15 best day trips from Perth, Scotland

North into Highland Perthshire

1. Dunkeld, Birnam and the Hermitage

Twenty minutes up the A9 from Perth and you’re in Big Tree Country. Dunkeld is a lovely little cathedral town on the Tay, and just across the river is the Hermitage, where a woodland walk through towering Douglas firs leads to Ossian’s Hall, a folly built to look out over the Black Linn Falls.

• Visit: Dunkeld Cathedral, and the Hermitage (National Trust for Scotland), Lon Store.
• Walk: The Hermitage to Ossian’s Hall (1.5 miles return), or the Birnam Oak, the last survivor of the Birnam Wood from Macbeth.
• Eat at: The Taybank, by the river in Dunkeld. Aran Bakery for treats, Dunkelds for brunch.
• Get there: 20 minutes by car. Direct train to Dunkeld & Birnam, around 12 minutes.
• Good to know: the Hermitage car park fills fast on autumn weekends. Go early, or take the train and walk in.

Read more: how to visit Dunkeld.

2. Pitlochry and Ben Vrackie

Pitlochry is Highland Perthshire’s busiest wee town, and behind it rises Ben Vrackie – at 841m, the closest thing to a Munro without actually being one, and one of the best days out in this guide. Down in the town, watch salmon climb the fish ladder at the dam, and walk the loop around Loch Faskally.

• Visit: The Pitlochry dam and fish ladder, the Festival Theatre, and Edradour distillery just outside town.
• Walk: Ben Vrackie (around 3.5 hours), starting from Moulin – and the Moulin Inn is waiting at the bottom.
• Get there: 35 minutes by car. Direct train to Pitlochry, around 25 minutes.
• Good to know: in October, Faskally Wood hosts the Enchanted Forest, one of the most popular light trails in Scotland – book well ahead.

3. Blair Atholl, Blair Castle and Killiecrankie

Blair Castle is the white-harled seat of the Dukes of Atholl, surrounded by parkland and home to the Atholl Highlanders, the only legal private army in Europe. Just south, the wooded gorge at Killiecrankie is where a fleeing soldier famously leapt the River Garry in 1689.

• Visit: Blair Castle (seasonal opening), and the Killiecrankie visitor centre.
• Walk: The gorge path to the Soldier’s Leap, or on to the Linn of Tummel.
• Get there: 45 minutes by car. Train to Blair Atholl, around 35 minutes. Only a few trains a day stop here – check before you go.

4. Aberfeldy and the Birks

A handsome town on the Tay with a Wade bridge and a wooded gorge above it – the Birks of Aberfeldy, where a path climbs through the birches past waterfalls to a bridge above the Falls of Moness. Robert Burns wrote a song about it in 1787.

• Visit: Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery, and the Wade Bridge.
• Walk: The Birks of Aberfeldy circular (2.5 miles, 1.5 to 2 hours).
• Get there: 40 minutes by car. No train – buses run from Perth and Pitlochry.
• Make it a weekend: Stay at Ballintaggart Farm or The Grandtully Hotel near Grandtully.

5. Glenshee and the Snow Roads

The A93 north from Blairgowrie climbs over the Cairnwell Pass to Glenshee and on to Braemar – the highest public road in Britain, and the centrepiece of the Snow Roads Scenic Route. There’s a ski centre at the top, viewpoints and art installations along the way, and big empty hills in every direction.

• Visit: Glenshee Ski Centre – the chairlift runs in summer on selected days – and the Snow Roads viewpoints.
• Get there: 50 minutes by car to Glenshee, 1 hour 15 to Braemar. No public transport – this one needs a car.
• Good to know: the pass can close in winter snow. Check the road before you set off.

West to Crieff, Comrie and the lochs

6. Crieff, Comrie and Ben Chonzie

Crieff is a Victorian spa town on the edge of the Highlands, with Glenturret – Scotland’s oldest working distillery – on its doorstep. Beyond it, Comrie sits on the Highland Boundary Fault, and above them both is Ben Chonzie, one of the most accessible Munros in Scotland and a brilliant first one.

• Visit: Glenturret Distillery, the Deil’s Cauldron waterfall at Comrie, and the Famous Grouse Experience.
• Walk: Ben Chonzie (around 5 hours) – or for something shorter, the walk to the Deil’s Cauldron.
• Get there: 25 minutes by car to Crieff, 30 to Comrie. Buses run from Perth.
• Make it a weekend: Stay at Comrie Croft, which has bothies, camping and mountain bike trails.

7. Loch Tay and Kenmore

Kenmore sits at the head of Loch Tay, with a row of whitewashed cottages, a village green and a stone bridge. The loch stretches away beneath Ben Lawers, Perthshire’s highest mountain, and the Scottish Crannog Centre tells the story of the Iron Age loch dwellings once built out over the water.

• Visit: The Scottish Crannog Centre at Dalerb (it moved here after a fire at the original site – check opening), and Kenmore village.
• Walk: Along the Loch Tay shore, or up Ben Lawers if you’re feeling ambitious.
• Get there: 45 minutes by car. No train – buses run from Aberfeldy.

8. Loch Earn and St Fillans

A long, narrow loch with mountains down both sides, Loch Earn is the closest proper Highland loch to Perth and a favourite for watersports. St Fillans at the eastern end is one of the prettiest villages in Perthshire.

• Visit: St Fillans and Lochearnhead, with paddleboarding and kayaking on the loch in summer.
• Get there: 45 minutes by car via Crieff and Comrie.

South into Kinross and Fife

9. Loch Leven and Kinross

Twenty minutes south of Perth, Loch Leven is a national nature reserve and one of the best family days out in central Scotland. The Heritage Trail runs 13 miles right round the loch, flat and traffic-free, and it’s ideal on bikes. Out on an island is the castle where Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned – and from which she escaped in 1568.

• Visit: Loch Leven Castle (Historic Environment Scotland), reached by a small ferry (seasonal), and the RSPB reserve at Vane Farm.
• Walk or cycle: The Loch Leven Heritage Trail, all or part of it.
• Get there: 20 minutes by car. Buses run from Perth. No station at Kinross.

10. Falkland and Maspie Den

Falkland is a conservation village beneath the Lomond Hills, with a Renaissance palace that was the country residence of the Stuart monarchs – and, for Outlander fans, the village that stood in for 1940s Inverness. Behind it, the path up Maspie Den leads through a wooded gorge to a waterfall you can walk behind.

• Visit: Falkland Palace (National Trust for Scotland), which has the oldest real tennis court in Britain still in use.
• Walk: Maspie Den and the Yad waterfall.
• Get there: 35 minutes by car. Train to Markinch, then a bus.

Read more: Outlander filming locations in Scotland

11. Culross

A 17th-century royal burgh that has barely changed – cobbled lanes, a mustard-yellow palace, and white-harled houses with red pantiled roofs. The National Trust for Scotland has restored much of the village, which is why it’s been used again and again on screen, most famously as Cranesmuir in Outlander.

• Visit: Culross Palace and its garden, the Town House and the abbey.
• Get there: 45 minutes by car. Buses from Dunfermline.

Read more: Culross, Fife.

12. St Andrews

The home of golf, Scotland’s oldest university, and a ruined cathedral that was once the largest building in the country. Add two long beaches and some very good places to eat, and it’s an easy day.

• Visit: St Andrews Cathedral and castle (Historic Environment Scotland), the Old Course, and West Sands beach.
• Walk: The Fife Coastal Path east towards Boarhills.
• Get there: 55 minutes by car. Train to Leuchars, around 40 minutes, then a 10-minute bus.

Read more: the best places to visit in Fife.

13. The East Neuk of Fife

The string of old fishing villages along Fife’s south-east corner – Crail, Anstruther, Pittenweem, St Monans and Elie – is one of the loveliest stretches of coast in Scotland. Crow-stepped gables, harbours full of creels, and the best fish and chips in the country.

• Visit: Crail’s harbour, the Scottish Fisheries Museum at Anstruther, and Pittenweem’s working harbour.
• Walk: The Fife Coastal Path between any two villages – Elie to St Monans is a good short stretch.
• Eat at: The Anstruther Fish Bar, or see my guide to eating in Fife.
• Get there: 1 hour by car.

Read more: how to visit the East Neuk.

East and west

14. Dundee

Twenty-five minutes east and you’re in Scotland’s design city. V&A Dundee sits on the redeveloped waterfront next to the RRS Discovery, the ship built here that carried Scott to Antarctica.

• Visit: V&A Dundee (free), RRS Discovery, and the Verdant Works.
• Also on the way: Glamis Castle, childhood home of the Queen Mother, is 20 minutes north of Dundee. Seasonal opening.
• Get there: 25 minutes by car. Direct train, around 25 minutes.

Read more: 10 things to do in Dundee.

15. Stirling

Half an hour west, Stirling has the castle, the Wallace Monument and the Bannockburn battlefield – the most concentrated dose of Scottish history anywhere in the country.

• Visit: Stirling Castle, the National Wallace Monument, and the Bannockburn visitor centre.
• Walk: Up Dumyat for the view over the carse.
• Get there: 35 minutes by car. Direct train, around 30 minutes.

Day trips from Perth without a car

Perth is on the main line north, which makes it one of the easiest bases in Scotland for train days out:

• Dunkeld & Birnam for the Hermitage (12 min direct)
• Pitlochry for Ben Vrackie and the fish ladder (25 min direct)
• Blair Atholl for Blair Castle (35 min, limited services)
• Dundee for the V&A (25 min direct)
• Stirling (30 min direct)
• Leuchars for St Andrews (40 min, then a bus)
• Markinch for Falkland (then a bus)

Buses run from Perth to Crieff, Comrie, Aberfeldy, Kinross and Blairgowrie. For Loch Tay, Loch Earn, Glenshee and the East Neuk you’ll want a car.

When to visit

• Spring (April–May): the glens greening up, lambs everywhere, and the castles reopening.
• Summer (June–August): long days for the hills and the lochs, and the East Neuk at its best. Busiest on the A9 and at the Hermitage.
• Autumn (September–October): the best season here by a mile. Highland Perthshire is the heart of Big Tree Country, and the colour peaks from mid to late October. The Enchanted Forest runs at Pitlochry from early October.
• Winter (November–March): snow on the Cairnwell, quiet glens and cosy pubs. The Glenshee road can close, and many castles shut for the season.

Day trips from Perth: frequently asked questions

Love from Scotland x

Read more

• 10 things to do in Perth
• Things to do in Perthshire
• How to visit Dunkeld
• The best places to visit in Fife
• The best walks in Fife
• Days out in Scotland · from Edinburgh · Glasgow · Aberdeen · Inverness