From Issue Nine of Hidden Scotland Magazine

A Walking Guide to Dunkeld

A walk round Dunkeld and its history.

Words by Graeme Johncock · Photographs by Simon Hird & Jack Cairney

Printed in Issue Nine of Hidden Scotland Magazine, Autumn and Winter 2024–25.

There aren’t many better towns in Scotland to spend a day wandering around than Dunkeld. Not only is it one of Perthshire’s most scenic settlements, but it has a long and fascinating history that can be seen from your first footsteps around these old streets.

A Walking Guide to Dunkeld, photograph by Simon Hird

Begin your wander through Dunkeld at its oldest building, the impressive Dunkeld Cathedral. Sitting right on the banks of the River Tay, an immense feeling of peace washes over you when you stroll through the grand, wrought-iron gates. This is more than just a pretty exterior, it’s somewhere with a nationally significant story.

In the 800s, with Viking raiders threatening Scotland’s west coast, Dunkeld was chosen as a safe location to house the nation’s most important relics, with St Columba’s bones being brought here from the Isle of Iona. Then, in 1689, the cathedral was at the heart of the Battle of Dunkeld as government troops fought off the Jacobites. Look hard enough and you might even see damage from musket balls in the walls!

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