We have loved every moment of our time in Scotland (except for the expected family squabbles, which are to be expected on any lengthy trip) and every town we have visited. But no matter what country you visit, there is always one town (or sometimes a few) that really draw you in. Pitlochry was that town for us.
I would have expected one of the coastal towns to be my (our) favorite, which Pitlochry is not. Pitlochry is located in the county of Perth and Kinross, 56 miles north of Edinburgh. It was our second to last stop en route back to Edinburgh, where we fly out on Monday, to return home.
Everything about it was charming. There were baskets overflowing with colorful flowers everywhere you looked. The town has both a river (Tummel) and a lake (Faskally), making it feel like a waterfront town. The main street is as charming as the most charming towns we visited in Ireland. There were endless shops and restaurants to choose from. And the natural landscape surrounding the town was also magnificent.
We had a wonderful stay there and some wonderful day trips from there as well.
After leaving Inverness on Thursday morning, en route to Pitlochery, our first stop of the day was Blair Castle. Blair Castle is nestled in the landscape of Highland Perthshire and has been home to 19 generations of Stewarts and Murrays of Atholl. I don't think this family discarded a single thing in nearly a thousand years of castle ownership. In addition to the castle itself, the collections were astounding. To learn more about Blair Castle use this link: https://atholl-estates.co.uk/blair-castle/
After visiting the castle we found some out-of-this-world shopping, nearby. I made a few great purchases, including a Barbour jacket (The Queen wore Barbour jackets whilst riding her horses when she was summering in Scotland at Balmoral). House of Braur is an upscale department store with classic tweed clothing and outdoor wear; gifts; and a food hall. To learn more about this fabulous shopping stop, boasting the largest collection of cashmere (my favorite thing in the world) in the UK, use this link: https://www.luxuryscotland.co.uk/partners/the-house-of-bruar/
Once we arrived at Pitlochry we checked into our wonderful B and B, the Dunmurray Guest House. The Dunmurray was gorgeous! Our rooms had names - the Murray, the Stewart, and the Morrison rooms (since we too are Morrisons, we were excited to have this room, in particular). The couple that runs the B and B, Mike and Lorraine, who was lovely, had a friendly long-harried Jack Russell terrier named Archie. We even saw the mail being delivered by "Royal Mail," in an adorable red truck with a crown painted on the side. USPS doesn't look like that!
After checking in and having our afternoon tea in our room, we walked to dinner in town. On the way, we watched the local "pensioners" participating in lawnbowling adjacent to our B and B. We also came upon this adorable "pie shop," called the Harry Coo Piecebox, with the beloved logo of the Highlands, the Highland Cow, painted on the window.
After dinner, we took a stroll around town. Since the sun sets so late (close to 10:30), we took the opportunity to walk around Loch Faskally on a tranquil wooded trail and captured the shots above while walking.