We love exploring all over beautiful Perthshire for great activity and visiting ideas to highlight, and fortunately for us, one of our favourites is our nearest town—Dunkeld.

We especially love to explore the lovely independent shops and cafes that there’s such an abundance of here, all offering something different but delicious. Dunkeld has becoming something of a foodie paradise in recent years, and there’s something to suit all palates, with speciality cheeses, wines, smoked salmon, whiskies, pastries and breads available seemingly every few feet! One thing to bear in mind if going soon, though, is that the Scottish Deli appears to be closed for refurbishment just now.

Once we have selected some goodies, and/or a takeaway coffee, we tend to take it down to that inviting stretch of grass by the river, perfect for soaking up both sunshine and nature. When doing this current photoshoot, our lunch of choice was a fabulous focaccia from the ARAN bakery, with the flavours of rosemary, salt, olive oil and a hint (we thought) of garlic. We simply tore chunks of it off and managed to devour the entire thing…

There’s lots to see in the town itself after you finish your picnic, including the fountain, cathedral, St Ninian’s Gardens and the history trail, with numerous blue plaques highlighting interesting things about the buildings and wynds. From Robert Burns, to Viking raids, to the reformation, to the Jacobite uprising, Dunkeld has a fascinating history, although most of what survives today dates back no later than the late 1600s, since it had to be extensively rebuilt after a battle in 1689 that caused a destructive fire.

After your wander around the various shops and sights, there’s also some amazing local walks to choose from. The car park for the Hermitage and Pinecone Point is just up the road, or you can walk along the river itself. Another activity we can recommend that isn’t far away is a visit to the Loch of the Lowes Visitor Centre to see the osprey and other birdlife.

If you do happen to run out of things to do in Dunkeld, the adjoining village of Birnam boasts the Beatrix Potter Garden, well worth visiting while in the area, as well as Birnam Arts and some more of those lovely independent shops. On our visit we enjoyed cold drinks outside at the Birnam Arts cafe, which was really peaceful and refreshing. You can perhaps pop along to see the Birnam Oak afterwards, said to be the last survivor of the Birnam Wood made famous in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

We love Dunkeld (and Birnam), and don’t think we will stop going there on our days off anytime soon. It also makes for a great opportunity to both enjoy and support some local independent businesses!