Scenic drives have been prepared for you by the Spring Rally Team.
These routes are suggested drives in the locality and surrounding areas serving to highlight some of the outstanding natural beauty of Highland Perthshire and beyond. The drives are available for you to download (see the link below) and designed to be undertaken at your leisure, individually or with friends during your trip to Pitlochry and the Rally.
As with previous Rallies the Drives are not scheduled programme items and you should plan to undertake these in your own schedule.
The Routes use the the rally site at the Recreation Ground, Pitlochry, Scotland as a start point, so you can familiarise yourself with the Rally location, but most locations in Pitlochry can be used as a starting point.
Download the route details here; Spring Rally 2013
Route A - Kinloch Rannoch Drive , 58.2 Miles / 93.6 Kilometres
This drive explores some of the wonderful Perthshire hills and glens, mainly on B roads perfectly suited to the MX-5 style of driving.
Leaving Pitlochry you will drive to Grandtully where you may be able to watch canoes tackling the white water rapids. You can also visit Legends coffee shop, home of the Scottish Chocolate Centre.
We then come to Aberfeldy where you can take a tour of Dewar’s World of Whisky or simply wander around the interesting town centre.
Next on the route is the conservation town of Kenmore which is set in a wonderful location at the head of Loch Tay. Why not visit the Scottish Crannog Centre; here you can see what life was like 2,500 years in this reconstructed lake dwelling.
At Kinloch Rannoch we have arranged with the Macdonald Loch Rannoch Hotel to have a refreshment and toilet stop for MX-5 Owners Club members. As this drive is also being run in the reverse direction it should make a great meeting place for everyone to stop and admire each other’s cars.
The final section of the drive takes you along the side of Loch Tummel. A worthwhile stopping place is at Queens View, this is one of the most iconic panoramas in Scotland. There is also a visitor centre, coffee shop and toilets.
Route A2 - The Kinloch Rannoch Drive (Reversed) 58.4 Miles / 93.9 Km
This drive explores some of the wonderful Perthshire hills and glens, mainly on B roads perfectly suited to the MX-5 style of driving.
Leaving Pitlochry you will drive along the side of Loch Tummel. A worthwhile stopping place is at Queens View, this is one of the most iconic panoramas in Scotland. There is also a visitor centre, coffee shop and toilets.
At Kinloch Rannoch we have arranged with the Macdonald Loch Rannoch Hotel to have a refreshment / toilet stop for MX-5 Owners Club members. As this drive is also being run in the reverse direction it should make a great meeting place for everyone to stop and admire each other’s cars.
Next on the route is the conservation town of Kenmore which is set in a wonderful location at the head of Loch Tay. Why not visit the Scottish Crannog Centre; here you can see what life was like 2,500 years in this reconstructed lake dwelling.
We then come to Aberfeldy where you can take a tour of Dewar’s World of Whisky or simply wander around the interesting town centre.
The final section of the drive takes you to Grandtully where you may be able to watch canoes tackling the white water rapids. You can also visit Legends coffee shop, home of the Scottish Chocolate Centre.
Route B - Grampian Mountains Drive, 151.4 Miles / 243 Kilometres
This drive takes us north and deep into the spectacular Grampian Mountains.
Leaving Pitlochry you will drive north through Killiecrankie to Blair Atholl. Here you could visit Blair Castle, home of the Duke of Atholl and his private army. We then join the main A9 road north for 29 miles to Newtonmore and Kingussie. Here you will find the Highland Folk Museum and the Highland Wildlife Park with its Polar Bears, Amur Tigers, Wolves and Scottish Wildcats. We then continue on to Aviemore which being the main Scottish ski centre has an abundance of hotels and restaurants as well as the Strathspey Steam Railway.
Leaving Aviemore we drive through Boat of Garten and Nethy Bridge on the way to the highest village in Britain, Tomintoul. You are now deep into Speyside Whisky country where the Glenlivet, Tamnavulin and Glenfarclas distilleries are all within easy reach. When listening to the weather forecasts you may have heard of the Cock Bridge to Tomintoul road being closed by snow, (normally the first road in the country) you’re about to see why! As we leave Tomintoul we climb up to the Lecht ski centre before descending on the fantastic road down to Cock Bridge.
Driving over the hills and moors we arrive at Royal Deeside where the Queen has her summer home at Balmoral Castle. The royal family can also be seen at the Braemar Highland Games in September. The final part of the run takes us through the spectacular Glenshee and then over the hills and back to Pitlochry. If you enjoy fantastic scenery along with some of the very best traffic free MX-5 style roads then you will not be disappointed with this drive.
Route C - Balmoral and Royal Lochnagar Drive 114.8 Miles / 184 Km
This drive takes us north to the spectacular Royal Deeside area. With an abundance of stunning scenery it’s little wonder that Her Majesty the Queen comes here every year for her summer holiday.
During the day you have the opportunity to visit Balmoral Castle and the Royal Lochnagar whisky distillery. Please click on the hyperlinks below where you will be able to find admission charges and times for these venues.
If visiting royal castles isn’t for you then you will surely enjoy the wonderful hills and glens that the area has to offer, all perfectly suited to MX-5 style driving.
Route D - St Andrews and Dundee Drive 119.7 Miles / 192.6 Kilometres
If you’re interested in golf or history then this could just be the run for you.
We start by driving south on the A9 to Perth. After driving through, Abernethy, Newburgh, Cupar and Guardbridge we finally arrive in St Andrews. This stunning medieval city by the sea is also the international home of golf. In 2012 the town was voted “Scotland’s Creative Place”, quite simply it’s one of the world’s finest towns.
We have suggested that you park beside the golf museum as this is a very convenient place from which to explore the delights of the town on foot.
We continue the drive over the Tay Bridge and into Dundee. If you’re interested in Antarctic explorations you won’t be disappointed, this is the resting place for Scott’s ship RRS Discovery. Here you can discover the story of Discovery from her beginnings in Dundee and Captain Scott’s remarkable Antarctic expedition, through her long ocean-going career until her final journey home. Find out about life on board and the essential design features that allowed her to survive the extreme polar conditions. Explore Discovery for yourself with an area-by-area tour of the ship.
The return route to takes us on fantastic MX-5 style roads through Coupar Angus and Blairgowrie and back to Pitlochry.