Perthshire's Perfect Picnic Spots!

Whether it’s hills and glens, waterfalls and beaches, enchanting woodlands or beautiful gardens you’re looking for Perthshire has plenty of perfect picnic spots. It’s a cheap, easy, child (and dog!) friendly way to spend the day getting some fresh air.

Some of these locations have designated picnic areas and play parks but it’s just as much fun to bring your own blankets and set up ‘base camp’, where you can come back to refuel in between hide and seek or skimming stones at the beach.

If you need ideas for what to pack in your picnic basket, then check out our recipe section - plenty of inspiration and all road tested by Gill's gorgeous boys.

Get your wellies out and head off with a sense of adventure to explore Perthshire - we’d love to see your pics!

GALLERY

Perth & surrounding area:

Bankfoot

The Ford at little Glenshee (up the back of Bankfoot) is a hidden gem. The kids can paddle in the water and guddle for minnows with plenty of nice spots for picnics. It's beautiful on a nice day.

Quarrymill Woodlank Park

Owned by The Gannochy Trust this park has well maintained walkways which weave along the The Annaty Burn. There’s lots of interesting wildlife, plenty of picnic benches and the brilliant Macmillan café at the free car park where you can retreat if the rain comes on!

Scone Palace

Scone palace is a winner for families. There's plenty to occupy the kids at the playground, the maze is fab, the coffee shop does great take out coffee and snacks, and there's loads of benches all around for picnics. It's usually free entry to the grounds in low season. If you go off the beaten track there’s a wee hidden burn with tadpoles and the perfect spots for hide and seek!

The North & South Inches

No list of Perthshire picnic spots would be complete without mentioning the magnificent North and South inches in the heart of Perth. Both these wide open spaces have plenty of room to roam, picnic benches, and excellent play areas. You can often find family columnist Janey and baby Joel out and about around one (or both) of these in a day and stopping under the shade of the trees for their picnic.

Dunkeld & Birnam:

There’s a glorious meadow behind the Birnam Inn with woods, a river, parks, walks and of course the pub on hand!
Whether it’s hills and glens, waterfalls and beaches, enchanting woodlands or beautiful gardens you’re looking for Perthshire has plenty of picnic spot

Inver Walk and Pine Cone Point

Starting at The Hermitage car park this is a pleasant, waymarked walk leading into the lower section of the Hermitage and offers a chance to detour up to Pine Cone Point where the views across the Tay to Dunkeld and the mountains in the North are spectacular. The route then returns along the banks of the mighty River Tay, passing Neil Gow's Oak and through the hamlet of Inver

The Hermitage

If you park in the forestry car park there is a pram friendly uphill path to a lovely sheltered viewpoint (Ossian’s Hall). I love standing on the balcony at this viewpoint watching and listing to the water thundering down the Black Linn Falls- ever better on wet days! The Hermitage woodland itself has some of Scotland’s tallest trees which create a cathedral-like atmosphere as you walk along the Braan riverside watching the rapids and swirling pools.

Pitlochry, Aberfeldy & Highland Perthshire:

Explorers Garden

Set in the grounds surrounding Pitlochry Festival Theatre this garden is one of the most special places we’ve visited. You can book a guided tour to give an insight into the plants, trees, wildlife, history, art and architecture in the garden or just pay a small entry fee to spend as long as you like there- there’s loads of places to stop for a picnic.

Faskally Woods Picnic Spot

A wonderful picnic spot with accessible paths, ideal for families with children and the disabled. Faskally Wood lies on the shore of Loch Faskally and is part of the Tay Forest Park. There is a large car park and picnic site, and the nearby pretty boat house on Loch Dunmore (when it’s still it’s like a mirror!). There’s footbridges and signposted walks which have all been updated to Access for All standards.

Blackspout Waterfall & Woodland

The Black Spout is an impressive waterfall, some sixty metres high on the Edradour Burn, which has a specially constructed viewing platform. It is situated within Black Spout Wood where a specially constructed circular path through the oak woodland offers the chance to see wildlife such as the roe deer, greater spotted woodpecker and red squirrel in their natural habitat. There is a large car park and the picnic area is located on the outskirts of the woodland.

Cluny House Gardens

This is the best site in Perthshire to see red squirrels, often running through the canopy and around Britain’s widest tree, a 130 year old giant redwood. You can take a wander through the wild woodland garden full of rare and exotic plants from around the world merged with native plants to create the unique atmosphere of a Himalayan woodland paradise. Great place to spend the day for a small entrance fee.

The Beach at Kenmore

At the very eastern end of Loch Tay at Kenmore is a beach that has both sand and shingle. It shelves very gently, so in the summer the water really warms up as it is trapped by the prevailing winds. It is a popular spot locally for bathing and picnicking.  

Crieff:

MacRosty Park

A fabulous park with loads of things for kids to play on and with. One of our friends visited on a warn day this summer when they even had water fountains on that the kids could run about in.

Lady Mary’s Walk

Lady Mary walk follows along the River Earn. It's buggy friendly if you start from the housing estate end and has a cute mole’s house in a tree root that usually has bits and bobs left by the last child for decoration which can be added to if you want to! The path takes you along an avenue of mature oak, beech, lime and sweet chestnut.