Dunkeld and Birnam Tourist Information
Located centrally in the heart of Perthshire here in Scotland, Dunkeld and Birnam is a perfect base for your holiday. With a wide choice of places to stay, a variety of eating experiences and many points of interest we are sure your visit to the Dunkeld and Birnam area will leave you wanting to return again and again. |
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ACTIVITIES
The Dunkeld and Birnam area is a wealth of activity for all ages and abilities including golf, fishing, off roading and water sports. There are also plenty of walks for all abilities from a hike up Birnam Hill or a gentler paced walk to the Hermitage waterfall . The Loch of the Lowes is the home to the rare Ospreys and a host of other birds and wildlife are also encouraged into the area by the Visitor Centre staff .
In Dunkeld there are a selection of fine shops, including an Art Gallery, Antique Shops, beautiful Clothes Shops for all ages, Furniture Galleries, Jewellery and Gift Shops, Ceramic experience, excellent Cafes, eateries and take away places, and, quality food shops offering Delicatessen, Butchers, Fruit and Vegetables, Grocery and Salmon Smokehouse. The VisitScotland Dunkeld Tourist Information Centre is located in The Cross as is The National Trust for Scotland Shop. There is also a Bank and Chemist in Dunkeld.
In neighbouring Birnam there is The Beatrix Potter Exhibition and Garden, Post Office and tea room, The Birnam Institute- a state of the art community run arts and performance centre with Library, Internet facilities and café, garage facilities including fuel and mechanic, taxi services, café and within a few hundred metres of the centre of Birnam the famous Birnam Oak.
There are many other places around Perthshire, many accessible by a short car (bus) journey or train ride, including Castles, Gardens, Distilleries, Golf Courses, quaint towns and villages and major shopping areas.
Those with children will be pleased to know that there is a variety of child based activities and child friendly places. We have an excellent e-brochure that we can send by email and some great links for you to look at, so please do not hesitate to ask for help, if you are wondering how to spend your time.
The Birnam Highland Games is on the last Saturday in August and includes piping, dancing, heavies, stalls, food and drink, fair and the famous Haggis Eating Championship where the world record is challenged every year! |
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A HISTORY
Birnam and Dunkeld are set on opposite banks of the river Tay, renouned for its salmon and trout fishing, amid Perthshire’s Big Tree Country, surrounded by beautiful countryside and forests. The two towns of Birnam and Dunkeld were only joined in 1809 with the building of the Dunkeld Bridge by Thomas Telford across the River Tay.
Dunkeld is thought to date back to the sixth century when a monastery was founded beside the River Tay. Kenneth MacAlpin, the first King of Scotland, moved the bones of St Columba to Dunkeld around the middle of 9 th century which established Dunkeld as the first ecclesiastical capital of medieval Scotland . Building of the present day Dunkeld Cathedral began in the 12 th century and additions were added up to the 16 th. Looking at the architecture, you can see the different styles of the additions through the centuries. Although partly in ruins, it is still the Parish Church enjoying regular services and concerts with many couples choosing the beautiful riverside location for their wedding day. The Cathedral museum hosts an interesting collection of artefacts and photographic memorabilia. The entire town of Dunkeld was burnt to the ground in 1689 during The Battle of Dunkeld between the Jacobite forces from Bonnie Dundee and the local garrison of the Cameronians. From the remaining ashes the picturesque Little Houses were built in the early 1700’s. Beautifully restored in the 1950’s to provide homes for local people, and now in the hands of The National Trust for Scotland they include the famous Ell Shop named after the original measure for cloth.
Close neighbour, Birnam, is smaller than Dunkeld and although Shakespeare mentioned Birnam Wood in Macbeth, the town originates from the Victorian era with the coming of the railway in 1856. Originally the end of the line, many well to do Victorians took their holidays in the area, including Beatrix Potter, whose family visited regularly from their Lake District home. Beatrix Potter was inspired to write her tales of Peter Rabbit during her many countryside walks during her visits to the Dunkeld and Birnam area. The statuesque and ancient Birnam Oak is just a few hundred metres from the centre of Birnam and is reputedly the last remaining oak of Birnam Wood. Historians have claimed that the wood was used as camouflage for Malcolm Canmore’s army before the battle at Dunsinane with MacBeth. We cannot be sure this rather elderly oak was part of Birnam Wood at the time of the battle some 900 years ago, but whether truth or fiction the romance of the legend remains. |
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 Drummond Castle Gardens
 Dunkeld and Birnam Golf Club
 Dunkeld Cathedral
 Dunkeld Land Rover Experience
 Fishing On The River Tay
 Perthshire Highlands
 Birnam Arts & Conference Centre
 The Taybank Hotel In Dunkeld
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