There's so much of Scotland waiting to be explored... but if you are the designated driver it can be tiresome to be stuck travelling for hours on end.
Fortunately, you don't have to go far from Glasgow to experience some of the best visitor attractions in the country. We've rounded up some of Scotland's best hidden gems that are within a 90 minute drive of the city.
Glenturret Distillery, Crieff
Whisky connoisseurs: this one's for you. Experience The Glenturret where you can discover the fascinating history of Scotland’s oldest working distillery and get a flavour of the process, craft, and skill that goes into creating The Glenturret single malt. You can also relax in the stunning new café and explore their fantastic new gift shop.
Crawick Multiverse, Sanqhaur, Dumfries and Galloway
Crawick Multiverse is a unique and inspiring landscape art experience located just outside Sanquhar, in the north of Dumfries & Galloway. This huge 55 acre visitor attraction was a former open cast coal mine; transformed by the imagination of landscape designer Charles Jenks into a spectacular art-land, with its construction firmly rooted in sustainable and environmentally sound approaches.
Opening to the public six years ago, Crawick Multiverse has been one of Dumfries & Galloway’s hidden gems, but the recent addition of an eco-friendly visitor centre, The Coalface, enhances the visitor experience , with the addition of refreshments, toilets, a sheltered area and an on-site welcome.
Whether you’re looking for a day of family adventuring, an interesting place to walk the dog, photographic or artistic inspiration, nature spotting or simply a place to wander and contemplate the meaning of life, the universe and everything; Crawick Multiverse is a must-visit destination.
As a spacious, unusual and highly covid-safe outdoor experience Crawick Multiverse is naturally seeing an increase in interest, particularly given its accessible location just an hour’s drive south of central Scotland. However, the site is so vast, the landforms so big and the atmosphere so absorbing, that it always feels magically still; a place in which you have freedom to wander uninterrupted. As designer Charles Jencks explained when the site opened, “ten thousand people could be here, on a day, and you wouldn’t feel crowded”.
That claim may be put to the test soon, as the Multiverse is set to launch a programme of autumn events, with themes including music and meteors. No matter when you visit, Crawick Multiverse is a hidden gem that’s well worth discovering.
Crawick Multiverse is a dog friendly and family friendly site, open every day from 10am-4pm. Day passes cost £4 per adult, or £12 per family, and season passes cost £10 per adult, or £30 per family.
https://www.crawickmultiverse.co.uk/
Innerpeffray Library, Crieff
In a tranquil corner of leafy Perthshire, is a tiny place steeped in history. At Innerpeffray, hard by the River Earn, the first free public lending library in Scotland was founded in 1680. At a time when Scotland was moving from civil war to enlightenment the books at Innerpeffray reflect 400 years of European history and subjects as diverse as witchcraft, poetry, medicine, gardening and travel. The unique Borrowers’ Register records all the local people who made the journey to read from farms and towns nearby. A visit today is like stepping back in time. The high-ceilinged room has the authentic hush of the library, but the atmosphere is warm and welcoming from the Keeper of Books and the team of guides who will steer you through the wonders of a collection that has inspired generations.
In the grounds wander to St Mary’s Chapel of Innerpeffray, burial place for the Drummond family since 1508. A new heritage trail in the grounds takes you to a picnic spot by the river and a chance to sit and absorb the peace and tranquillity of the rural surroundings. Now open for visits, appointments are available on the website – or on the day if they have space – come and explore the hidden history of one of Perthshire’s treasures.
https://innerpeffraylibrary.co.uk/
Stirling Distillery, Stirling
Distilled, bottled and labelled by hand, Stirling Distillery are known for their unique London Dry gins made with foraged Stirlingshire nettles. Owners June and Cameron McCann decided to do something different to celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary and on October 28th 2015 they distilled their very first bottle of Stirling Gin. In 2019 they opened the city’s first legal distillery in the historic building locally known as The Old Smiddy. Located in the shadow of Stirling Castle, the structure was first built in 1888.
During the extensive renovation process, Cameron and June were careful to maintain the beautiful Victorian facade of the Old Smiddy. The re-birth of this beautiful building included installing a completely modern interior with state-of-the-art stills, bespoke windows and doors and beautiful wood panelling and has an arresting view of Stirling Castle from its front door.
Their original Stirling gin forms the base to all their Scottish gins. Battle Strength sits at 55% and is inspired by the famous battle of Stirling Bridge. Their characterful Folklore Collection gin liqueurs are based on the dark and mysterious tales of the Green Lady ghost and the murderous Red Cap goblin and their popular Pink Gin, Tropical Triumph liqueur and their latest release, limited edition OlympiGIN gold gin complete their range.
The distillery also offers a range of whiskies, all with historic relevance. Their Son’s of Scotland whisky range features four whiskies drawn from different regions of Scotland; the Highlands, Speyside, the Lowlands, and the Islands - named after Stirlingshire distilleries which were in operation in the 18th and early 19th century. The whiskies have been matured in ex-bourbon hogsheads for 8 years.
With an area for tastings, a shop and soon-to-be renovated garden, Stirling Distillery has plenty to offer visitors. Gin tours and tastings, cocktail masterclasses, weekly gin school and seasonal events run throughout the year. The distillery also offers a virtual drinks package, a virtual distillery tour and offers live Zoom tastings for those who want a way of connecting remotely with friends, family or colleagues.
Doune The Rabbit Hole, Stirlingshire
One of Scotland's favourite family-friendly music festivals, Doune The Rabbit Hole, is now gearing up for its long-awaited return in 2022. The event was supposed to run from August 12-15 this year and attract up to 10,000 fans a day, with Dizzee Rascal and Teenage Fanclub amongst the acts on the bill.
But after uncertainty about what rules will be in place around social distancing, the event has been postponed until 14-17 July 2022.
Festival organisers said in a statement: “As many as 85% of 2020 tickets were "rolled over" to this year by holders who chose not to seek refunds. This option is now being offered again We firmly believe Doune the Rabbit Hole 2022 will be our best festival yet and we hope to see you there."
Visit dounetherabbithole.co.uk for more information.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article