Group of 4 traveling from Edinburgh to Pitlochry early Sept. What would be the best route? We will leave with a car so think we will go up to Stirling and see the castle and kelpies. We could go straight up to Pitlochry. Is it worthwhile to take a longer route, going east to St. Andrews and Dundee first before heading north? We want to be to Pitlochry by dinner time.
Also, we stay 3 nights in Pitlochry with one day (afternoon?) at the Highland Festival on Saturday. What else would be fun to do in the Pitlochry/Cairngorms area?
Thanks for the help! All thoughts welcome.
Posted by
Delaware
1476 posts
Hi, janabyoung,
If you are planning to visit the Kelpies and Stirling before heading off to Pitlochry, you won't have time to visit St Andrews and Dundee on the same day. St Andrews and Dundee are in the opposite direction from your planned route.
The kelpies are outside Falkirk, so you would make that the first stop upon leaving Edinburgh. You would then visit Stirling before heading to Pitlochry for the night.
If you'd prefer to visit St Andrews and Dundee in lieu of visiting Falkirk and Stirling, you could do that on the way to Pitlochry. However, it would be well nigh impossible to be able to visit all four locations in one day.
You could visit Stirling and the Kelpies on one of your day trips from Pitlochry, if you decide to head north and east first. Another good day trip would be to Aviemore and Cairngorms National Park. There are some good hikes around Loch an Eilean and Loch Morlich, and if the funicular is running while you're there, a ride to the top of Cairn Gorm would be fun. You could also have a day trip to Glencoe by way of Aberfeldy and Killin. The possibilities are numerous, and I'm sure that many others will be posting suggestions.
Best wishes for your travels!
Mike (Auchterless)
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
2320 posts
Mike has hit it on the head as usual! If visiting the Kelpies, think about doing the short detour (about 5 m les to the west) to see the Falkirk wheel. This is a rotating boat lift that opened in 2002 costing over £85million to construct. It joins two canals which were originally joined by a flight of 11 locks which took almost a day to move through and were dismantled about 90 years ago. The wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world, and is regarded as an engineering landmark for Scotland. It is a stunning structure. You can do boat trips if time allows, otherwise stand at the bottom and admire!
Posted by
OP
Oregon
17 posts
Thanks for your helpful suggestions. I agree we were trying to take on too much! What if, when we left Stirling, we head up through the Trossachs up to Killin, along the Loch Tay to Pitlochry? Perhaps stop at the Crannog Center?
Then next day explore the Cairngorms? Any particular suggestions for what to do in that area?