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 Crieff |
 Glenturret Distillery |
 Dunning Parish Church |
Crieff sits between the highlands and the lowlands on a south-facing slope in the Grampian foothills.
The town boasts the oldest distillery in Scotland, Glenturret, founded in 1775. It has a visitor centre offering tours all year. Just north of the distillery is Glen Turret and some of the best hillwalking in the area: including the Munro, Ben Chonzie. Following the River Earn west from Glenturret brings you to Comrie, a settlement whose origins date back at least to the Romans.
In the eighteenth century Crieff was a busy market town with farmers coming down from the highlands and from as far away as Skye to trade their livestock. In Victorian times the town developed as a spa resort; today it remains popular as a tourist destination.
Crieff Visitor Centre has its own pottery offering factory tours and a shop. The Stuart Crystal Centre has Stuart, Waterford and Wedgwood goods for sale.
Drummond Castle Gardens, south of Crieff, are open to the public. They were laid out by John Drummond, second Earl of Perth, in 1630. The view from the castle terrace reveals the grand symmetrical design and strong French and Italian influences.
South of Drummond Castle is the village of Muthill, complete with its old church and 11th Century tower. Muthill is, like Comrie, on the route of the Coast to Coast Walk from Oban to St Andrews.
Auchterarder itself is an 800 year old Royal Burgh. There is a heritage centre in the town and the long High Street has a range of interesting shops. On the outskirts of Auchterarder is the town's best-known attraction: the internationally famous Gleneagles Hotel with its four golf courses, including the PGA Centenary Course which will be the venue for the Ryder Cup in 2014. These courses are open to vistors all year round, and there are in excess of 20 more golf courses within 20 miles of Auchterarder!
East of Auchterarder is the historical village of Dunning, complete with St Serf's Church, built in 1200, now home to the Pictish Dupplin Cross. Pictish connections also occurr at St Fillans, at the eastern end of Loch Earn: where the nearby fillfort of Dundurn was a major fortress.
