Discover 6 Scotland tourism trends for 2025 and how Briar Cottages already delivers them—from celebration stays and hobby holidays to nature escapes and local experiences.”

More than just self catering at Briar Cottages, Lochearnhead? www.stayatbriar.co.uk

The latest Scotland tourism trends include 6 visitor aspirations that are already accessible when having a self catering holiday whether in  Briar Steading sleeping 4 with no pets or Little Briar Cottage sleeping 3 guests plus 2 pets. Both cottages lie within the timelessly beautiful three acre landscaped gardens of Briar Cottages on the banks of Loch Earn. ​

1. A Location to Celebrate Special Occasions

​Briar Cottages attracts a fair share of holidaymakers celebrating 40th to 60th birthdays plus anniversarys, private weddings and engagements whether as couples, with friends or family. Briar Steading offers an open plan space for relaxing and entertaining. The master bedroom has a King Size bed and en-suite with the twin room offering a large walk in wet shower room. There have even been pet birthdays at Little Briar Cottage. Families have also come together in the cottages to remember loved ones including pets. We can recommend a local cake maker. Look at the fabulous job "For Heaven's Cake"  made of this 60th birthday cake.​ We will never forget the romantic marriage proposal surprise under the giant thistle sculpture in the garden by moonlight. Fortunately she said yes! 

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2. Hobbydays
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​Tap in to a range of options when staying at Briar Cottages, from outdoor activities like 9 holes of golf at St Fillans GC, watersports at Loch Earn Wakeschool, fishing boat hire with Drummond Estates.

You would be welcome to join promoted area walking and cycle groups. Consider going in search of BLiSS trail of art installations starting at Briar Cottages, using the audio tour app by @Geotourist walking, cycling or by car. Discover the Art Hut classes at Comrie Croft. Practice Yoga in the Lochearnhead village Hall. Make your own silver ring and other jewellery with tuition by Darren at Immeroin workshop Balquhidder. If you love wildlife, look out for local walking tours with Andrea at Aquila Wildlife & Nature or off road tours with Gareth Kestrel Wildlife Safaris. There are also Geochaching places on the old railway line. If you are in to drone filming or photography you will be spoiled by the opportunity to film scenic views. Aeromodelling groups fly their planes 4 times a year. Known as the Loch Earn splash in at Lochearnhead. We have attracted musicians practicing their instruments in peace, artists drawing and painting in the garden and even metal detectors exploring the grounds with our permission. If you are in to history, we don't know where to begin as Loch Earn is  surrounded by centuries of historic evidence from past eras. We do know a thing or two about the history of Briar Cottages.  If food and drink is your hobby then refer to our eat and drink pages full of local produce and places to eat.

Are there opportunities to practice your hobbies while staying here? It is amazing what you might discover when asking AI, searching the website or signing up to local social media groups.

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​3. Film Set Hunters

There are plenty of examples of famous filming in the Stirling region: Outlander, Game of Thrones, and Monty Python's Holy Grail filmed at Doune Castle; Geordie and the 1959 version of The Thirty Nine Steps in Balquhidder; Mary Queen of Scots and Braveheart at Stirling; and numerous TV productions like ITV's Cold Water recently taking over the Laid Inn pub for filming at Kilmahog. Discover other films made in Scotland here.

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​​4.Sleep Tourism

Briar Cottages offers luxury beds, mattress toppers, and quality pillows. Briar Steading also has a wood-burning stove. Home comforts like Netflix movies, books, and games are all available for cosy nights in. We believe that it is the fresh air and sound of visiting birds and wildlife, together with the incredible scenic views over Loch Earn, that foster good sleep. Every season brings a unique set of colours, wildlife, weather conditions, sun, star, and moonscapes with the occasional aurora too. Perhaps limited light pollution is also a factor here, especially on "dark sky" winter nights. Go for a walk or take in the scent of the fresh air before you go to bed. Have a long lie or wake up to the incredible dawn chorus in the early morning. 

Interesting Fact: Briar Cottages Lochearnhead is rated with extremely low air pollution as per the Defra website. Check out your home area using the link
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​5.Outdoor Therapy

Even on site at Briar Cottages you can wander around landscaped gardens, use the rear garden stile to access the old Lochearnhead to Comrie railway walk, open water swim in Loch Earn from the slipway and jetty, play outdoor petanque on the piste, play 9 hole putting. The local hotel offers alfresco eating as do others locally. Find out about open water swimming and hot tub sessions on Loch Venacher. Bring a bike or Roll Outdoors hire one in  Callander or Killin to cycle off road on the Sustrans NCR7 track connecting local villages. Discover the mountain bike tracks of Comrie Croft. Bring a paddleboard or kayak or hire them at the water sports centre within 150 metres. Forest walking is known to have a calming and restorative effect that improves mood and reduces stress. Check out the Queen Elizabeth 11 Forest Park encompassing some of Scotland’s best-loved locations including Aberfoyle, Loch Katrine, Loch Lomond and Strathyre. Go for a seasonal day out run to Glencoe and listen to the mountains or sledge and ski. Visit Oban for a scenic car tour and seaside fresh air.

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​6.Gig Tripping

​It takes less than an hour to drive from Briar Cottages to Perth or Stirling and 80 minutes to Edinburgh or Glasgow if you want to schedule a big concert, festival, The Fringe, or theatre. Stirling offers train connections too and you can jump on at Bridge of Allan or Dunblane. Regular local gigs include folk and other Music at MHOR84 (2.5 miles) with various  performances advertised in local villages throughout the year, notably in Killin and Comrie with regular community cinema screened in Balquhidder Village Hall. Discover what's on at The MacRobert Arts Centre in Stirling as well as Perth Theatre. Book early for Callander's popular Jazz and Blues festival in October as it has grown arms and legs in popularity. The gig by Pure Malt at the close of the Balquhidder, Lochearnhead, and Strathyre Highland Games in July is always a foot-tapping jig session. The pipers, drummers, and Highland dancers often join in with solos and accompaniments.
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​​It would appear that Briar Cottages is bang on trend offering a timelessly beautiful and peaceful location that can satisfy demand for improved health and wellness, stimulation, relaxation and a good nights sleep on holiday, in every season.​​  Book now for special occasion and favourite spring summer weeks and winter short breaks.

NB: Briar Steading has a short term let license to operate, reference number ST00072F ecE and Little Briar's STL reference is ST00073F epcD. The STL health and safety register of licensed short term letting accommodation in this area is held by Stirling Council. 
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​You  would think that representing your local tourism group - Loch Earn Tourism Information (LETi) - to pick up the groups Scottish Thistle Award for BLiSS trail "Innovation in Tourism"  would be honour enough!  It absolutely feels like the ultimate reward in the tourism industry.  Nevertheless, the rewards just kept coming in.  
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Fringe Benefit 2:  Fishers Laundry group encouraged us to take selfies with Thistle,  to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Thistle Awards this year #thistles25.

We were asked to post them on social media during a four week period,  after the awards event. The winning photo on Twitter, chosen in April, was by Rona Burstow. Rona tweeted a lovely selfie with Thistle at Eileen Donan Castle.  A worthy winner, Rona won a £300 voucher for the Principle Hotel in Edinburgh. 

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Imagine my surprise then, when two enormous parcels landed on my doorstep with a message from Fishers Laundry saying that they were impressed with the creativity of my photo entry.  My runner up prize was  two of the biggest,  heaviest, whitest, quality, fluffy dressing gowns I have ever seen.  

In my photo you see A.Thistle Dog,    B. The two headed thistle of BLiSS trail sculpture "Blawn Wi The Wind" by Kev Paxton, which stands proudly in Briar Cottages garden ( we bought it for our 25th wedding anniversary celebration)  C.The Thistle Award trophy.  D. My hair! ...lets face it,  my hair looked like a thistle top that day with a filtered purple tinge completing the look. 

My question on Twitter was "How many Thistle's can you see?  The answer should really have been "one" as the dog's name is spelled with a capital T.  A huge thanks to Fishers Laundry for going one step further in the fun that they invest at the Scottish Thistle Awards. Very much appreciated.

Is that the Fringe Benefit story over?? No! 

International Fringe Benefit 3.  Fraser and I decided to take a break and visit friends in Valencia in May, following the tragic, shocking and untimely death of Fraser's 48 year old son Andy, who we miss every day. 

​We booked into the Ayre Hotel Astoria Palace in Valencia which turned out to be in a perfect, central location, near the incredible food market and old town. We gave our business card to the receptionist to save reading out our contact details.  We then checked in before going out to explore. Can you imagine our surprise when we opened the bedroom door on return to find a dish of sugar banana jelly sweeties and the following message from the hotel reception team with a beautiful photo.

​ "Dear Kim and Fraser,  its a huge honour to accommodate the winners of... 
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​A lovely touch and example of "above and beyond" service where the reception team recognised and applauded the significance of our team Scottish Thistle Award,  thinking on their feet to provide a unique welcome.   
  
Fringe Benefit 4 I also received many letters on behalf of LETi from tourism partners and politicians as reported in my last blog. 

Then LETI was awarded Fringe Benefit 5. The opportunity to work with Geotourist in collaboration with VisitScotland.

Geotourist were the sponsors of the "Innovation in Tourism" category at the Thistle Award regional and national finals. They are world audio tour enablers via Smartphone technology.  How perfect for BLiSS trail! You can now follow a map and listen to fab stories about the artworks on your apple or android phone as you tour. 

It has been a great pleasure to work with Lindsey Wilson from Geotourist over the last few months. My task was writing a script outline for each installation, recruiting and working with the storytellers and getting 23 recordings over to Lindsey along with photographs and their GPS locations. Lindsey used the information to set up the Geotourist website page for BLiSS trail, ensuring that the recordings would be audible at each location with a smartphone. Lindsey is one of the most positive people I have ever worked with.

Then we both worked with Visit Scotland on the official news story.

Artists, locals, school and university students, Sustrans Scotland and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park all collaborated on reading various stories and facts to complement the installations on the trail along with yours truly. I represent Stan The Stag at Briar Cottage and Drover's Bho in Strathyre and... shhh top secret...  I am the voice of the MHOR coo. A fun coo! A pun coo! You have been warned, listen! https://geotourist.com/tours/2040/points/7058

​The audio tour was launched last week and has already attracted 880 visitors to date, with around 100 new people discovering it daily. Have you looked and listened to it yet? Check out the website here https://geotourist.com/tours/2040 

​VisitScotland went on to release the news story from their media centre on July 14th  

So, I would encourage others to take part in the Scottish Thistle Awards. The discipline of reviewing your goals and achievements is rewarding enough. A trophy at this event nicknamed "The tourism Oscars" is definitely worth trying for,  though the fringe benefits of recognition, gifts and a bonus business opportunity can make you and your team feel like Hollywood Stars.  

None of it has gone to our heads though. Its Briar Cottage and LETi business as usual for me,  with extra adrenaline oomph from the feel good factor of the Scottish Thistle Awards win to spur me on. 

We are in the midst of launching the new Geotourist BliSS trail audio tour and will be announcing our first international artist on the BLiSS trail in conjunction with a new partner soon. 

That should give us enough material to enter the 2019 Thistle Awards when they open next June.  Best of luck to everyone who has entered this year though....missing it already.

This weekend is the Balquhidder, Lochearnhead and Strathyre Highland Games in the Games Field opposite the Lochearnhead Village Hall - 21st July 12.30. 

​McLarens,  MacGregors and other local clans will gather for what is one of the best wee Highland Games in Scotland.  Guests from both of our cottages will be there as will Fraser and I.  Hope to see some of you too.

Let the BLS Highland Games begin where the Scottish Thistle Award fringe benefits end...for now!  Slàinte mhath! #ScotlandIsNow