Pitlochry sits in a green fold of the Perthshire hills, surrounded by forested slopes and the River Tummel. It fills up in summer — particularly during the Pitlochry Festival Theatre's season, which runs from May through October and draws audiences from across Scotland for its rotating repertoire of plays.
The hydroelectric dam below the town backs up the Tummel into Loch Faskally, a beautiful Highland reservoir circled by a good walking path. Beside the dam, the Pitlochry fish ladder has an underwater observation chamber where you can watch Atlantic salmon fighting their way upstream during the autumn run.
Just outside town, the hamlet of Moulin rewards a walk through the hills with fine views and a seventeenth-century pub that brews its own ale. From there, push on to Edradour, one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland — free guided tours end with a dram. Blair Athol distillery is an easier walk from the town centre and offers a more polished visitor experience.
Four kilometres north, the Pass of Killiecrankie is a wooded gorge of considerable drama — site of the 1689 Jacobite battle, spectacular in autumn colour, and home to some of Perthshire's best woodland birdlife.