Kinloch Rannoch

Kinloch Rannoch sits where Loch Rannoch empties into the River Tummel, a small grey-stone village at the eastern end of the loch with the hills rising up on every side. The name comes from the Gaelic Ceann Loch, meaning head of the loch, which is a bit of a puzzle given the village actually sits at the foot of it. People have lived in this area for a very long time, with signs of settlement going back to the Bronze Age, but the village as it stands today owes its shape to the aftermath of the 1745 Jacobite rising. A soldier named James Small was sent to manage the forfeited estates here, and set about laying out and settling the village. In the square stands an obelisk to Dugald Buchanan, the eighteenth-century poet, evangelist and Gaelic scholar who lived and taught in the area. These days it's a quiet, friendly place that runs on the outdoors. There's a village shop and post office, a couple of cafés, two hotels and a photographer's gallery. Most people come to walk, cycle or fish, and use the village to stock up first.

The walks are the main event. Craig Varr rises straight up behind the village, a short sharp climb rewarded with a view back down over the loch and the river, and it's the same hill they race up during the Highland Gathering each August. For something gentler, the Allt Mor waterfall is an easy wander from the village, and the lochside and forest paths run for miles in either direction. Loch Rannoch itself is the draw for a lot of people, with fishing for brown trout and pike, and open water for kayaking and paddleboarding. Cyclists can loop the whole loch on quiet roads, about twenty miles round. Just east of the village is Craigh na Dun, the hill made famous by Outlander, though the standing stones were only ever a film set. The real thing beneath is an ancient homestead. On the third Saturday of August the Rannoch Highland Gathering takes over the park, with caber tossing, piping, highland dancing and the hill race up Craig Varr. It's a proper village day out. And the wilds of Rannoch Moor stretch away to the west, walkable for those who come prepared.