeward to think again!) to win freedom for the Scots from English domination. A few yards from the Centre is the famous Borest one site which was Bruce's command post before the battle. This site is enclosed by the Rotunda focusing on the approach route of the English army to its objective - Stirling Castle. The Rotunda was inaugurated by Her Majesty the Queen in June 1964.

Exhibition - The Kingdom of the Scots - audio-visual presentation of the Battle of Bannockburn; display panels at Rotunda. Audio tour of property.

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Castle Menzies Holiday Cottages Mrs. M. McDiarmid Castle Menzies Farm Aberfeldy, Perthshire PH15 2LY Tel. 01887 820260