The Area

Old Bridge of Tilt is a small village built on the Atholl Estate, about 0.5 miles from Blair Atholl. It sits at the southern edge of the Cairngorms National Park and is surrounded by stunning mountain views and the famous tree-covered hills of Perthshire.

The Atholl Estate is the home of Blair Castle and the ancestral seat of the Duke of Atholl. The castle and its extensive grounds are open for tours most of the year, closing briefly in the winter months. The Duke heads the only legal, private army in Europe – the Atholl Highlanders! Important, therefore, to be on your best behaviour when visiting!

Blair Atholl has a hotel and bar which serves drinks and food, and has a nice beer garden. There is a working watermill in the village too which has its own café. There are a couple of general stores nearby – one on Blair Atholl and one in neighbouring Bridge of Tilt. You can reach Blair Atholl by road or walking through woodland, alongside the River Tilt. It takes about 15-20 mins to walk into the village from the house.

Pitlochry is about 8 miles away and is the nearest town. It has many more restaurants, pubs, cafes and a theatre. Pitlochry is where you’ll find the larger supermarket – the Co-Op. Some of the national supermarket chains in Perth will deliver to the house and you should check with them as you make your plans. Perth is some 35 miles south and has many of the facilities you would expect from a large, cosmopolitan city. You can reach Perth by road or, also, by rail. Blair Atholl has its own railway station with regular service to Inverness, Edinburgh and Glasgow. For those coming from further afield The Caledonian Sleeper to and from London also stops in the village.

There is so much to see in the area you will need to be choiceful around your plans.

There are fantastic walks all around the area and a number of sign-posted walks into and around the Atholl estate start a few metres from the house and range from a 2 mile riverside wander to a more taxing 10 mile hike into the hills. More information on walks in the area can be found here:

https://atholl-estates.co.uk/estate-activities/activities/walking-cycling/

In the wider area there are many walks and areas to explore. Killiecrankie and the Queen’s View has fabulous scenery and is great for curious minds to explorer the battles of the Jacobite Rising. Aberfeldy, Fortingale and Dunkeld are within easy reach by car and offer good browsing and strolling. The House of Bruar(or Harrods of the North!) is only 4 miles from the house, offering a more luxurious shopping experience for those who enjoy such!

For those who are more sporty in their outlook, you can hire kayaks in Pitlochry to explore Loch Faskally and for those who more accomplished on the water you can also do white water rafting on a number of the rivers in the area. In the winter, the ski resorts by Aviemore and Glenshee are within an hour of our home. For golfers, there are courses that welcome visitors in Pitlochry and in Blair Atholl and there are, of course, 3 amazing championship courses at Gleneagles which is about 1 hour south of the village.

Sill further afield, the proximity of the A9 makes exploring the Highlands easy. Stirling, Inverness, Loch Ness and the whisky distilleries around Speyside are all within 2 hours drive.