Essential Hotels > Scotland > Perthshire > Perth

The town of Perth is situated on the eastern side of Scotland and lies on the Firth of Tay as it works its way towards the North Sea. Formerly a city until the 1990s, Perth is known for being flat and compact while it also has a distinctive grid-shaped road system at its heart. Where visitors passing through this part of Scotland once had to travel through the streets of Perth, the M90 now allows travellers to by-pass the town centre. Perth is sometimes known as the Fair City because of the story relating to the Fair Maid of Perth.

Perth is located in the county of Perthshire and is near to the famous town of Old Scone which was once the Scottish capital. Flanked by the North Inch and South Inch parks, the town of Perth is hemmed in from nearly every side, what with the Firth of Tay flowing past to the east. It is for this reason that the town has only been able to expand to the west over the years. Inside the town centre there are a number of historic buildings and museums that show off something of Perth’s past. The Perth Museum and Art Gallery and the Black Watch Museum are both found in this part of the world while St Ninian’s Cathedral and St John’s Kirk are the most well known places of worship. A little further afield, meanwhile, you will find the likes of Huntingtower Castle, Scone Palace and Branklyn Gardens.

A settlement has existed in or around the Perth area for hundreds of years. It origins are in a settlement called Bertha that was home to a Roman fort in 83AD. It was a supply base for those travelling further into Scotland and it was positioned at the highest reachable point on the River Tay for ships. By 1125 King David had set up a new town on the River Tay’s west bank and Perth grew out of this. Its location on the river ensured its strategic position in subsequent years, notably when it was held by the English during the Wars of Independence in 1313 only for Robert the Bruce to capture it. Of course, the River Tay helped the town grow and develop some level of wealth but it did cause damage to the town and its bridges over the years due to flooding. Perth had hoped to supersede nearby Scone as Scottish capital but Edinburgh received this honour instead.