Pitlochry, GB

A family-run modern Indian bistro on West Moulin Road built around flavour rather than heat, plus a long gin list. The tiffin box for two and the house curry are what regulars come back for. Dinner only, and it books out, so plan ahead.

A Michelin-starred restaurant-with-rooms in a country house north of Pitlochry, serving a tasting menu drawing on its own kitchen garden and Japanese technique. Just 12 covers plus a chef's table, so it is a destination dinner, not a drop-in. Worth the trip for a special night.

A riverside inn on the Tummel below the theatre, doing Scottish dishes with a beer garden right on the water. It is the default pre-theatre dinner, three minutes' walk up the path to the festival stage. Book if you have a curtain time to make.

A long-running family restaurant on the main street, open from breakfast through dinner with a menu that leans Italian alongside Scottish staples. Handy for a relaxed lunch or an early dinner without a fuss. Reliable and central, with friendly service.

A cottage restaurant overlooking the Memorial Gardens, bringing a Mediterranean accent to Scottish produce across soups, sandwiches and three-course dinners. Cosy inside, with garden views. A solid middle-ground choice between cafe and special-occasion dining.

A characterful gastropub in the centre of town with seasonal Scottish bar food, daily specials and live music on Friday and Saturday nights. The outdoor beer tent runs spring to autumn. A lively, local-feeling spot for a relaxed dinner and a pint.

A cosy inn on the main street known for its seafood, from a mussels starter to a shared seafood platter, alongside hearty Scottish dishes. Old smithy bones and a warm room make it a good wet-weather refuge. Popular, so it pays to book at dinner.

A cafe attached to the town's independent bike shop, turning out some of the best coffee in Pitlochry plus soups, sandwiches and big cakes. The natural fuel stop before or after a ride or a hill walk. Casual, dog-friendly and quick.

A quirky tearoom on Atholl Road with a strict no-teabag policy, loose-leaf blends hand-mixed in Scotland, and home-baked cakes, scones and cheesecakes. Themed, lively decor and a proper afternoon tea. The place to refuel after a walk.

A cafe and bakery inside a working 16th-century watermill in Blair Atholl, where bread and cakes are made with flour ground on site. Free to look round the mill between bites of toasties, soups and scones. A genuinely different daytime stop near Blair Castle.

An inn dating to 1695 in the village of Moulin above Pitlochry, with log fires, a big malt-whisky range and its own ales from the adjoining Moulin Brewery. Pub food runs to haggis nachos and black-pudding-stuffed chicken. A walkable, atmospheric spot for a dram by the fire.

A small-batch gelato shop on Atholl Road making around 18 flavours on the premises, including a haggis gelato that went viral. The texture is creamier and less sweet than standard ice cream. A fun, quick treat run by the family behind Hettie's.

The town's everyday walk: a mostly flat shoreline loop around the man-made loch, passing the dam, the theatre and woodland fringes. Around 3 miles on good paths and short road sections. Easy enough for families and doable in a couple of hours.

A short, easy stroll from the town centre down to the dam, across the footbridge and along the salmon ladder. Under a mile out and back, with the visitor centre and loch views at the turn. The simplest leg-stretch in Pitlochry.

A moderate woodland walk through the National Trust gorge above the River Garry, taking in the Soldier's Leap and the 1689 battlefield. Paths drop steeply to the river with steps and roots. Around 2 to 3 miles depending on how far you push toward Pitlochry.

Pitlochry's home hill, an 841m climb on a well-built path that steepens to a rocky staircase before the summit, with a lochan partway up. Around 5 to 6 miles round trip with a serious 600m of ascent. The reward is a panorama over the town, Loch Tummel and the surrounding hills.

A gentle woodland walk to the falls where the Tummel and Garry meet, crossing a suspension footbridge over the river. Around 2 to 3 miles of mostly easy National Trust paths from Garry Bridge or Faskally. A calmer alternative to the Killiecrankie gorge.

A short, mostly easy woodland walk to a tall waterfall on the Edradour Burn, on the southeast edge of town near the distillery. A viewing platform looks across the falls. Under 2 miles and good for a quick outing or a stop on the way to Edradour.

Scotland's rurally based producing theatre, sitting across the river from town and known for staging a season of plays in repertoire over a single week. There are gardens, a riverside restaurant and a year-round programme. A genuine cultural night out in the Highlands.

A tour of one of Scotland's smallest traditional distilleries, where the whole hand-run process fits in a single room and the buildings sit up a scenic back road east of town. Guides are knowledgeable and the tastings generous. An easy, characterful indoor stop on a wet day.

A working distillery at the edge of Pitlochry, the spiritual home of Bell's blends, dating to 1798. The tour walks through the process in handsome stone buildings and ends with tastings. Within walking distance of town, which makes it the easy distillery to reach.

The Atholl family's white baronial castle near Blair Atholl, with around 30 rooms of armour, paintings and Jacobite history plus walled gardens, a deer park and woodland trails. Indoor history and outdoor space make it a full family day. About 15 minutes north of town.

A hillside garden beside the Festival Theatre tracing plants brought back by Scottish explorers and plant hunters from around the world, arranged along winding woodland walkways. Quiet, well-labelled and easy to combine with a theatre visit. A calm couple of hours for garden lovers.

A small brewery set up in 1995 beside the 1695 Moulin Inn, producing a handful of cask ales including Ale of Atholl and Old Remedial. Free weekday brewery tours run alongside pints poured next door. A short, low-key outing for beer-minded visitors.

Boat, kayak, canoe and paddleboard hire on the calm man-made loch behind the dam, run from the boating station near the theatre. An easy way to get onto the water with the wooded shoreline all around. Family-friendly and weather-dependent.

An autumn sound-and-light show staged after dark in Faskally Wood near Pitlochry, with projections and music threaded through the trees. It runs for several weeks each October and November and draws crowds from across Scotland. A ticketed, seasonal evening out for all ages.

The hydro dam that holds back Loch Faskally, with a 34-pool salmon ladder built so migrating fish can climb past it to spawn upstream. A free visitor centre tells the story of the post-war Tummel scheme and the Tunnel Tigers who dug it. Good for an hour by the water at the edge of town.

A viewpoint above the north shore of Loch Tummel looking west toward the cone of Schiehallion, named for Robert the Bruce's first wife Isabella rather than Queen Victoria. On a clear day the sightline runs many miles toward the western hills. Best paired with the Forestry visitor centre and tearoom across the road.

The white baronial seat of the Atholl family near Blair Atholl, with around 30 rooms of armour, portraits, tapestries and Jacobite history open to visitors. Home to the Atholl Highlanders, Britain's only legal private army, and surrounded by deer parks and a walled garden. A full half-day, especially with kids.

A wooded gorge where the River Garry cuts between Highland and Lowland, site of the bloody 1689 Jacobite battle. The Soldier's Leap marks where a fleeing government soldier jumped the 18-foot chasm to escape. Run by the National Trust for Scotland, with a visitor centre and riverside paths.

The man-made loch created when the dam flooded the valley in the early 1950s, now ringed by woodland paths and used by kayakers, paddleboarders and anglers. The shoreline circuit is the town's everyday walk, taking in the dam and the theatre. Calm water and reflections are the draw.

One of Scotland's smallest traditional distilleries, a cluster of white-and-red farm buildings up a back road east of town still making whisky on tiny old equipment. The tour shows the entire hand-run process in a single room. A good stop even for those who only half-care about whisky.

A run of falls and rapids where the rivers Tummel and Garry meet, set in National Trust woodland north of Pitlochry. Paths wind past the water, a Victorian salmon-pass tunnel and a suspension footbridge. A shorter, gentler nature stop than the Killiecrankie gorge nearby.

A carved Pictish cross-slab from around the 8th century, standing under a small shelter on a quiet lane south of Pitlochry. One face shows a Celtic cross, the other a seated figure and the Pictish beasts and symbols that still puzzle historians. A quick, free stop for anyone curious about pre-Scottish Scotland.