Pitlochry Pleasures

This picturesque town has all the ingredients for a perfect getaway

- by MORAG LINDSAY

THERE'S never a bad time to visit Pitlochry. This long-standing jewel in Perthshire’s crown thrums with coach tours and international visitors from Easter to autumn. And the runaway success of the magical Enchanted Forest experience means it's still drawing in enormous crowds as the year trickles to a close.

But between the end of the Enchanted Forest's sound and light show and the first notes of the now legendary New Year street party, the town breathes out a little. It’s a little less frantic, a little more roomy. More Pitlochry.

There’s space to take in all the things you might have overlooked previously. The question is... where to start?

Begin by taking in those surroundings. To the north is Ben Vrackie; to the west, the River Tummel swells into Loch Faskally with its famous dam and fish ladder.

There's a new arch in the memorial garden, erected to celebrate Pitlochry’s position at one end of the Rob Roy Trail. The other end, at Drymen, is 127km away (79 miles), so it’s not for the fainthearted, but you're spoiled for choice when it comes to lovely walks closer to town.

Loch Faskally is the obvious one. Set off from the heart of the town and circle round the loch, crossing the bridge over the river and returning via the Festival Theatre and the fish ladder in a leisurely couple of hours.

Family-friendly Faskally Wood, about a mile to the northwest of Pitlochry, is home to a model woodland created in the 19th century before Faskally House became a school for young foresters in the 1950s. The paths include an accessible trail around Loch Dunmore.