I worked with Inntravel as a photographer to capture their Highland Fling walking holiday. They also asked me to share my experience here and on my Instagram, therefore I am marking this content as an AD. All words, images and thoughts are my own.

As someone who lists ‘walking’ as one of their favourite pastimes, I was thrilled to receive an email in my inbox asking me to shoot for Inntravel (along with my partner, Dave who was shooting video). If you haven’t heard of them, Inntravel are a tour operator who plan self-guided walking and cycling holidays with 300 holidays to choose from across Europe and the UK. Their walks are suitable for all abilities, graded into tiers ranging from gentle strolls to mountains hikes. We were booked onto one of their Scottish holidays (A Highland Fling), which is a shorter version of their best-selling Heart of Scotland trip. A Highland Fling includes three full days of walking in Highland Perthshire, with a variety of options for the routes you can enjoy on days one and three. Read on to discover our experience exploring this region of Scotland’s mountains, moorlands, ancient woodlands and glens…..

Day one

Inntravel encourage their guests to travel by train whenever possible, and so we relished the chance to leave our car behind and journey from Yorkshire to Scotland via the railways. On route, we poured over the detailed guide the tour operator had sent to us - this includes detailed descriptions of each walk, interesting information about the places you will be visiting, recommendations for where to eat and drink, and OS maps for the walks.

We arrived into Pitlochry station late afternoon, where we were greeted by a friendly local taxi driver who drove us the short distance to our first hotel: Craigatin House. This former doctor’s house is located right on the fringe of the town, surrounded by woodland and close to Loch Tummel. We settled down into our cosy suite, before heading out to explore the local area. We had a table booked for dinner in town, and decided to stroll along the shore of the loch to visit the famous dam and fish ladder, rather than walking down the road. The second hike takes you along this route, if you’d rather put you feet up on your first evening. Sights to admire along this short walk also include a picturesque pink castle (now a hotel) on the opposite side of the loch, and Pitlochry Festival Theatre. I also enviously watched two women enjoying a swim in a sheltered cove, wishing I’d carried my swimsuit with me. That evening, we enjoyed a glass of wine beside the river at Porn-na-Craig inn, before crossing the iron suspension bridge for a delicious dinner at Fern Cottage. We then retreated to our hotel for an early night, ahead of our first hike the next day.

Day two

Pitlochry - Ben Vrackie | 12km

We woke early on the first full day of our trip, heading down to a hearty breakfast in our hotel’s dining room. With a long walk ahead of us, we indulged in everything the breakfast menu had to offer, including bowls of their signature whisky porridge. It was then time to pack our bags for the day, ensuring we had our packed lunches, the OS map, layers of warm and waterproof clothing — and of course, our cameras!

This was the most challenging walk of our trip. Ben Vrackie stands at 841 metres high, towering in the distance over Pitlochry. The first stretch of the road leads uphill towards the small village of Moulin, before passing an ancient standing stone and then weaving into a dense woodland. It’s a steady uphill climb the whole way through the woods, but it’s a gentle ascent and was an incredibly pleasant walk. We spotted a red squirrel immediately as we entered the woods (frustratingly, just before we took out our cameras) which was a lovely surprise.

Upon leaving the woods, the path snakes over open moorland, with tantalising glimpses of the mountain peeking out in the distance behind hills. I highly recommend booking this trip for late August, as the heather was in full bloom, turning swathes of the landscape a rich purple hue. Again, this section of the walk is a gentle uphill ascent — make sure you keep looking back to admire the vistas of the woodland and Pitlochry below. The path then curves around a hill to give you your first full view of Ben Vrackie, rising dramatically above the loch that sits at its base.

I’m not going to lie - climbing Ben Vrackie was challenging! You’re ascending a steep stone staircase for a whole kilometre, and we definitely needed to stop several times to catch our breath. However, once you’re climbing, it isn’t quite as steep as it first appears — and the views make it more than worth your while. Once we reached the top, the wind was roaring (a reminder that even if you’re walking on a warm, sunny day like we were, conditions will be wildly different on top of mountains, so be prepared!) but we bundled up and found a sheltered spot to eat our picnic lunch while admiring the view.

To return to Pitlochry, you retrace your footsteps, being rewarded all along the way with dramatic views. If you’re visiting in August, there are plenty of bilberry (winberry/whimberry/blaeberry - whatever your local word for these tart, tasty berries is!) bushes on the side of the mountain for foraged treats along the way. There is a hotel with a bar and beer garden in Moulin where you could stop for a drink, but we were in a hurry to reach Robertsons of Pitlochry before they closed for the day. There’s an optional add-on to include a whisky tasting on your trip, but they sadly weren’t offering full tastings the day we were there. The gentleman who greeted us very kindly allowed us to sample three of their whiskys, however, and even though we only had a short time with him, we still learned a lot!

The sun was shining, so we strolled around the town for a while, stopping for a drink in a beer garden to soak up the sun and put up our feet. That evening, we ate another delicious meal at The Bridge restaurant, before another early night ready for the next day’s walk.

Day three

Pitlochry - Blair Atholl | 15.1km

Following another delicious breakfast and leaving our suitcase at reception (another bonus of Inntravel - they arrange your luggage transfers between hotels!) we set off on the longest walk of our trip. We were walking from Pitlochry to Blair Atholl, through some of the most beautiful scenery of the entire holiday. The walk begins by crossing the power station dam wall, before following the wooded shores of Loch Faskally and then the River Garry along a deep ravine to Killiecrankie. Killiecrankie is the scene of a famous Jacobite victory over government troops - although even if history isn’t your thing, you will still be blown away by the incredible scenery of one of the most ancient forests in Scotland.

Once you’ve left Pitlochry, you walk in woodland for most of the route, with the path winding from right beside the water to deep in the trees. Eventually, you emerge at Loch Dunmore, which is a large pond covered in lily pads which the path skirts around. This is a great place to spot kingfishers and red squirrels, although we sadly saw neither. The route then follows the River Tummel toward Marine Scotland’s Freshwater Laboratory, where you follow a footpath around a meadow with views of Faskally House. The Tummel merges with the River Garry further along, just before you turn inland and take a path that skirts above a deep gorge.

We were lucky that we passed the B8019 road bridge while a couple of daredevils were bungee jumping from the platform that sits beneath it. We stayed a while to watch the jumps, before continuing through the woodland. This ancient forest is beautiful to walk through, with a wide range of flora and fauna to admire. You pass historical sights including the Balfour Stone, Killiecrankie Viaduct and Soldier’s Leap, while also admiring the views of the gorge when the path climbs.

We took a slight detour to enjoy lunch at the Killiecrankie Visitor Centre (the Jaco-bite Cafe), resting our feet before continuing with our journey. I recommend sitting outside, where you can watch birds at the feeding station. We also spotted a shrew darting around, and there have been plenty of recorded sightings of red squirrels and pine martens here. The soup and cheese scone was delicious - as were the fancy patisserie cakes they have on offer.

Shortly after the visitor centre, you leave the woodland behind and enter the small hamlet of Killiecrankie itself, where the route takes you over a beautiful bridge with dramatic views of the river on each side. You then continue for a few kilometres along a lane, which eventually leads you to Blair Atholl. The only bad weather of our trip coincided with this last portion of the walk, so we fled to the closest pub (the Atholl Arms) for a comforting bowl of chips and glass of wine, before walking the remaining 15 minutes to our b&b for the next two nights.

We stayed at Ptarmigan House, a cosy family home converted into a b&b where we had a large and comfortable room to relax in. Later that evening, we ventured back out into the small town to enjoy a tasty dinner at The Loft restaurant, before heading back to our room to curl up in bed and watch a film.

Day four

Blair Atholl - Glen Tilt | 11.23km (shorter route)

Following a delicious breakfast at Ptarmigan House, we set off on our final long walk of the trip. There are 3-4 (depending on where you are staying) walks to choose from on this day, and we decided we would like to see a different type of landscape so chose Glen Tilt. This scenic walk leads you through forests before reaching the wild open moors on the fringes of the Cairngorm National Park, following the River Tilt along the way. The full circular route is 16.6km, however there was heavy rain forecast later in the day, so we opted for the shortcut which shortened the walk to 11.23km.

This walk begins with a pleasant stroll beside the river through light woodland, before reaching the Glen Tilt carpark. You then hike through dense woodland, steadily ascending until you reach a beautiful grassy track that feels like something from a fairytale. Shortly after this scenic path, the route exits the trees and approaches the Jubilee shooting range. If you’re walking this route, ensure you check beforehand if the shooting range is in use — several days each year it is closed to walkers when there are shoots. Luckily, the path was open when we were there, and we were greeted by a magnificant view of the glen and the mountains that tower above it. There is a bench conveniently placed at this viewpoint, where we stopped to eat before continuing.

I loved the next section of the walk, with sweeping views across the glen and of the mountains ahead of us. Looking back, I wish we had continued to Marble Lodge and completed the entire walk, but we were concerned about the weather forecast and decided to take the opportunity of the shortcut route which crossed the bridge just ahead. This route took us through a woodland filled with mushrooms, which we stopped to admire before climbing up through the trees and strolling along a pleasant path above the treeline. We followed this path for a hile, eventually entering another patch of trees before eventually descending into the village of Fenderbridge (where we both fell in love with a couple of beautiful cottages, with gardens filled with flowers). The path then snakes back down towards Blair Atholl, eventually leading you back through the same woodland at the beginning of the walk.

We were famished after our walk, and decided to enjoy an early dinner at the Atholl Arms before retreating to our room at Ptarmigan House for the night.

Day five

We awoke bright and early on our last day in Scotland, heading down to breakfast before packing our bags. A taxi was collecting us from the b&b to take us back to Pitlochry train station at 2pm, so we decided to head out to explore more of the area. In hindsight, we could have enjoyed part of one of the other walks in our guide, towards the Falls of Bruar, but we also wanted to see Blair Castle & Gardens and have lunch at the Watermill bakery and cafe. We spent some time strolling through the woods and the castle grounds, before heading to the bakery to relax and eat. I highly recommend visiting the Watermill if you’re in the area — not only is the food delicious, but it was so interesting to visit a working watermill which is still in its traditional use, powering the bakery.

Sadly, this marked the end of our trip, as we were collected by our taxi and transported to the train station to begin our journey home — but we’ve already decided to return to the area to explore more of the Cairngorms this autumn!

We experienced Inntravel’s four-night Highland Fling trip, which is a shorter version of their Heart of Scotland trip. Request a brochure to discover more of their walking holidays across the UK and Europe.

A Highland Fling | A Walking Holiday in Scotland with Inntravel (Ad)