We recently returned from our annual trip to the Enchanted Forest in Pitlochry, which has been our tradition for over a decade.

The theme changes every year, and this year was called Luminara, which tried to capture the interconnection, balance and harmony between nature and technology. We have been to a lot of light shows around Scotland over the years but the Enchanted Forest is easily the most ambitious and technologically impressive. There were a few parts that were stunning, but overall this wasn’t our favourite theme as it felt less cohesive and a bit more spread out than previous years.

We stayed at a lodge just a few miles outside of Pitlochry and it was ideal, cosy with slightly more space than a caravan. We took a trip into Pitlochry again the next day to visit the Christmas Emporium to let our daughters choose ornaments for their Christmas tree and a lollypop from the sweetshop, before we ate a simple but tasty lunch at Hettie’s Tea Shop.

It’s always interesting to chat to the locals while we’re in the area, who have a bit of an ambivalent relationship with the Enchanted Forest as it brings a huge amount of tourism and money to the local economy, but locals always complain about a month of parking restrictions and none of the locals we spoke to had been to the show themselves.

We stopped at Active Kids Adventure play with the kids on the way home, our girls had a hoot climbing up and sliding down the indoor tree house, then we went outside for trampolines, go karts and crazy golf. I think this might become part of our annual tradition too while the kids are young.

This was our last trip for the year, we’ve been so lucky to have had some lovely holidays from our visit to Northumbria in Spring, our Summer holiday in St Andrews, our glamping trip in September and finally The Enchanted Forest. Every time I’ve loved seeing the kids’ excitement about staying in a caravan or lodge, exploring somewhere new or returning to a favourite place together.

Have a lovely week. X