A Day in Strathearn – Old Library, Gardens and a River Walk
A day by car, from Perth and back.
The route
Strathearn is the broad valley of the River Earn, west of Perth, where Lowland farmland meets the first of the Highland hills.
Crieff stands on the slope in the middle of it, and Muthill lies a few miles to the south. This is a gentle day from Perth that takes in both. Nothing is far from anything else: the whole day is under two hours at the wheel, and most of that is the road out and the road home. Lunch is at a table in a village inn.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Murrayshall, 3 miles away.
Book a table at the Coorie Inn in Muthill for one o'clock; it serves lunch Thursday to Saturday.
The day
Strathearn
The morning starts quietly, west out of Perth and down a single-track lane to a room full of old books beside the River Earn, and the day never gets much louder. It ends on foot under the trees at Crieff, before the road back.
1 hr 57 min at the wheelAbout 52 miles by carAbout 3 miles on foot
Innerpeffray Library
An attraction
Leave Perth by quarter past nine to arrive as the library opens at ten. It's 36 minutes' drive: the M90 and A9, a quiet road west through Clathy, then the B8062 over Kinkell Bridge to a single-track lane. The sat nav says you have arrived halfway along it: keep going to the car park. Innerpeffray calls itself Scotland's first free public lending library, founded in 1680, and a guide takes you round. It's open Wednesday to Saturday, March to October. Allow about an hour, and leave the library by eleven.
23 min by car
Drummond Castle Gardens
An attraction
Drive 23 minutes on to Drummond Castle Gardens, by the B8062 into Crieff, then the A822 south to a beech avenue more than a mile long that ends at the car park. Only the gardens open, never the castle: daily from 11am, 1 May to 31 October, with last entry at 3pm in October. Below the terrace, a formal garden's paths cross at a sundial of 1630. Allow a good hour, and leave the gardens by half past twelve for the one o'clock table in Muthill.
10 min by car
The Coorie Inn
It's 10 minutes' drive to Muthill, where the Coorie Inn stands on Willoughby Street. It's a restaurant with rooms that holds two AA rosettes, with open fires in its bar. It serves lunch from Thursday to Saturday, 12 to 2, so book a table for one o'clock, on 01764 681773 or on its own site, and allow an hour. On a Sunday it serves a roast from noon. On other days, eat at the Tower restaurant in Crieff, which opens daily at noon, before the walk.
8 min by car
Lady Mary's Walk
An attraction
Drive 8 minutes on by the A822 to Crieff. Park at Taylor Park, off Turretbank Road. Lady Mary's Walk begins about ten minutes away on foot, on the north bank of the River Earn. The council calls it level and well surfaced, and it runs under tall beeches beside the water. The riverside part is about 25 minutes each way, as far as the point where the path climbs towards Laggan Hill. Home is about 40 minutes by the A85 through Methven.
If it rains
The library is indoors and lunch is at a table inside, so most of the day stands in any weather. The gardens are in the open, and their steps and gravel paths are slippery in the wet: in heavy rain, look down on the formal garden from the terrace and keep the visit short. Lady Mary's Walk is a woodland path in the open air: in heavy rain, walk the first stretch beside the river and turn back early.
Worth a detour
- The Knock of Crieff
The Knock is the wooded hill above Crieff, 279 metres high, with a car park signed from Ferntower Road, beyond Crieff Hydro. It's 9 minutes' drive from Taylor Park, and about 10 minutes more than driving straight home. The council's short waymarked walk takes about half an hour, and the longer one is a steep two hours. There are views over the town and Strathearn, and the council says to keep your eyes open for red squirrels. Perth is about 40 minutes on.
- Glen Lednock and the Deil's Cauldron
Laggan car park in Comrie is 11 minutes' drive west of Crieff on the A85. That is Laggan in Comrie, not Laggan Road in Crieff. The council's Glen Lednock path starts there, a four-mile circuit up the wooded glen that is steep and uneven in places. It passes the Deil's Cauldron, where the River Lednock drops into a pothole in the rock. The viewing platform was shut after storm damage when this was written: check Perth and Kinross Council's paths page before going. Never pass a barrier: the drop is into a gorge. It needs a good two hours, so keep it for a long summer day or another day: autumn's short light leaves no time for it after the walk. The detour adds about 20 minutes to the drive home, and Perth is 50 minutes from Comrie.
- The Earthquake House
The Earthquake House stands at the Ross, on the western edge of Comrie, 15 minutes' drive west of Crieff on the A85. Comrie lies on the Highland Boundary Fault and feels more tremors than most of Britain, and this small stone building was put up in the nineteenth century to hold the instruments that measured them. It is never open, but a window gives a glimpse inside. From the layby it is a short walk on a grassy path with a stile. The stop adds about 30 minutes to the drive home. The council's Earthquake Walk, level and well surfaced, is the easy walk here.
- Loch Earn at St Fillans
St Fillans is 22 minutes' drive west of Crieff on the A85, at the eastern end of Loch Earn, where the River Earn leaves the loch. The road runs through the village beside the water. It is for a long summer evening only: it adds about 45 minutes to the drive home, and Perth is an hour from the loch.
The Pitcairngreen Inn, a restaurant in Pitcairngreen.
Hansen's Kitchen, a restaurant in Comrie.
Photograph by Coorie Inn Restaurant & Rooms, Crieff via Google