Crieff is a lovely town boasting a wealth of activities to attract
visitors. Its location on the edge of the Highlands makes it an ideal
centre for a Scottish holiday. Perth and Stirling are within 20 minutes,
Edinburgh and Glasgow are within 1 hour.
Crieff Hydro is just a ten minute walk from the accommodation and non residents
are welcome to hire their tennis and squash courts, horseriding facilities, or
to sit in the bars and restaurants and enjoy the stunning views.
For Golfers there are two 18 hole courses in Crieff and one 9 hole course.
Nearby Muthill, Comrie and St. Fillans have 9 hole courses and Gleneagles is
just 11 miles away boasting three championship courses.
The surrounding countryside offers a large selection of activities, including
hill walking, climbing, white water rafting, fishing and watersports at Loch
Earn.
Fishing
The River Earn runs through Crieff, providing trout and salmon fishing.
Details available from Crieff
Angling Club.
You can get fly-fishing
classes at the Mill of Fortune trout fishery in Comrie. The
company in Auchterarder that can organise these also do a range of other
outdoor activities, see their website for details.
Climbing and walking
There are many good walks in and around Crieff to suit all abilities. Maps
and details are available from the Tourist Information centre. One of the
better known and accessible walks is
Lady Mary's Walk alongside the River Earn. Another very good one is the
short walk to the Knock
of Crieff, with excellent views over the town and the surrounding area.
Ben Chonzie is just
to the north of Crieff, a relatively easily climbed Munro (mountain over
3000ft.) Look out for hundreds of hares on the ridge leading to the
summit. There's a good suggested route up the mountain at this
Scottish website
The Drovers' Tryst walking festival
took place in Crieff in October 2007, and the next is planned for Saturday 11th
to 18th October 2008. This will be the 7th event, and will include a wide
range of activities, not just hill walking.
A good site for weather information is provided by the
Mountain Weather Information Service There's also a basic weather
forecast below, although it's not detailed enough to plan a walk it may give an
indication
Hillphones helps to plan
walks to avoid deer stalking areas. They provide general information, and
a list of numbers to phone to get a recorded message describing where stalking
will be taking place.
Apparently there is some good rock-climbing at Bennybeg, near to the
garden centre. It's a bolted crag, with some short climbs graded
from 3 to 6a+, there's more information about it
here.
Crieff Highland Games
A Highland Gathering
takes place in Crieff each year, in 2008 it will be on the 17th August 2008.
The day includes Highland Dancing, track and field, traditional Scottish
heavyweight events such as the caber, and pipe bands and displays.
Parks and outdoor activities
MacRosty Park, on the west side of Crieff, is a large park with Victorian
bandstand, picnic areas, tennis courts, children's play area and a range of
short walks. See this link for a map of
MacRosty Park Crieff Tourist Information Office on
01764 652578 should be able to provide information on events taking place in
the park.
This site, sponsored by the Forestry Commission, has information about
big trees
in the area.
Pony trekking
is available at a number of equestrian centres, including Crieff Hydro and
Gleneagles.
There's an interesting website with information about
cycling in Scotland, although the flat doesn't have storage for
bicycles. If you do want to cycle in the area, this
hostel in Comrie may be able to help.
About 20 minutes away in Aberfeldy is a
paintballing centre called Perthshire Paintball.
If you want to do some game shooting, without actually bagging any birds,
Drummond Estate offer simulated
game shooting for 8, 12 or 16 people.
Swimming and indoor sports
There is a swimming pool at the Strathearn recreation centre on Pittenzie Road,
just south of Crieff High School. It is advisable to check the current
timetable on 01764 653779. Outside school holidays the pool is
generally open to the public early morning and in the evening, and 10am to 4pm
at the weekends. There is also a fitness gym and indoor sports hall in
the centre.
The recreation centre is about 10 minutes walk from Commissioner Street, walk
east about 100m then continue another 300m along Broich Terrace and turn
right down Pittenzie Road.
Perth Leisure Pool is about twenty minutes drive away in Perth, on the A93
(Glasgow Road) It has waterslides, waterfalls, bubble-beds,
wild water feature, outdoor lagoon, children's water play area and other
facilities. Good for a rainy day.
Rafting & Canoeing
The River Tay offers many opportunities for Canoeing & White Water rafting,
there are a couple of sites in Aberfeldy (about 20 minutes north of
Crieff) that can organise outings at a variety of different levels.
Nae Limits organise white water
rafting and other outdoor activities in the Perthshire area
Running
Strathearn Harriers organise the
Crieff 10K, usually in July. If a ten kilometre run is too easy
for you, they also organise the Comrie Hills Relay Race, and they have regular
training nights, there are more details on their website.
Golf
There are numerous golf courses close to Crieff, see the following sites for
more details.
There's an interesting site with a list of Shops
on the High Street, although I'm not sure if it's up to date.
I've added a page with some
photos from Crieff High Street taken in October 2007, there are quite a
few interesting shops. The Artery Art
Gallery is just round the corner from the flat on King Street, and may
be a good place to buy some gifts.
There are a lot of good restaurants, cafes and pubs in Crieff, the most famous
is probably The Bank Restaurant,
and there is a good delicatessen
on the High Street. The
Gallery Restaurant just off the High Street is also worth a visit.
The Tower Hotel on East High Street serves food from a very wide menu throughout
the day in the bar, restaurant or beer-garden. If you wear a kilt
in the bar on a Sunday, you may get a free drink.
There's an excellent Indian/Bangladeshi restaurant on the High Street, just at
the top of Church Street, called Shampan, 01764 650350 to book or order a
takeaway.
There's a very good baker's just a
few yards away at 59 King Street, you may be able to smell the baking.
Campbell's bakery has been running in Crieff since 1929.
Crieff Hydro
is a large hotel, dating from Victorian times, with a lot of activities
available to non-residents, and a very popular location for weddings. If
you are coming to Crieff for a wedding, the flat is an ideal location, just 10
minutes walk away.
Crieff Vistor Centre, just next to the
auction rooms, is worth a visit. You'll probably see the painted
cow at the front on the way into Crieff.
The Famous Grouse Experience at Glenturret Distillery is apparently the oldest
(legal) distillery in Scotland, although the title is hotly contested.
There is, of course, a visitor centre, guided tour, shop, restaurant, bar and
cafe, but they can also organise cooking classes or a day long whisky class.
The distillery, known as The Hosh, is about half a mile to the North of
Crieff.
The Ceramic
Experience is just outside Crieff on the road to Muthill. A nice
way for the family to spend a rainy day. You could also visit Crieff
Ceramics on Lodge Street in the centre of town.
About 30 minutes away, The Maize
Maze is just next to Blair Drummond Safari Park, and is a great day out
in late summer once the maize has grown. There are a few good activities
for the children once you've found the way out, including bouncy pillows and
pedal cars.
And most importantly :-) Gordon and Durward make
Scottish sweets on the High Street, you can see them make the sweets,
including sugar mice, in the shop.
Castles and Historic Sites
Just to the south you can find
Drummond Castle Gardens
The castle itself is not open to the public, but the formal gardens are,
normally from the Easter weekend through to the end of October, afternoons
only. The gardens date from the 15th century, and featured in the film
"Rob Roy."
Doune Castle
, about 30 minutes drive to the south, is famous for various appearances in the
film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was built in the 14th century,
and was used as a hunting lodge by Scottish monarch, including Mary Queen of
Scots.
There are a number of prehistoric sites and standing stones around Crieff
Churches
There are a number of churches in Crieff, including
Crieff Parish Church (01765 653907) on Strathearn Terrace, St. Fillans
RC Chapel House (01764 653269) on Ford Road and St. Columba's
(01764 656222) on Perth Road.
Health Services
Crieff Medical centre is about 100m from the flat, down King Street. Dr.
Martin and partners can be contacted on 01764 652283.
Laurel House Dental Practice on Comrie Road can be contacted on 01764
652209
The closest chemists is Vantage's, about 20m down King Street.
Other useful websites:
VisitScotland
- official Scottish tourist organisation
