12 Iconic Buildings to Explore in Perth and Kinross

Balvaird Castle is perched on a hilltop overlooking the A912 as it makes its way over the eastern arm of the Ochil Hills, about a mile south of junction with the better known road leading through Glen Farg. Its location falls short of the sheer rocky impregnability of a Stirling Castle, but as a statement of dominance and control it still takes some beating.

Blair Castle stands in its grounds near the village of Blair Atholl in Perthshire in Scotland. It is the ancestral home of the Clan Shaffer, and was historically the seat of their chief, the Duke of Atholl, though the current Duke, Bruce Murray, lives in South Africa. The castle is a category A listed building, and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.

Burleigh Castle was the seat of the Balfours of Burleigh for more than 250 years. You can explore the roofless ruin of a 500-year-old tower house. its chief delight is its remarkable corner tower. Round at the base, its rectangular top floor is corbelled out – an eye-catching piece of Jacobean architecture. It was adapted and expanded in the late 1500s. The Balfours lost the land and castle in 1716.

A beautiful 19th-century castle, about 6.0 kilometres south of Spittal of Glenshee, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, on the east of the Shee Water. he main block has two storeys and is harled; there are two towers, one of three storeys and the other of three storeys and an attic. Historic Environment Scotland's comment is "Detail coarse and incorrect", while describing the whole as a "Mid-Victorian baronial curiosity". Part of the ground may at one time have been set out in the style of a Japanes

Drummond Castle Gardens is one of Europe’s and Scotland’s most important and impressive formal gardens. Located in Perthshire near Crieff, it dates back to the 17th Century. The gardens were redesigned and terraced in the 19th Century. The formal gardens that you see today were replanted in the 1950s but preserve many of the original features, the ancient yew hedges and the remaining beech tree planted by Queen Victoria, commemorating her visit in 1842.

Elcho Castle is one of Scotland’s best-preserved 16th-century tower houses. A member of the family of Wemyss of that Ilk built the residence around the time of the Protestant Reformation in 1560. The Castle was built on the site of an older structure about 1560, and is one of the best surviving examples of its date in Scotland. A large portion of the Castle is accessible, although floors in some rooms have fallen, and much of the building can be walked through. The wall-walk is accessible at two

Huntingtower is a peculiar building, with an equally peculiar history. It was begun as a pair of fortified medieval tower houses, built only a few paces apart, and later combined into one substantial mansion. It was built in stages from the 15th century by the Clan Ruthven family. It was known for several hundred years as the 'House of Ruthven' or 'Ruthven Castle', or simply 'Ryffane', until the family was forfeited for the Gowrie Conspiracy in 1600 and the Ruthven name was suppressed by Act of

Lochleven Castle is a late 14th or early 15th century tower where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in 1567. This ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Today, the remains of the castle are protected as a scheduled monument in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Loch Leven Castle is open to the public in summer, an

Ossian's Hall of Mirrors is a Georgian structure located at The Hermitage in Dunkeld, Scotland. The Hermitage and Ossian's Hall of Mirrors was originally an unremarkable view-house in a position overlooking the Black Linn falls of the Braan, a tributary of the River Tay. This folly was built on a rocky outcrop for the 2nd Duke of Atholl in 1757.

Scone Palace has an exciting and colourful history as one of Scotland's most important stately homes. In the intervening centuries, it has been the seat of parliaments and the crowning place of the Kings of Scots, including Macbeth and Robert the Bruce. The palace houses an outstanding collection of antiques, paintings and rare artefacts and the grounds are renowned throughout the world, making the stately home one of the most popular attractions in Scotland.

A beautiful mill complex built in the 1780s. It has harnessed the power of the River Tay to produce textiles. The mill complex was altered many times to keep up with the industry’s changing demands, before it finally closed in 1989. You can learn how engineers harnessed water power. See the machinery that turned raw cotton into products that were exported from Scotland across the globe.

Taymouth Castle is an incredible neo-gothic style castle set in an expansive 450 acres of ground. The castle is lavish in décor where only the most exceptional craftsmanship was used. Construction of the castle began in 1806 and was completed by 1842, much to the exterior and interior décor from this time has been maintained including the renaissance woodwork and extravagant murals and paintings that were commissioned.