Perth

Balhousie Castle is a turreted 16th/17th-century castle on the edge of Perth's North Inch parkland, now home to the Black Watch Castle and Museum, which tells the story of one of Scotland's most storied military regiments. The Black Watch was raised in the 1730s from Highland companies tasked with policing the Highlands, and went on to fight in campaigns from the Napoleonic Wars through both World Wars and beyond, and the museum's collection of uniforms, medals, weapons and regimental silver traces that whole arc within the castle's historic rooms. What makes it more than a standard military museum is the storytelling: exhibits use personal letters, objects and first-hand accounts to convey the human experience of soldiers from the regiment, alongside its distinctive tartan and traditions. The castle building itself, with its crow-stepped gables and turrets, is worth appreciating alongside the exhibits, and the surrounding North Inch parkland makes a pleasant approach on foot.

Branklyn Garden is a two-acre plantsman's garden on a hillside above Perth, created from the 1920s onward by John and Dorothy Renton and now cared for by the National Trust for Scotland, celebrated as one of the finest small gardens in the country for rare and unusual plants. It's especially known for its Himalayan and Chinese collections - rhododendrons, meconopsis (Himalayan blue poppies), primulas and alpine plants - many grown from seed collected on historic plant-hunting expeditions, packed into a garden far smaller than its reputation suggests. Unlike grand estate gardens built for sweeping vistas, Branklyn rewards close, slow looking: narrow paths wind between densely planted beds and scree gardens, with something in bloom across most of the growing season, from early rhododendrons and spring bulbs through summer's blue poppies and into autumn colour. It's a favourite with keen gardeners and a peaceful, unhurried stop for anyone spending a day in Perth.

Edradour Distillery: Edradour, just outside Pitlochry, has long billed itself as one of Scotland's smallest traditional distilleries, a cluster of low whitewashed farm buildings that looks more like a rural steading than an industrial site - which is close to the truth, since it operated for years using largely 19th-century equipment and methods. Founded in 1825, it produces a lightly sherried, fruity Highland single malt in tiny batches, and the site's compact scale means tours here feel personal rather than corporate, walking through the same small mash tuns, washbacks and stills that have defined its old-fashioned character for generations. The setting adds to the appeal: a burn runs past the buildings, hills rise close on all sides, and the whole complex sits within an easy walk or drive of Pitlochry, a popular base for Perthshire touring. Alongside the standard range, Edradour also distils the peated Ballechin single malt on site, giving visitors two distinct whisky styles to taste from one small distillery.

Fergusson Gallery: The Fergusson Gallery occupies Perth's former Round House waterworks building - an unusual circular sandstone structure on Tay Street - and holds the world's largest collection of works by J.D. Fergusson (1874-1961), one of the four Scottish Colourists who brought a bold, French-influenced modernism to Scottish painting in the early 20th century. Fergusson spent long periods in Paris before World War I, absorbing Fauvist and Cubist influences, and the gallery's collection - donated by his partner, the dancer Margaret Morris - traces his full career from vivid portraits and nudes to landscapes and sculpture. The circular building itself, distinctive among Perth's civic architecture, adds character to the visit, with the collection displayed across a few compact floors that make for a focused rather than exhausting visit. It's a good stop for anyone interested in Scottish art history or the Colourists specifically, and it sits within easy walking distance of Perth's other central attractions.

Loch Tay is a long, narrow freshwater loch stretching about 15 miles through the heart of Perthshire, framed by Ben Lawers - one of Scotland's highest mountains outside the true Highlands - and a string of small villages including Kenmore and Killin at either end. It has been settled since prehistoric times, most visibly at the Scottish Crannog Centre near Kenmore, which reconstructs the timber roundhouses ('crannogs') that Iron Age communities once built on stilts over the water, based on archaeological remains found in the loch itself. Today the loch is as much about outdoor activity as history: it's popular for watersports, fishing (particularly salmon and trout), and gentle boat trips, while the surrounding hills - including the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve - offer some of Perthshire's best hillwalking. The Highland villages at each end make good bases, and a drive or cycle along its shores, especially in autumn colour, is one of the most scenic routes in this part of Scotland.

Perth Museum reopened in 2024 in the refurbished former City Hall on Perth's High Street, and its headline draw is the Stone of Destiny (also called the Stone of Scone) - the ancient block used for centuries in the coronation of Scottish, and later British, monarchs, most recently at King Charles III's coronation in 2023 before returning to Perth. The stone's display is genuinely well done, with context on its role in Scottish kingship, its dramatic removal by English forces in 1296, its theft and return by Scottish nationalists in 1950-51, and its formal return to Scotland in 1996. Beyond the Stone of Destiny, the museum houses Perth and Kinross's wider civic collections, spanning natural history, archaeology, art and social history, with changing exhibitions making use of the grand hall's restored architecture. It's a strong, modern addition to Perth's cultural offer and a natural anchor for a day exploring the city centre.

Scone Palace, just north of Perth, is the historic crowning place of Scottish kings and the ancestral home of the Earls of Mansfield, who still live in the current Georgian Gothic mansion built in the early 1800s on the site of an earlier medieval abbey and palace. It was at Scone that the Stone of Destiny traditionally rested and Scottish monarchs, including Robert the Bruce and later Charles II, were crowned, and the Moot Hill just outside the palace - a small mound said to be built from earth carried by nobles pledging fealty - still marks the spot with a modern replica stone. The interior holds an outstanding collection of furniture, porcelain, and objects amassed by generations of the family, from Marie Antoinette's writing table to ivory and needlework collections, while the surrounding grounds are equally strong: formal gardens, a maze, extensive parkland, and one of the oldest and tallest Douglas firs in Britain, grown from seed brought back by botanist David Douglas, a local man, in the early 19th century. It's one of Perthshire's essential historic house visits, combining royal history with genuinely impressive gardens.

Scottish Crannog Centre: The Scottish Crannog Centre, on the shore of Loch Tay near Kenmore, is built around the reconstruction of a crannog - an Iron Age timber roundhouse built on stilts over water - recreated from archaeological evidence gathered from more than twenty submerged crannog sites discovered in the loch itself. After a fire destroyed the original reconstruction in 2021, the centre relocated and rebuilt on a new site, continuing its mission to bring this distinctive and little-known aspect of ancient Scottish life to visitors through hands-on demonstrations. Guides in character demonstrate ancient technologies and crafts - fire-making, textile spinning, woodworking and cooking methods used by loch-dwelling communities around 2,500 years ago - making it a genuinely engaging, tactile way to understand prehistoric Highland life rather than just reading about it. It's particularly well suited to families and anyone curious about archaeology, and its Loch Tay setting adds scenic value to a visit that combines well with the wider loch and Ben Lawers area.

St John's Kirk, Perth: St John's Kirk is Perth's medieval parish church, dating substantially from the 15th century, and gives the city its older name of 'St John's Toun' (which is why Perth's football club is called St Johnstone). Its greatest historical claim to fame came in May 1559, when the reformer John Knox preached here against idolatry, an event widely credited with helping spark the wave of church destruction that swept through Perth and beyond as the Scottish Reformation gathered pace. Architecturally, the kirk mixes surviving medieval stonework with substantial Victorian-era restoration, and its central position in a pedestrianised square in the heart of Perth makes it a natural landmark to pass on any walk through the city. It's a modest, low-key visit compared to Scotland's great cathedrals, but its Reformation history gives it real significance for anyone interested in how Scotland's religious landscape was transformed.