What to do in Perthshire, Scotland?

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We are - hopefully - off to Perthshire for half term, staying not far from Blairgowrie. I know the west coast, Highlands and Islands of Scotland well but apart from a couple of days in Pitlochry in 2005, I don't know the area at all.

We are a family of four, the children are 14 and 9. We are fairly easy to please. We like art, history, culture, outdoor pursuits, hiking, film, bookshops etc. I also LOVE trains. We are happy not to mix too much and are mindful of Covid restrictions and being sensible. We are staying in a self catering farmhouse and plan to eat in mostly. All and any suggestions gratefully received.

You can get up to Pitlochry/Aberfeldy / Blair Atholl for a day trip. There's a few outdoor centres round that area that usually offer kayaking, rafting etc.
The V&A museum at Dundee has been getting good reviews although I'm not been myself yet.
The walk highlands website is good for walks www.walkhighlands.co.uk/
You could park at Perth and get the train into Edinburgh for the day which would take you over the Forth rail bridge.
Glamis castle (home of the late Queen Mother)
If the weather carries on the way it is you might be able to ski at Glenshee!!

Dundee has a few good museums / attractions as well as the V&A (which, although the building is nice, seems fairly empty of actual exhibits!) There's the Science Centre which would be good for the 9 year old but may be a bit young for the older one. HMS Discovery is great and I understand that the Verdant Works museum is really good but is showing closed on their site. Also the McManus museum which is quite old fashioned but worth a short visit (won't keep you occupied for long). You can also rent E bikes in several places in the city and there's a really good bike path down by the river. Bikes work out at about £ 4 an hour and you need to pre register (Ride-On Dundee). Also round about the V&A museum seems to be popular with teens (and others) for roller blading / skateboarding. They're building an artificial beach there but not finished yet. So plenty to keep you occupied on a day's visit! There is a decent each at Broughty Ferry if that interests you (suburb of Dundee) or the Angus beaches are about 1 hours drive. I don't really know Blairgowrie but am fairly sure there'll be plenty of decent walks around there.

The V&A is ok, more for the building than the exhibits which feel a bit hidden!

Have you ever done treasure trails? It's a good way to go round an area, I did it in Dundee and it makes sure you see quite a few points of interest, including the statue of Desperate Dan

www.treasuretrails.co.uk/

We seem to do treasure trails everywhere we go. We really like them. The 14yr old is a real art buff so any galleries or exhibitions are a good idea. I think we might do a day in Dundee and one in Edinburgh (we love Edinburgh) and Aberfeldy is a must for the bookshop apparently.

I might look at bike hire too if the weather will be favourable. Most outdoor stuff is fully booked already.

Just googled the Desperate Dan statue. Oh my!

cairn oh mohr fruit winery is lovely, nice cafe and you can do a tour of the winery , there's a decent play area and outdoor bits, including a nice walk, lovely for a nice day!

www.cairnomohr.com/winery

my friend works there so i may be biased (and i love the wine!)

ooh also Auchingarrich wildlife centre in Comrie is a good day out too

We are teetotal so not sure if a winery is wasted on us tbh!

Will definitely look up the wildlife centre though.

Just looked at Edinburgh Castle to see if it's worth a train ride over the Forth and a day there and got all excited. But the train prices are double the cost of the castle entry fee which is prohibitive sadly.

For history - Bannockburn Battlefield (possibly a bit too far south for you), the Scottish Crannog Centre north of Crief.

I went to the Bannockburn Battlefield on honeymoon (as well as several other battle sites, romantic huh?) and loved it.

Salmon ladder at pitlochry dam. Dam itself quite interesting if it's open. There are decent walks across and along the river - research first, distances to bridges can make for v long circular route if you go the wrong way)

Blairgowrie isn't that exciting but it's beautiful around there. Scone palace and the mikaelour (that's spelt wrong) hedge are worth a wander.

Dunkeld isn't far and you can go for a wander along the river, look for the beavers, Birnam wood (Macbeth) and the oldest Oak tree.

If you've got a car could you not just drive down to Edinburgh to have a day of art galleries etc? Cross the bridge, take directions for the a8 (Edinburgh airport) and park in the park in ride there. Bus into town is frequent and cheap.

If your kids are very good walkers, Killiecrankie is worth a go. But it's a good walk.

And there's quite a lot of stuff around kinloch rannoch that might be worth a look (it's kind of grown over the last x years into a tourist and outdoor centre).

Have a nice half term. Bring more warm clothes than you think you'll need. And waterproofs. Then cross your fingers you'll not need them!

The v dour tour guide at the Bannockburn visitor centre opened with "the battle didn't happen here but the bog where it did happen doesn't pay my wages". We also visited the Mel Gibson/William Wallace statue that day iirc.

There's some discounts for attractions if you have a valid train ticket e.g. kids go free at Camera Obscura in edinburgh www.scotrail.co.uk/offers
If you travel off peak kids go for a quid www.scotrail.co.uk/tickets/kids-for-a-quid

I might consider driving to Edinburgh but will see what else is on the itinerary first. We spent a week in Edinburgh last year so will prioritise stuff we haven't seen yet. And the big draw was also the train as I'm a bit of a train enthusiast. Still, have always wanted to see Edinburgh Castle and it was closed last September when we were there.

We are seasoned walkers so waterproofs are in abundance thankfully! Birnam Wood is a must I think. DD is a bit obsessed with Macbeth atm.

[quote emmathedilemma]There's some discounts for attractions if you have a valid train ticket e.g. kids go free at Camera Obscura in edinburgh www.scotrail.co.uk/offers
If you travel off peak kids go for a quid www.scotrail.co.uk/tickets/kids-for-a-quid[/quote]
That is VERY helpful thank you.

If DD is obsessed with the subject of the Scottish play, then the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh would be worth a visit. There is a mural of all the Scottish monarchs.

Scottish Deer Centre just outside Cupar is good!

You can hire bikes in Dunkeld - there are a few good trails near the Hermitage, and an enjoyable river circuit you can do.

If you are up for it there's a Dim Sum place in Dundee that isn't remotely fancy, or expensive but the food is great.
Plenty on the menu that isn't weird and the staff are v friendly and helpful.
My friend and I love it.

The National Portrait Gallery is a good call. 14yo dd is about to start art GCSE and takes the history of art quite seriously atm. Nearly everything was closed in Edinburgh when we went last year. We went to the illusions place, the zoo and Mary King's Close, as well as doing a mini Harry Potter day. I'd love to visit a couple of other places in Edinburgh too.

I've never had dim sum but would likely love it. I like Cantonese food in particular but living in rural Norfolk, options are pretty limited.

Definitely looking at bike hire!

manchurianchineserestaurant.co.uk/order-now

Terrible link, but you can explore from there.

Broughty Ferry has lovely beach. The McManus museum is loads better than the v &a. Although the v&a is a great building. Verdant museum is great as well. House of Bruar if you fancy a bit of shopping. Their food hall is (was! ) Lovely. If you fancy going up the coast Arbroath is nice if you like smokies. Camperdown country park and zoo.

What sort of beach is Broughty Ferry? Sandy? Is it one people sit on? I'm not a beach sitter. I like rock pools, walking across mud flats, sea swimming, stone skimming, looking for fossils etc but I can't see the appeal of sitting on sand for an extended period.

Tentsmuir is a beautiful stretch of beach and forest over in Fife, probably not that far. It's not really a sitting on beach kind of a place - probably a bit breezy - but it does have a lovely wild feel.