Being in such a  focal position Blairgowrie offers tourists/visitors the potential for a series of fascinating journeys into this small nation’s rich & varied historic heritage. For instance, Prehistoric Times & Roman Expansion: Christian Missions & Warring Peoples: Renaissance Princes &  Fervent Reformers: Enlightenment Influences & Industrial Change:- these are just some  possible themes to follow through en route.
The following opportunities are all possible using Blairgowrie as base.

East 1; out mileage 20 & out time 1/2Hr. Dundee City of Discovery. Scotland’s fourth largest city is well worth a trip. At Discovery Point on the Waterfront is moored RRS Discovery that took R F Scott to Antarctica in 1901. Close by stands Verdant Works, a mid 19C mill, now a heritage centre.

East 2; out mileage 40 & out time 1Hr. The Enigmatic Picts. Strathmore was a key settlement-area for this early race after 400 AD. Meigle, just 8 mls.away, houses Scotland’s premier collection of Pictish Sculptured Stones. To progress this & other historic themes continue by the A94 to Glamis where the Angus Folk Museum interprets traditional rural life. Thereafter, via Forfar & the A932, a journey of 20 mls ends at Arbroath Abbey synonymous with the famous Declaration of 1320. Nearby St Vigean’s Museum contains Scotland’s other main assembly of Pictish Stones.

East 3; out mileage 50 & out time 1Hr. St. Andrews & the East Neuk. St.Andrews is 12  mls.from Dundee & an essential visit. Its ancient Cathedral may have held  relics of Scotland’s patron saint, while it certainly witnessed many key events in national life, including Protestant martyr trials before 1560. The adjacent Castle was home to successive bishops after completion in c.1400. St Andrews University is Scotland’s oldest seat of learning, founded in 1411. Finally, sport history cannot be ignored. Closeby is the Old Course with the famous Royal & Ancient, founded in 1754. Opposite sits the Br.Golf Museum to explain the game’s past. This route can continue 18 mls.via the A917 to include the East Neuk fishing villages, such as Crail & Pittenweem, home to the Scottish Fisheries Museum. North of Anstruther in 3 mls. on the B9171 lies Scotland’s Secret Bunker, a nuclear age security feature.

East 4; out mileage 75 & out time 11/2Hrs. Dunfermline & Falkland. This Fife trip features places further West. Following the M90 from Perth until junction 3 at Halbeath, Dunfermline is reached in approx.50 mls. Its Abbey houses graves for the early Canmore monarchs, including St Margaret. Later in 1329, Scotland’s greatest king, Robert Bruce, was buried here too. Nearby is the Royal Palace. Finally to the south in Moodie St.stands a simple weaver’s cottage, the musem birthplace of Andrew Carnegie, American millionaire philanthropist. A route extension for 25 mls.via the A92 & A912 leads to Falkland, an ancient royal burgh with conservation status & featuring the Renaissance Palace of James 1V & James V.

West 5; out mileage 20 & out time 3/4Hr. Dunkeld, Birnam & Bankfoot. Dunkeld is only 12 mls. west via the A923. A 6C Culdee religious foundation, its status grew by c 850 AD when King Kenneth MacAlpin of Alba transferred St Columba’s bones from Iona. Existing Cathedral structures date mainly to 14C & 15C. Crossing Telford’s bridge (1809) soon leads to the villages of Birnam & Inver (birth-place of Neil Gow, celebrated 18C fiddler). Gow is buried in Birnam graveyard his headstone quite easy to find – while in the centre of Birnam lies the Institute, with the Beatrix Potter Garden & Exhibition, celebrating the community’s links with the creator of Peter Rabbit. This trail can extend south by 5 mls. on the A9 to Bankfoot, where the Macbeth Experience within the Perthshire Visitor Centre explains fact & fiction about Scotland’s 11C king so demonised by Shakespeare

West 6; out mileage 60 & out time 13/4Hrs. In Famed Breadalbane. At Dunkeld, follow the A9 North & in 8 mls.turn off at Ballinluig onto the A827 for Aberfeldy – gateway to Breadalbane(backbone of Scotland), which is reached in 11 mls.West. En route, Logierait is passed – historic admin.centre for Atholl & where prisoners were held and tried in the 17C. Rob Roy MacGregor escaped justice here in 1717. Further W. the road skirts by Grandtully Castle built in 1560 but greatly extended in 1893. At Aberfeldy’s eastern edge stands Dewar’s World of Whisky & the Distillery opened in 1898 by two local brothers. At the heart of the town runs the Urlar Burn through the Birks/woods that inspired Robert Burns to poetry in 1787. However, most interest lies on the NW corner of the town reached by the B846 approach. Here stands Gen. Wade’s Bridge designed by Robert Adam & opened in 1733 as part of Govt.policy to pacify & control Highland clans. Alongside is the famous Black Watch Monument to commemorate establishment of this great Scottish regiment in 1739. Returning to the main A827, the route continues W.towards Kenmore & the end of Loch Tay in 5 mls.As road dips towards loch.aim to glimpse the grandeur of Taymouth Castle, Gothic seat of the Earls of Breadalbane, & visited by Victoria in 1842. Soon the planned village of Kenmore is reached, but take the south-side road for a visit to the Scottish Crannog Centre, where a reconstruction of a timber loch dwelling helps understanding of domestic life during the Iron Age. Heading back into Kenmore, continue by the main route across  the bridge exit & turn off at Mains if Taymouth onto the single track road for Appin of Dull. This soon leads to Coshieville/Keltneyburn & the road to Glen Lyon.

Within approx. 3 mls.Fortingall is reached; creation of Sir Donald Currie, the shipping magnate in the mid 19C, & his architect James MacLaren. Head for the churchyard near the hotel to see the oldest tree in Europe – the famous Fortingall Yew at 3000 years old. Just beyond Fortingall, the road divides, with a turn-off W.deeper into Glen Lyon – well worth a short/limited digression to find the MacGregor’s Leap where the outlawed Gregor of Glenstrae in mid 16C escaped chasing bloodhounds by leaping the river. Beyond lies Chesthill, former home to that Robert Campbell who commanded at the Massacre of Glencoe; and shortly further W.Carnban Castle where the tragic & orphaned Gregor of Glenstrae was raised in adoption by Duncan Campbell, the Hostpitable. Returning to the road junction, proceed S to Fearnan beside Loch Tay, & then onto the A827 W for Killin in approx.10 mls. In the village itself, look out for the Stewart Monument near the church; the Breadalbane Folklore Centre beside the 1760s Dochart Bridge and Innis Bhuidhe Island – traditional burial ground of Clan MacNab chieftains. Finally, time permitting, two possible extensions might be to ruined Finlarig Castle across the iron Lochay Bridge – seat of Black Duncan Campbell of Cowal; or more likely to Muirlannaich Longhouse on the Glen Lochay road, W of the stone Lochay Bridge – to appreciate the traditional lifestyle of  a Highland family in the 18/19 C.  

West 7; out mileage 110 & out time 2+Hr
Oban & the West Coast: PILGRIMAGE to IONA or in search of the SCOTS  
From Killin 56 mls.from Blairgowrie, progress W through Breadalbane to join the A85 at the Lix Toll junction. This is the direct scenic route by W Perthshire & Argyll to the West coast of  Scotland in approx.54 mls.Though main features of the journey are environmental, there are key historic landmarks to note; ruined St Fillan’s Priory & Pool 3 mls.W of Crianlarich – founded by Bobert Bruce in 1314 as thanksgiving for victory at Bannockburn: the battlefield of Dalry (1306), just before Tyndrum, where Bruce escaped capture by MacDougall clansmen but with the loss of his brooch, now surviving as the Brooch of Lorne at Dunollie Castle: Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe,15C Campbell stronghold: St Conan’s Church, Lochawe, built 1881-1914:Cruachan HE Power Station opened by the Queen in 1965: the Pass of Brander, where Robert Bruce finally crushed his MacDougall foes in 1308; the Bonawe Iron Works at Taynuilt, operative from 1753 to 1874; Connel Girder Bridge(1903); Dunstaffanage Castle just N of Oban beyond Dunbeg – a 13C MacDougall stronghold but occupying the site of a much earlier Scots fortress controlled by the Gaelic Kings of Dalriada. The famous Stone of Destiny perhaps came here from Dunadd before its eventual transfer to Scone.
Oban itself is a comparatively recent settlement, begun by the Earls of Argyll in the early 19C. so there is not so much history to unravel - key features being the 1794 Distillery, McCaig’s Tower  built in 1897 & 1ml.to the N 15C.Dunollie Castle, again previously a Dalriadic fortress.

Thus,  there are real possibilities to explore beyond Oban , provided the traveller sets off early & travels without interruption. Time should then be available to either take the ferry trips to Mull & Iona or a car excursion into southern Lorne – to appreciate the influence of St Columba’s 6C Christian mission to Scotland or to study the impact of  Scots settlers from Ireland who established the Gaelic Kingdom of Dalriada between the 5C & 9C.
PILGRIMAGE  to IONA. Fairly regular ferries from the terminal at Oban harbour run to Mull & Iona, while there is a connecting bus service between Craignure & Fionnphort.
After the 38 ml.journey across Mull, there might be some time to include the St Columba Centre at Fionnphort, which interprets the saints story in sound & image. However, the priority should be to spend time on Iona itself. St Columba arrived here as penance in 563 AD & established the island as base for his mission to spread Christianity among the pagan peoples of the mainland. After his death in 597, Iona continued to be the religious centre of Scotland until the 9C. Among the sites to consider should be the Abbey itself started around 1200 &  St Columba’s Shrine outside the west door. Outside consider the magnificent High Crosses to Sts.John, Martin & Matthew. Further removed are St Oran’s Oratory, the earliest building to survive, &  the surrounding Reilig Odhrain or burial ground , including graves to many early kings. Some time could also be well spent in the Iona Heritage Centre which interprets the history of the island & outside which stands the superb MacLean Cross 15C. IN SEARCH of the SCOTS. From Oban progress S on the A816 into Netherlorne. Once again, much of the journey is scenic rather than historic, but in approx 40 mls Carnasserie Castle appears to the W. – built by John Carswell, first Protestant Bishop of the Isles who translated Knox’s liturgy into Gaelic in 1567, the first book ever printed in Gaelic. However, the main interests lie just beyond the castle at Kilmartin & Dunadd. Within the Kilmartin area there are estimated to be approx 150 prehistoric sites. The Kilmartin House Centre for Archaeology provides an excellent insight to this rich heritage – with  displays of artefacts & reconstructions of prehistoric life. Within the adjacent district, as the centre maps, illustrate stand a range of sites worth  viewing – such as at Nether Largie, Tempewood, Ri Cruinn or Dunchraigaig. In addition, Kilmartin houses a large collection of W Highland medieval carved grave slabs – the Kilmartin Sculptured Stones displayed at the parish church.
Just a few miles S of Kilmartin is situated the rocky hillock of Dunadd Fort, which has strong claim to have been the first Scots capital, as the ancient centre of the Kingdom of Dalriada about AD 500 – 850. St Columba may have installed Aidan as first Christian King of Scots here in 574AD. At the summit, ritual clues remain in the boar carving, the hollowed footprint & a deep basin – along with an unknown Ogham inscription.

South 8; out miles 65 & out time 11/2Hrs.   STIRLING & FALKIRK : WALLACE, BRUCE & INDEPENDENCE.