The twee tourist town of Pitlochry has a handsome location beside Ben Vrackie and the River Tummel but few real draws. This doesn’t stop tourist buses stopping en mass to allow passengers a leg-stretch on the main street where most shops pedal cut-price wollens and other stock Scottish tourist merchandise.

The key attraction, a short walk from the town centre, is the Pitlochry Power Station and Dam, a hydroelectric power station whose visitor centre (April–Oct Mon–Fri 10.30am–5.30pm) explains the process.

As popular though, and free, is the adjacent salmon ladder, a staircase of glass-and-concrete pools, where in October and November you can usually watch salmon through cloudy glass as they make their way upstream to spawn. Above the ladder are fine views of the artificial Loch Faskally. Walking trails from here radiate out and link the pretty gorge at Killiecrankie.