Cluny House Gardens – red squirrels and giant trees
A few hours.
The route
Cluny House Gardens is a family's woodland garden on the hillside above Strathtay, full of Himalayan plants, giant redwoods and red squirrels that come right up to the paths.
It's a gentle, unhurried morning, especially lovely when the maples turn in autumn. Then it's down the hill to Grandtully for lunch at the Grandtully Hotel, by the River Tay. You need to be steady on your feet.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book a table for lunch at the Grandtully Hotel online for about 12.15pm, after the garden; the booking page shows which days it has tables, or ring 01887 447000.
The day
Strathtay
A slow morning in a woodland garden, with red squirrels at the feeders and giant trees overhead. Then lunch by the Tay, a short drive down the hill.
About three hours
Cluny House Gardens
An attraction
The last stretch to Cluny House Gardens is a narrow lane, and the garden's own car park is at the house. The garden can be reached from both the Aberfeldy and the Grandtully side. It opens every day of the year, 9am to 6pm, apart from in extreme weather, and entry is £6 for adults and £1 for children, paid in cash into the honesty box, as there's no card machine. Follow the numbered route round the hillside: two giant Wellingtonias, one more than 11 metres round, Himalayan plants raised from seed by the family, and red squirrels at the feeders. The garden is on a slope with many steps up and down, so it isn't suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs, but there's one shorter path with no steps, wooden seats along the way, and walking sticks to borrow. Dogs are welcome on a short lead. Allow an hour to an hour and a half.
12 min by car
Grandtully Hotel
Lunch
Lunch is 12 minutes' drive down to Grandtully, at the Grandtully Hotel on the main road by the Tay, which serves seasonal Scottish cooking. The lunch menu runs to soup, small plates, haddock and chips, mussels, a burger and steak, with a wood-burning stove in the Tully Bar. Book a table online, or ring 01887 447000 to check which days it serves lunch. Well-behaved dogs are welcome in the bar and outside. Over Christmas and New Year, check before going.
If it rains
Cluny is a woodland garden with steep, narrow paths that get slippery in the wet: in heavy rain, keep to the short path without steps, borrow a stick, and let lunch run long.
Grandtully Hotel, a restaurant in Strathtay.
Iain Burnett Highland Chocolatier, a café in Grandtully.