Christmas, Hogmanay & New Year Breaks, Holiday accommodation and entertainment Perthshire

Jetty at sunrise on Loch Earn, Lochearnhead

Fancy a festive break in Scotland this Christmas or New year? Consider the neighbouring villages of Strathyre, Balquhidder, Lochearnhead and St Fillans in Scotland. Whether you are single, a couple, friends or family, there are plenty of places to stay with entertainment on the doorstep.  All four villages are at the gateway to the Highlands where Stirling and the Trossachs meet Perthshire.  This area of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park is naturally beautiful because of the ancient forests, towering mountains, lochs, deer, Highland cattle and other wildlife. This is an excellent all year round location both for outdoor activities and for total relaxation. There are plenty of forest walks and Munro's to climb. Part of national cycle route 7 connects the villages. St Fillans golf course is open to play all year round.  Glencoe is less than an hour away for walking and skiing enthusiasts. There are plenty of pubs, restaurants and hotels to choose from within a 15 mile radius offering quality food and drink, glowing fires and occasionally live music. The Loch Earn Tourism Initiative members are private owners of Perthshire Bed and Breakfasts, self catering cottages, log cabins, guest houses, Inn's, restaurants with rooms, hotels and caravan sites.  Check out a range of  festive packages including Christmas Day and New Year breaks offered by LETI members.

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Visit the Balquhidder Hall Christmas Market in Balquhidder on 5th December.  Sing around the tree with the locals in St Fillans with mulled wine and a sweet mince pie in hand on 20th December.  If you are planning to spend New Year in Lochearnhead pick up tickets for the Lochearnhead Hogmanay party in the village hall 9pm-2am, available from local shops. Tickets include a live band and stovies at midnight for just £7.50. Raffle prizes include a Scottish Food hamper, a round of golf for two at St Fillans Golf Club and a meal for two at the Four Seasons Hotel in St Fillans.  For more information on Christmas and New Year breaks, accommodation and events in Perthshire,  visit http://www.robroycountry.com/ with links to members websites and promotions.

Loch Earn An Inland Loch..Can It Really Be Tidal???

Scotland’s varied terrain is greatly enhanced by rivers lochs and glens and the Highlands continue to show the effects of glaciation, which has shaped the landscape and provided such a variety of scenery.

The lochs of Scotland provided much needed communication links before the advent of the railway and motor car and both the tidal and non tidal Lochs served this purpose well.

Perhaps best know among Scotland’s Lochs are Loch Lomond and Loch Ness, the latter with its famous monster and the “bonnie banks” of both attracting many visitors.

Tidal lochs such as Loch Etive near Oban demonstrate the power of the sea which is best seen at the Connell Bridge where low tide presents a water fall “The Falls of Laura” as the water of the Loch rush out to sea at low tide. Less well known and somewhat surprising is the tidal nature of Loch Earn, an inland Loch in the heart of Scotland, which is one of only two Scottish Lochs to demonstrate this seiching or tidal effect. (The other Scottish Loch known to have this effect is Loch Treig to the east of Fort William). Probably the best known example of seiching in Europe is Lake Geneva.

The forces that cause this tidal effect are the wind acting on the surface of the east west orientated Loch and thermal stratification. In addition to being a central accommodation base for exploring the rest of Scotland, anyone who visits Loch Earn can enjoy the added attraction of witnessing “seiching” first hand.

Holiday accommodation in Perthshire can be found on the LETI community web site including the four villages around Loch Earn. One example of Perthshire holiday cottages in Scotland is Riverside Cabins set on the banks of the River Earn. Another holiday house that offers clear views of Loch Earn is Earnknowe.

Take a trip to Loch Earn and see if you can observe this tidal effect for yourself.

LETI: Jim Bradley runs two self catering holiday businesses; Riverside Log Cabins in St Fillans (6 cabins sleep up to 6 in 3 bedrooms) and Killin Highland Lodges on a wooded hillside in Killin (11 lodges sleep between 1-8 in 1-4 bedrooms). Jim also makes time to chair the LETI website group.

A Night at the Races

A trip to Perth Races to attend an evening of racing on Tuesday 28th July 2009 was organised by our Treasurer Pam Hopkins and nine Loch Earn Tourism Initiative members set out full of optimism and excitement.

Traffic jams meant the first race was missed but we all proceeded to win, break even and lose in varying degrees. Pam of Earnknowe Holiday Cottages bet carefully while her husband Lawrie was more reckless and would have put his shirt on if allowed. Jan and Richard Spencer of Glenogle Snax bet steadily with some success but more of Jan later. Our Chairman, Alistair Barclay of Alba Virtual Tours kept his hands in his pockets. He must have been cold or simply tight!! Jim and Liz Bradley of Riverside Cabins and Killin Highland Lodges worked as a team. Liz was the banker and Jim the runner and they both got more and more confused as the evening wore on. The dark horse was Andrew Low, of the Four Seasons Hotel who bet just once, on a horse called “Wotchalike”, and it romped in and as a result champagne suddenly appeared!! The rain set in before the last race and the party retired to the Nelson Suite to count up the winnings and to sink our sorrows but the highlight of the evening was yet to occur.

In driving rain an Abba tribute band struck at the end of racing and our abiding memory of a great day out was of Pam and Jan swaying to “Mama Mia” with Lawrie and Richard holding umbrellas above them and Andrew wishing he had a camera for the evidence.

Sadly the next days’ racing was lost due to a waterlogged track despite it being a beautiful day.

LETI: Clearly LETI members take their duty of experiencing events in the region very seriously indeed. No wonder our accommodation, hospitality, sports and event providers are great ambassadors for the area that they love to work and play in!

Cooper Cottages Prides Itself in Finding Suitable Accommodation to Meet Individual Requirements.

We work closely with accommodation providers in the Breadalbane area of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, where the owners are looking forward to offering you a warm welcome. All of our properties are inspected regularly to ensure that you have the highest standards of accommodation. Just contact us with your requirements and we will do the searching for you.

For the Holiday Maker ... Cooper Cottages brings together a selection of properties providing excellent self-catering accommodation in beautiful locations. Our properties sleep 2 to 8 people comfortably. Each property is personally inspected to ensure that cleanliness and good service are ensured by each property owner. Visitor information with suggestions of places to visit will be available in your accommodation.

For the Cottage Owner ... The collection of holiday cottages featured are brought together by one owner with 10 years experience of running a self-catering business in Scotland. All personally visited prior to acceptance. No allocation is required which means that owners can continue to take their own booking at any time. If you require more information, please contact us, Tel: 01877 384331.

LETI: Christine Cooper is a member of The Loch Earn Tourism Initiative and the owner of Cooper Cottages - a holiday cottage management and letting service.