The Atholl Palace – a hotel museum and afternoon tea
A few hours, from Pitlochry station and back.
The route
The Atholl Palace is the turreted Victorian hotel on the hill above Pitlochry, built in 1878 as a grand spa.
In its old servants' wing, a small museum tells the hotel's story, from its spa cures and colourful owners to the war years, when it became a school. Then it's afternoon tea in the hotel itself, with sandwiches, scones and cakes on a tiered stand. It's a gentle afternoon for a birthday, for grandparents, or for a wet day in town.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book Afternoon tea at the Atholl Palace
Book afternoon tea at the Atholl Palace at least 24 hours ahead, on 01796 472400, for about 2.45pm after the museum, and ask the price when you book: it's served every day from 12.30pm to 4pm, with gluten-free and vegan menus.
The day
Pitlochry
A short walk up to a grand old hotel for an hour among its stories. Then a long, slow afternoon tea before the stroll back down.
About three hours
The Atholl Palace Museum
It's a 17-minute walk from the station to the Atholl Palace at the east end of town, the last part up the hotel's drive. The Palace opened in 1878 as a hydropathic, a spa hotel, and its museum in the old servants' wing tells the story: bankruptcies, colourful owners, Victorian servants, some alarming spa treatments, and the war, when evacuees turned it into a school. You start in a railway carriage, open the doctor's cupboards, light up the wine cellar and dress up as a servant in a room where six of them once slept, and children can explore the hotel in Minecraft. It's open every day: pick up your tickets at reception, £3 for adults and free for under-16s at the time of writing. Then it's afternoon tea in the Verandah Restaurant and lounge, served every day from 12.30pm to 4pm, with sandwiches, scones and sweet things on a tiered stand, and gluten-free and vegan menus too. Book it at least 24 hours ahead and ask the price when you do. Afterwards it's downhill all the way back to the station.
If it rains
The museum and the tea are both indoors: only the 17-minute walk up and the walk back are out in the rain.
Photograph by Atholl Palace Hotel via Google