Fancy visiting a village in Scotland that offers great food, superb outdoor activities, a sweeping range of places to stay and myriad visitor experiences? Well, how about a quartet of gorgeous villages that offer all this and much, much more? Welcome to Balquhidder, Lochearnhead, Strathyre and St Fillans. This impressive quartet of villages are set amongst some of the country’s most deeply dramatic scenery.
Award Winning BLiSS Trail
They may be split between Perthshire and Stirlingshire, but many things link these four dynamic communities. Not least the 2018 Scottish Thistle Award winning BLiSS trail. BLiSS stands for Balquhidder, Lochearnhead, Strathyre and St Fillans, with the ‘i’ in the middle representing innovation and the world-renowned tourist information icon.
The award winning BLiSS trail is an eclectic array of fun sculptures and ornamental installations that connect the four villages. There are a whopping 24 permanent structures spread across almost 50km, and it doesn’t end there with occasional visiting works and more planned. Handily an audio guide app for smartphones is available to help you navigate between them and enjoy an immersive experience.
You can see each installation from the roadside or Sustrans cycle route 7, which also connects Balquhidder, Lochearnhead, Strathyre and St Fillans villages. An artist’s name plaque and the useful www.robroycountry.com URL can be found at each marker.
BLiSS Trail Highlights
The markers have been designed to encourage people to engage, smile and then spend more time in the villages. Highlights include a dragon bike, 3m steel thistles and a Lookout Cabin. The latter is often hidden by its reflection of lochs Doine and Voil, as well as the Braes of Balquhidder. Then there is a personal favourite of mine – a red telephone box that appeared in the film ‘The Thirty Nine Steps’, which now serves as a library offering a book and DVD exchange.
The latest installations on the BLiSS trail are the ‘Vessels’ series 1 to 4 by Alex Tedlie-Stursburg, the first international artist to work on sculptures on the trail. You can find these striking works at the Strathyre Village shop and The Clachan Cottage Hotel on Loch Earn.
Year-round BLiSS
Moving beyond this eye-catching trail the location is ideal too and the slogan ‘Where Perthshire, Stirlingshire & The Trossachs meet in Central Scotland’ hits the nail on the head. We know the region as a year round holiday destination. Indeed we’ve made trips up here in all seasons. Earlier this year we spent a couple of nights at St Fillans with a stop off in Lochearnhead on the way home.
BLiSSful Accommodation
On our most recent visit to Perthshire we stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel. This cosy hotel was remarkable not just for its great views down Loch Earn, but also because the Beatles once stayed in the very chalets our family was happily bedded down in.
There are plenty of great places to stay in this gorgeous part of Scotland. On hand are everything from campsites and B&Bs, through to self-catering escapes, restaurants with rooms, guest houses, hotels of all hues and even a luxury boutique hotel. As a family we’ve enjoyed a lovely weekend in a lodge with an outdoor hot tub at Forest Holidays Strathyre on the shores of one of our favourite lochs in Scotland, epic Loch Lubnaig.
My wife and I have also enjoyed a sumptuous romantic weekend wrapped in luxury and superb food at Monachyle Mhor. I’ve met Tom Lewis a number of times and he really is a true Scottish foodie icon and an inspiration. His focus on all things local and seasonal – they have their own kitchen garden and rear their own animals – shows impressive provenance and he’s a superb chef too. We’ve also stayed at their newer Mhor 84, a sort of funky hipster motel that is great fun.
A BLiSSfull Welcome
What is consistent throughout all places to stay in and around Balquhidder, Lochearnhead, Strathyre and St Fillans is good value and a warm local welcome. Everyone is friendly in these parts, from the smiling kids of Strathyre primary school through to more mature locals only too happy to pass the time of day with you.
The locals are also great at dispensing advice on what to see and do. This is handy as there is just so much. We love scenic lochs like Loch Earn, Loch Lubnaig, Loch Voil and Loch Doine. Anglers meanwhile can indulge in some world-class fishing on the local lochs, rivers and burns. Hikers with the right gear (and experience) can tackle the area’s mountains and Munros. Local peaks of note include Ben Vorlich, Stuc A Chroin, Ben Sheann and Ben Ledi. Then there are the golf courses (including St Fillans, which one of Scotland’s greatest ever golfers, Sandy Lyle, rates as the best inland course in Scotland) and a brilliant network of cycle paths.
BLiSS in Nature
We also love the Rob Roy Way long distance walk and have tackled a sections of it over the years. One of the great things about getting active in these parts is the sheer breadth of natural treasures you come across en route. There is bountiful attractive flora, with the native Scots pines a favourite of ours. On the fauna front there are red and roe deer, pine martens, badgers, red squirrels, black grouse and ospreys to admire. If you’d rather explore the stunning scenery in the company of a friendly and knowledgeable guide then Aquila Ecology will plan a walk just for you – they also offer a handy pick-up service.
The imprint of man is striking too. We’ve heard intriguing stories of Scottish heavyweight champion, hotelier and tourism hero Ewen Cameron. As well as tales about the old Drover’s hostelries in Strathyre and the ‘miracle fortune’ telling fish in St Fillans. Then there is the fascinating Three Sisters history of Loch Earn.
Festivals and Events in BLiSS
This rich culture and heritage is celebrated in a series of annual festivals and events that ripple through the region. These include the Stuc A Chroin Hill Race where hardy souls can tackle the 20 km long trail with its 1500m ascent. A big favourite of ours is the foodie MHOR Festival in May. The Balquhidder Lochearnhead Strathyre Highland Games, held every July, brings local clan history to the fore with the MacLarens and MacGregors pitting their strength against each other for the tug of war trophy.
Regular readers know that we love hearing from you on social media. If you are lucky enough to visit this glorious corner of Scotland then make sure to share your photographs, videos and blog stories with us. You can do this on Twitter and Facebook with @robroycountry.
*The post comes in conjunction with LETi, a group of 46 tourism businesses, formed in 1994 to promote the retail and commercial services around Loch Earn. In its 25th year, LETi has evolved from a village discussion group to an award-winning area network engaging with visitors, businesses, communities, associations, DMOs and the public sector – representing Balquhidder, Lochearnhead, St. Fillans and Strathyre in accommodation, hospitality, outdoor activities, shopping, therapies and events.
