Head to the Highlands for a Scottish Manor House Stay
Gather up your family, friends, or group and journey to the Scottish Highlands. In rural Perthshire, you’ll find Auchterarder House, one of the most comfortable private homes in the Highlands and the perfect place for your group to live like Scottish nobility.
Photo courtesy of Auchterarder House
The Scottish Highlands are magical to behold, full of dramatic mountain views and home to a rich history and culture. This region is perfect for outdoor pursuits, and it is home to some beautiful and ancient castles and homes. One such home is Auchterarder House, a ten-bedroom Scottish mansion set on twenty acres of stunning gardens and grounds. Recently renovated, it is the perfect place to take a multi-generational family, a group of friends, or a specialty or corporate group. If you’re celebrating a special occasion, it’s perfect to gather together and do so in style!
Photo courtesy of Auchterarder House
The house is ideally located just far enough outside of the city to feel remote and private but not so far away as to be cumbersome to find. In fact, both Edinburgh and Glasgow airports are roughly a one-hour drive from Auchterarder House. With views of the Cairngorms to the north and the Grampian Mountains in the west, you will truly feel as though you are surrounded by some of the best natural beauty on offer in Scotland...and that’s saying something!
Auchterarder is also conveniently located only a ten-minute drive from Gleneagles, a luxury country resort that features several celebrated golf courses and Andrew Fairlie’s famed two-star Michelin restaurant. This makes a fabulous day out from Auchterarder, and the Poe Travel team is on-hand to help you organize any activities, including a jaunt to Gleneagles.
Get to Know the House
Auchterarder House includes ten double bedrooms, all with en-suite bathrooms, and can host up to twenty people in the main house based on double occupancy. Four of the bedrooms also have sofa beds for children if needed. There is also one ground floor bedroom with a fully accessible disabled bathroom. For a slightly larger group, you’ll find more accommodation in the charming Lodge Cottage.
Elsewhere in the house, you’ll find plenty of spaces to relax and gather as a group. The house features a handsomely appointed drawing room, dining room, library, and reception hall. Other fabulous amenities include a sauna, gym, cinema room, shoot room, conservatory, and billiard room. Downton Abbey may have been set in England, but this house feels as though the Crawleys would have been happy to call it their Scottish home-away-from-home.
While you’ll love exploring the beautiful rooms and all the nooks and crannies inside, the outside of the house is spectacular. Set in twenty acres of gardens and grounds, there’s plenty to explore, and an outdoor barbecue area is the perfect spot for gatherings in the Scottish sunshine. The house even has its own small and beautifully kept lochan, which is what the Scots call a small loch. The lochan is stocked with small trout, and the estate has a supply of fishing rods for anyone who might want to try their hand.
Your stay at the house can be complemented by an array of staff, if you prefer, including a private chef, butler, and more. If you are celebrating a special occasion, we can arrange for dinner caterers and entertainment such as local musicians. This is all done on a bespoke basis, so all the arrangements will be unique to your group.
Fill Your Days
Photo courtesy of Auchterarder House
Every itinerary during a stay at Auchterarder is bespoke and tailor-made. You can do as little as you like, simply relaxing around the house, or the team at Poe Travel is happy to create a custom itinerary packed with activities to suit your interests. The list of activities available in and around Auchterarder is a long one, but we thought we’d mention a few of our favorites.
Keen golfers or even golf groups should consider Auchterarder as it’s perfectly located for days of prime golfing. As we said before, Gleneagles is a ten-minute drive from the house and features multiple celebrated golf courses, along with other fabulous outdoor pursuits such as falconry demonstrations, horse riding, and more.
The area is also fabulous for cycling. We can arrange for bicycles to be sent to the house for your group so that you can head out to explore the many roads and tracks in and around Auchterarder. This is a great way to get up close and personal with the natural scenery of the area while also getting a bit of exercise!
Along with fishing the lochan on the estate, those interested in fishing may also want to head out to the nearby Lindores Loch or the Orchil Trout Fishery. We can arrange a boat and tackle for you along with a picnic to be enjoyed in the great outdoors. In addition to the trout, you’ll also have the chance to spot lots of other Scottish wildlife while you’re out and about, such as ospreys, otters, fallow deer, and many species of waterfowl.
If you’re a more intrepid fisher, head to the River Tay for some adventurous salmon fishing. Scotland is renowned for its salmon fishing, and the River Tay is one of the five great rivers, so this makes for an unforgettable day out for those who love fishing. Speaking of adrenaline-fueled activities, you can also choose to go whitewater rafting only an hour from the house.
There are many incredible days out to be had from Auchterarder, including visiting St. Andrews to see the ruined castle and Scotland’s oldest university where Prince William met Kate Middleton. You can also grab some of the best fish and chips in the world while you’re there. Castle enthusiasts will be pleased to know that it’s easy to visit Scone Palace, Glamis Castle, and Blair Castle from the house.
We would also be remiss if we didn’t mention some whiskey distilleries, as no visit to Scotland is complete without a bit of whiskey! Scotland’s smallest distillery, Edradour, is nearby and family-owned. They have an easy tour that is great for all ages. Other distilleries of note in the area include Aberfeldy, Blair Athol, Deanston, Tullibardine, Glenturret, Strathearn, and Dalwhinnie. Dewar's Whiskey Distillery is also on the outskirts of Aberfeldy and is a hugely popular one for a visit. They have different tours based on your level of interest. Our team can arrange private visits to all or most of these distilleries, tailoring your experiences to your group’s interest in whiskey.
These are by no means all the activities on offer in and around Auchterarder, but maybe these will give you a start as you begin thinking about your Scottish adventure.
Scotland is just one of those places that will make you feel as though you’ve stepped right into a movie. Its beauty looks like it was created with CGI, but it’s au naturel, which is probably why it has played host to so many films and TV shows. A stay in the Scottish Highlands in particular will bring beloved shows like Outlander to life, and Auchterarder House will make you feel like the Scottish nobles of old.
If you would like to Get Away to Auchterarder House (or anywhere else in the world), simply contact us. We will check availability and pricing for you to set you on your way.