There are tons of amazing places to visit directly from our Greenstone Lodge vegan B&B, the longer we live here, the more we find as we love any excuse for a day out. It’s all in the name of research for our lovely guests of course, and one of our new favourite recommendations is a walk around the Birks of Aberfeldy.

Originally called the Dens of Moness, they were renamed after national bard Robert Burns had visited,  and was so inspired by the woodland of birch trees (Birks) and waterfalls, he wrote “Birks o’Aberfeldie” in 1787.

The walk itself is only 1.5 miles long, although it definitely feels much further, from the car park you walk along the path climbing steadily on one side of the ravine, crossing over little wooden bridges and next to increasingly steep drops. At some points, almost at random, there are safety rails and other places not, so you have to keep your wits about you at all times. I’d also recommend walking boots as it can get quite muddy in places.

If you like waterfalls you’re in luck, there are some great ones, ending in the massive final boss that you get to cross on a bridge and stand directly above. If you don’t like waterfalls then you must not know what a waterfall is, and I implore you to go even more, its going to blow your mind.

In the spirit of telling you what to do, you should afterwards reward yourself with lunch in Aberfeldy. Just a short walk from the Birks of Aberfeldy is the Watermill, the cafe there can get really busy, but if you get there and no tables are available, they give you a buzzer and send you up to the charming book shop above, buzzing you once there’s somewhere to sit.

There are some brilliant vegan options, we’ve had a delicious dhal, a mouth-watering mushroom and coconut soup, and a BLT using crispy, smoky aubergine strips that I can’t promise I’m not going to steal at some point. They also do vegan cakes, great coffee and loose leaf Suki teas served in one of those cast iron teapots, which for a tea-boy such as myself is proper exciting.

You will need a car in order to get there as it’s 45 miles from Greenstone Lodge, but the journey is almost worth it in itself, half of which passes along the bonnie banks of Loch Tay with some wonderful views and through pretty villages such as Killin and Kenmore.