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Shopping
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The pretty town of Pitlochry, many times winner of Scotland in Bloom awards, is a mile from Faskally.
The well kept Main Street
is filled with small, independent shops with unique merchandise, and
a wide variety of restaurants, bistros and bars, including Indian, Turkish and Italian as well as tradtional Scottish food.
To the north the House of Bruar country shopping complex and The Clan Donnachaidh Museum
in nearby Bruar can satisfy all your retail therapy needs.
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Events
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Perthshires attractions include traditional events such as the Highland Games day
and Pitlochry's Hogmanay street party. Pitlochry Highland Games is the last in the season,
taking place in the middle of September,
while the Blair Athol games is the first of the season taking place in May.
The Vale of Atholl pipe band march down the main road in Pitlochry every monday night at 8.00pm
from May to September, and perform a 'Highland Night' show at the recreation ground.
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Attractions
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The Pass of Killiecrankie,
scene of an epic battle during the Jacobite Rebellions, with its famous Soldier's Leap and National Trust Visitor's Centre is a few minutes walk to the north, while a short walk to the south takes you along the shore of Loch Faskally to
The Visitor Centre at Pitlochry Dam, which has video films and interactive displays showing how electricity is generated from the fast flowing river of the highlands. You may also see salmon as they by-pass the dam from the underwater viewing chamber in the fish ladder, or as they leap from the fast flowing waters of the River
Tummel.
Blair Athol Distillery in Pitlochry and the nearby Edradour Distillery,
both welcome visitors to their guided tours
while
Pitlochry Festival Theatre enjoys a well deserved reputation for the quality of its productions.
A short drive across the Garry Bridge, takes you along Strathtummel to the spectacular viewpoint
and the Forestry Commission Visitor Centre at Queen's View, and then on to Loch Rannoch,
overlooked by the distinctive conical peak of Schiehallion. |
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| To the south, Dunkeld, with its famous 14th Century Cathedral, National Trust Visitor Centre
beautifully restored houses and Museum of the Scottish Horse Regiment is well worth a visit.
From Dunkeld, take a short walk across Telford's famous bridge over the River Tay and you are
in Birnam, where the Beatrix Potter Garden is an attraction for young and old alike.
Birnam Hill is famous for its association with Shakespeare's Macbeth and the nearby Hermitage
has a number of woodland and riverside walks and a famous folly which overlooks waterfalls on
the River Braan. |
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Activities
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There is a wide choice of sporting and leisure activities for all the family in Pitlochry and Highland Perthshire.
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Why not try Pony trekking or cycling through the superb countryside, boating on Loch Faskally,
salmon and trout fishing, white water rafting and canoeing on the many lochs and fast flowing rivers. |
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Golf
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Perthshire is also world renowned for the quality and sheer variety of its golf courses.
Pitlochry itself has a fine 18-hole course from which you can enjoy outstanding views over
the town and surrounding countryside, while the courses at Blair Atholl, Strathtay, Aberfeldy,
Kenmore, Taymouth Castle and Dunkeld are all within a few minutes drive. More than twenty
other courses are within an easy hour's drive, including the famous championship courses at
Gleneagles and Rosemount near Blairgowrie.
Other activities in the Pitlochry area include bowling, curling (in season) and a variety of
indoor pursuits at the Atholl Leisure Centre.
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Walking
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For gentle walks there is a network of forest walks around
Loch Faskally leading river Garry and the Linn of Tummel and to the
historical Soldiers leap in Killiecrankie.
Short hills walks include Craigower Hill, overlooking Faskally, which
rewards an up hill walk of an hour or so with spectacular views, On the other side of the Tummel Valley a
walk from Port-Na-craig, by the festival theatre, over a hillside
filled with ancient monuments such as stone circles and burial mounds,
leads to the neighbouring Strath of Strathtay.
Serious walks include Ben-Y-Vrackie (2759ft) with views, on a
clear day, up lochs Tummel and Rannoch to the islands off the West Coast. Local
Munroes (mountains over 3500ft) include Ben Lawers and Schiehallion also known as
'the Fairy Mountain' .
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Wildlife
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In addition to providing spectacular views, the surrounding countryside also
has an abundance of wildlife. Red deer roam freely in the hills throughout the area, Ospreys
frequent a number of the lochs and The Scottish Wildlife Trust has a reserve at Loch of the
Lowes near Dunkeld, where a Visitor Centre and hide enables you to observe these majestic
birds in their natural habitat. |
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