Blairgowrie

Friday, midday

Settle in like a laird at Keeper’s Cottage ( from £ 106 a night, straloch. com), a plush self- catering escape deep in the wilds of Highland Perthshire with a bucolic estate wrapped all around.

1pm

Hike up to their mountain hut, where your posh picnic awaits. The housekeeper, Penny, offers a range of tasty goodies you can choose in advance. It’s hard to beat Scotch Eggs and chocolate orange brownies, all homemade, with this view.

3pm

Explore the rest of the sprawling estate – check out the mystical Witch’s Stone ( an erratic boulder with a Scots pine growing out of it) and the remnants of a Highland Clearances village.

5pm

You’ve earned your pink gin and scones with gin butter back at Keeper’s Cottage.

7pm

Crack on the log fire and settle in for more of Penny’s superlative homecooking. How about stew made with Woodmill Game venison, slowcooked with walnuts?

Saturday, 9am

You can arrive in Blairgowrie in the roguish style of the Cateran outlaws by parking by the Cateran Trail and using it to hike down through the wilds.

Midday

You deserve a decent lunch so head to Cargill’s Bistro for delicious North Sea haddock and chips, or haggis with clapshot and whisky sauce.

1.30pm

Stroll around the shops and cafes of this trim Perthshire burgh, the capital of Scotland’s bountiful soft fruits industry.

3pm

Catch a taxi back to your car and stop off en route back to Straloch at the Silverhunter Gallery. Choose from a rich palette of paintings, jewellery and striking turquoise and magenta ceramics.

7pm

Savour a superb seafood dinner at Little’s Restaurant in Blairgowrie, with oysters followed by a halibut steak, or baked Orkney crab.

Sunday, 9am

Enjoy a lazy breakfast watching the bushy- tailed red squirrels wiggle up the garden bird feeder, or drop into Blairgowrie for a spectacular walk along the salmon- rich River Ericht.

Robin Mckelvie

Your need your own car or two wheels for exploring. For more information see Lonely Planet’s Scotland guide.