Crieff for the non-golfer.

2 miles north on B8062 · tours from £18 · open daily

The Glenturret distillery on the River Turret is Scotland's oldest operational whisky producer — there is evidence of illicit distilling here from 1763, and the legal distillery has run continuously since 1825. The site now includes the Famous Grouse Experience (an interactive blending facility) and The Lalique restaurant. The distillery is compact and the tours are genuine rather than theatrical. If you are going to one Highland distillery on a Perthshire golf trip, this is the most efficient choice.

3 miles south on A822 · adult ~£8 · open May to October

A formal terraced garden on the scale of Versailles but Scottish, which means surrounded by highland hills rather than French geometry. The parterre below the castle — which has been here since 1630 and was extensively redesigned in the 1820s — is best seen from above, from the castle terrace. The St Andrew's Cross pattern was cut into the garden in the 19th century and is still the dominant motif. One of the finest formal gardens in Scotland.

Hill above Crieff · day visitor rates available

The Crieff Hydro opened in 1868 as a hydropathic resort — the Victorian precursor to the modern spa — and is now a 900-acre country house hotel with multiple swimming pools, a spa, an equestrian centre, and activities from mountain biking to laser clay. Day visitor rates give access to the pools and some spa facilities. It is the correct answer to 'what do we do on a cold October day in Perthshire'.

In and around Crieff · free · year-round

The paths along the River Earn south of Crieff and into the farmland of Strathearn are quiet, flat enough, and increasingly attractive the further from town you walk. The Crieff to Comrie route (7 miles one way, or drive to Comrie and walk back) follows the river through one of the more agreeable corners of Perthshire. Comrie village is worth the journey in its own right.

10 miles east on A824 · free to explore · spa day rates at the hotel

Auchterarder is the village adjacent to Gleneagles Hotel — a long high street of independent shops, a handful of good cafés, and none of the resort pressure. The Gleneagles Hotel itself is open to non-residents for the spa (day rates) and the restaurants. If the golfer is playing at Gleneagles, the non-golfer can walk the village, use the hotel spa, and meet for dinner. The hotel is large enough to absorb day visitors without difficulty.

4 miles east on B8062 · adult £5 · open Wed–Sun, April to October

Scotland's oldest public lending library, founded in 1680 by David Drummond on the south bank of the River Earn. The borrowing records run continuously from 1747 — you can look up who borrowed what, which gives the place an unusually human quality for a historic archive. The collection of over 3,000 volumes includes pre-Reformation manuscripts and early printed books; the building itself is a small 18th-century chapel with an adjoining schoolroom. One of Perthshire's more quietly remarkable things.

18 miles east on A85, Tay Street · free entry · open daily

Reopened in 2024 after a major renovation and now houses the Stone of Destiny — the coronation stone on which Scottish kings were crowned at Scone, 3 miles north of Perth, before Edward I removed it to Westminster in 1296. This is its first display in Perth, which is where it should always have been. The wider museum covers the archaeology and natural history of the Tay valley; the building is handsome and the Stone draws the crowds, but the rest is worth a proper look.

18 miles west on A827 · Scottish Crannog Centre adult £12.50 · open Apr–Oct

The village at the east end of Loch Tay, with Taymouth Castle visible on the hillside above — now a luxury resort, previously the seat of the Campbells of Breadalbane, and before that one of the larger expressions of Highland aristocratic excess in Scotland. The Scottish Crannog Centre on the lochside recreates an Iron Age dwelling built on stilts over the water; it is specific and odd and genuinely interesting. The drive along the south shore via Acharn to Killin — 18 miles of lochside road with virtually no traffic — is one of the better drives in Perthshire.