Oak Apple Lodge, Blair Atholl - Perthshire. Lovely riverside log cabin close to village and amenities

Oak Apple Lodge is ideally situated by the Highland Village of Blair Atholl. Blair Atholl is famous for the breathtaking Blair Castle – home to the Duke of Atholl and The Atholl Highlanders, his private army. The Village itself boasts two Hotels, local shops and a post office. Activities include mountain biking, pony trekking, hill walking and bowling. The working watermill and the Country Collection Museum ensure that everyone can have an enjoyable stay.

Unrivalled for the array of scenic attractions, the local area proudly boasts many places of natural beauty. The Falls Of Bruar, Glen Tilt and The Pass of Killicrankie are all manageable walks, attracting people of all ages. The quintessential town of Pitlochry is only a 15minute drive from the Park and has a vast array of shops, the famous Festival Theatre and the equally famous Salmon Ladder at The Hydro Electric Dam, where you can see the salmon ascend to their breeding grounds. For those who like a little Scotch, Pitlochry also offers two distilleries in which tours can be booked and samples tested!

Perthshire
With its great forests and extensive woodlands, this beautiful area offers some of the finest scenery in the Highlands. And it’s yours to enjoy from one of our holiday cottages in Perthshire and Kinross-shire.

Sitting on the banks of the River Tay, Perth was once the capital of Scotland and is now a bustling town with a wide range of shops and restaurants. The ancient Scone Palace, where the Scottish Kings were once crowned, is nearby.

Pitlochry, set amongst forested hills, is a popular destination here. It has its own festival theatre and the nearby hydro-electric power station is open for visitors.

Blair Atholl Castle is also within easy reach of the lodge. Typically Scottish and with antler-filled walls, it offers a unique insight into the traditional life of the Highland aristocracy.

Walkers should head to Killecrankie, where some wonderful forest trails await you, or to the peace of Loch Leven, now a nature reserve. The charming village of Dunkeld is also well worth a visit. This was the location for Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit stories and features the ruins of a 14th century cathedral, set on lawns beside the Tay

Pitlochry

Pitlochry is a gloriously colourful and vibrant Victorian town surrounded by the most resplendent mountain scenery in Europe. It's fame as a holiday resort dates from the 1860s and it is an absolute must for any visitor to Perthshire. Queen's View is one of the most famous views in Scotland.

One of the town's best-loved attractions is the Pitlochry Dam and Fish Ladder. Here salmon negotiate the specially constructed ladder allowing them to bypass Pitlochry Dam into the man-made Loch Faskally.

The Pitlochry Festival Theatre lies on the banks of the River Tummel and is internationally renowned for its fine repertoire of drama and comedy.

The splendidly restored Victorian buildings of Atholl Road offer a wide range of restaurants and specialist gift shops. At Heathergems, the crafts people can be viewed turning the stems of the heather, pulled from the Perthshire hills, into attractive and unusual jewellery.

The countryside around Pitlochry not only offers stunning scenery, it's steeped in history too! In the conservation village of Moulin a church has stood for at least 1400 years. One mile west of Pitlochry stands the sculptured, Pictish, Dunfallandy Stone which you can visit at any time of the year.

Three miles north of Pitlochry, visit the outstandingly beautiful Pass of Killiecrankie. The story of the famous battle in this tree-lined gorge, now in the care of The National Trust for Scotland, is a feature of the Visitor Centre.

Blair Atholl is a friendly, traditional stone built village with something for everyone be it family farm fun nights, pony trekking, mountain biking or golfing. The Atholl Ranger service offers guided walks in and around the local environment. Other village highlights include the Atholl Country Collection, a fascinating folk museum portraying Highland life in a bygone era and a working water mill.

No visit to Blair Atholl is complete however without a trip to Blair Castle, the magnificent seat of the Dukes of Atholl. 32 rooms are open to the public and each one displays a wealth of arms, porcelain, paintings and other objets d'art. The Blair Castle International Horse Trials are held in the stunning grounds of the castle and have become a major event here every August. Resplendent woodland waterfalls lie 3 miles/5km north of Blair Atholl at the Falls of Bruar.

Don't miss the opportunity to travel west on the B8019, the 'Road to the Isles'. Take time to stop at the Queens View where the Forestry Commission's Visitor Centre interprets the natural habitat and where the spectacular vista over Loch Tummel towards Glencoe, is world famous.

Continue along Strathtummel, through Tummel Bridge to Loch Rannoch and the quiet picturesque village of Kinloch Rannoch, dominated by the conical shaped Schiehallion. Follow the lochside Clan Trail, making a detour to where the road ends at the remote Rannoch Station. From here, the renowned West Highland Railway Line crosses one of Europe's last remaining wildernesses - Rannoch Moor.

Further Afield