Mark Connor
BORIS was happy to jump into the back of the car. My partner Catherine and I were heading to the village of Kenmore in Perthshire and he was coming too. For the next two nights, our home would be in the Mains of Taymouth, a 120-acre country estate with a variety of accommodation, ranging from five-star cottages to Highland lodges, and plenty of dog walking options. What mutt wouldn't fancy that?
Catherine had finished her first year teaching the day before so we were in the mood to celebrate and Mains of Taymouth proved to be the perfect place to do just that.
The country estate and nine-hole golf course has a selection of four and five-star holiday cottages, contemporary mews-style houses, holiday homes and one and two-bedroom luxury holiday apartments, together with a country farmhouse, which sleeps 12.
Taymouth also has a stylish Courtyard restaurant, delicatessen, shop and riding stables.
We were staying in The Bell Cottage, a three-storey cottage equipped with a Finnish sauna, and a log-burning stove and a four-poster bed and the the whole place was exquisite.
We were delighted to be given the chance to bring our dog, and were given a list of recommended walks. In fact, the estate recently won the inaugural Paws for a Break pet friendly award.
We set off on a ramble to the Black Rock viewpoint which was around three miles and had stunning hill views and an almost birds-eye view of Loch Tay.
We had an afternoon appointment at the stables – a first for me – for a pony trek. I was on Struan while Catherine was on the back of Tommy for our scenic toddle. It was a great experience and at £35 per person well worth it.
We had our evening meal in the Courtyard. The food was excellent, from the French onion soup, to the loaf which was made at the local bakery. For mains, we had locally sourced salmon and steak.
Takeaway pizzas are available from the lounge where, incidentally, dogs are allowed. This looked like a popular choice with walkers and golfers.
We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend in Perthshire’s little slice of paradise. While it can seem pricey to stay in one of the cottages, you do get more than your money’s worth. From the Finnish sauna to the dog-friendly walks, Mains of Taymouth delivered – and then some.
Travel file:
Weekly lets in the Maxwells holiday apartments start at £747. For prices for cottages, contemporary houses and mews style houses check the website at www.taymouth.co.uk. There are regular offers. Call
01887 830226 to book.
The Courtyard restaurant is open daily and food is served all day. Open to non residents.
Pony rides start at £20 for a 30-minute ride. Call 07712 321903.
Golf can be booked at 01887 830226. Buggy and club hire available.
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 here