Bennybeg pond

The water at Bennybeg sits still and dark, ringed by reeds and the kind of Scottish hillside that makes you understand why people move here and never leave. It's a proper pond rather than a loch - modest in scale but absorbing if you're after a quiet spot near Crieff without the crowds you'd find at the bigger water bodies further north.

This is walkers' territory, honestly. There's no café, no visitor centre, no facilities to speak of. You come here to loop the water on foot, spot the occasional duck, and take in the Perthshire landscape that rolls away toward the Highlands. It's the sort of place where twenty minutes feels restorative or two hours passes without you noticing, depending on your mood and how many photo opportunities the light is throwing at you.

Stay at Braidhaugh Holiday Lodge just up the road - barely ninety seconds' drive away - and you've got a proper base for exploring this corner of Tayside. If you're stopping longer, Comrie Croft's got more of a community feel and Comrie Holiday Park is equally close, all within six miles. The pond works well as a morning walk before heading into Crieff proper for lunch, or as the gentle opener to a day tackling some of the meatier hillwalking routes nearby.

Free, accessible, no faffing about with opening times. That's the appeal here.