St Fillans

Friday, midday

Check into the Four Seasons Hotel (www.thefourseasonshotel.co.uk, double rooms from £81). Book cosy Chalet No. 6 and you will be staying where two of the Beatles once slept.

1pm

Enjoy a simple lunch out at the Loch Earn Brewery (www. lochearnbrewery.co.uk), with pub grub and a pint of Arran ale.

2pm

Handily the old railway line that runs by the Four Seasons is now a cycle and walking route. You can yomp east to Comrie on a Tarmac route.

3pm

As you walk on towards Comrie look out for red deer and red squirrels, who often make a cameo appearance as you ease beneath the hills.

5pm

Savour a drink in The Royal, Comrie, where they do a decent range of ales.

7pm

Book a taxi back to St Fillans for dinner at Tarken Bistro. Take in the views with a pint and a hearty burger.

Saturday, 9am

Head west on the walkway now for a trip back in time as you hike up to the old village of Morrel, which has lain abandoned since the Highland Clearances.

1pm

Drive to Pitlochry, where the modern Dam Visitor Centre is blessed with a café that stocks soups, sandwiches and some excellent homebaking.

2pm

The visitor centre awaits with everything from stations where kids can make their own power schemes, through to information boards that delve deep into green energy.

3:30pm

Wend your way west with a leisurely drive along the banks of Loch Tay before heading south and cutting east back towards St Fillans, enjoying similarly impressive views of mountain and loch as you skim Loch Earn’s shores.

7pm

Dine in at the Four Seasons’ 2 AA Rosette Meall Reamhar restaurant. Local steak stars on the menu alongside fish dishes, with a well priced wine list too.

Sunday, 9am

Recline in a chair by the window of your chalet with coffee and shortbread watching an ever changing dance of sun and cloud on the silvery waters of Loch Earn. ■

For more tourist information see www.visitscotland.com