Perth and Kinross (Scottish Gaelic: Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is a council area in the northeast of Scotland. It straddles the divide between lowlands and highlands, as the hills suddenly rear up from the broad valleys, and in 2019 it had a population of 151,290.
The Lowlands:
The Highlands: There's a false start with the Ochills five miles south of Perth. But continue north, and it's very obvious when you've reached the real thing.
A few miles north is a river confluence. From here the Tay Valley ascends west, while the main road A9 and railway continue north up the Tummel valley.
Nothing for miles:
In 1975 the historic counties of England and Scotland were reorganised, and ancient shires were swept away. Many of these reforms worked and have endured, others proved unpopular and impractical and were changed. This area fell in the second category, being carved up between the new entities of Central Region and Tayside, names redolent of bleak blocks of flats and vandalised concrete shopping malls. So those were in turn abolished in 1994 to create this new county, more or less corresponding to the former Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
Perthshire was by far the larger, a great circular territory, and its name is still used informally. The fault line between highland and lowland Scotland runs diagonally, so north and west is upland, with sleet-lashed moors, forestry plantations and poor farmland. South and east is rolling pastoral country along the broad lower valleys of the Tay and Earn. The cultural fault line shifted north over the years, as lowland ways advanced up the valleys. English replaced Gaelic, modern farming methods replaced subsistence smallholdings, and a cash economy broke up the feudal Gaelic clan system. These changes were already well advanced in Perthshire before 1745, the last great conflict on Great Britain's mainland, when Bonnie Prince Charlie marched down from the glens to give London authority a fright. In the aftermath, those changes were expedited to prevent repetition. But then in the 19th century tartanry and the Highlands became romanticised, the railways arrived, and tourism became a major industry.
Kinross-shire to the south was much smaller, but it was lowland with better farming. However it never attracted industry and was marginal to transport routes - the hills of Fife caused roads and railways to swerve around - and in the 19th / early 20th century it became depopulated. Its councillors forsaw a take-over bid by Perthshire, and in 1927 they adopted the slogan "For all time" to underline their resistance to this. Shortly afterwards they were indeed taken over by Perthshire, without so much as a token "and Kinross" as legacy.
By air: the most convenient airport for this area is Edinburgh (IATA: EDI), with a good choice of European and UK flights. Jetbus 747 runs from the airport to Inverkeithing railway station in Fife, where trains for Perth stop, though there's more choice of trains and buses by going into Edinburgh Haymarket.
By train: the main routes to Perth are from Glasgow Queen Street via Stirling (with some stopping at Gleneagles), from Edinburgh and Haymarket via Inverkeithing or by changing at Stirling, and from Aberdeen via Dundee. These all run hourly. Trains every couple of hours run to Perth from Inverness via Blair Atholl, Pitlochry and Birnam & Dunkeld.
Reaching this area by train from England usually means changing in Edinburgh or Glasgow, but from London one daytime and one sleeper train run direct to Perth and continue north to Inverness.
By bus: there are buses to Perth almost hourly from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen, and every couple of hours from Inverness. There's also one daytime and one overnight bus from London Victoria which calls at the edge of Perth then continues to Aberdeen. These follow A9 but seldom stop at the small towns in between - see individual pages. Places off the main highway such as Crieff or Aberfeldy have an even more limited service.
By car: the main routes are M90 from Edinburgh via Perth to Dundee and Aberdeen, and M80 / A9 from Glasgow via Stirling and Perth to Inverness. These routes remain open in all but the worst of weather, and low-level roads to Crieff, Aberfeldy and Blairgowrie usually do so. In winter check ahead before venturing onto the higher-level roads, A93 via Glenshee and Braemar into Aberdeenshire.
Heading deeper into the Highlands or out to the islands, Perth is your chance to fill the tank or recharge the EV at a reasonable price.
Trains all run to Perth, with stops along the A9 / Tay valley corridor at Gleneagles, Birnam & Dunkeld, Pitlochry, and Blair Atholl.
Buses fan out from Perth, where Stagecoach have their headquarters, reaching Blairgowrie, Crieff, Kinross, and up the valley to Birnam / Dunkeld, Pitlochry and Aberfeldy. Anything else (eg Blair Atholl) is difficult, and the owner of Stagecoach didn't get to live in a Perthshire castle by running near-empty buses to small villages.
Car is what you need for anywhere out of the way. You can hire in Perth.
Road traffic and theft of valuables from cars are the main risks. Take standard precautions against the weather - out on the hills it can turn from summer to driving sleet in an instant.
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