Pitlochry Boating Station Cafe in Perth & Kinross - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

It was lovely to sit outside, watch the loch and feed the ducks after. Menu limited but the soup was lovely. Worth noting only 1 vegetarian soup out of 3. Cake delicious and owners very nice.

Fabulous cafe, beautiful surroundings on the edge of wonderful Loch Faskally, in the beautiful Victorian town of Pitlochry, in Highland Perthshire. Cafe providing coffee or tea, soft drinks etc with wonderful selection of home baked gateaux, cream and jam scones and a great choice of baguettes with a variety of fillings. Tasty home made soup (three choices) served with chunky homemade bread. Excellent value indeed. Also boats for hire, fishing rods/fishing permits available. You can even buy a bag of food for the ducks, which are in abundance. What more could you ask for. Well worth a visit.

Great little spot. I walked from town and afterwards walked back via the dam in a circular walk. Really good, friendly service. I had a lovely slice of cake and sat outside. There is ample seating both in and outside.

The owners of this cafe shouldn’t be in the hospitality trade, they have zero customer service skills. I visited today with my severely autistic son and we were turned away, they clearly had sufficient room to accommodate us and the other families we were with. So sad, and I really need to question why?? We would have easily spent over £100 with your business if we had been given the chance! The owners said they were too busy!! 🥸 Come on Pitlochry, it’s 2024, you can do better than this! #diversity #inclusion #families

Lovely seated area looking out towards river with selection of rolls,soup and cakes. Seated areas inside and outside

Always make a point of a visit when we are in Pitlochry. Great we place to stop, with a Fantastic view of the loch, good selection of goodies to enjoy with your tea or coffee. Also, you can rent pedal boats, kyaks and fishing boats here, to complete your visit, great friendly staff too. 10/10

Thought it would be nice to support a local business as we were paddling past on our way to the dam, We were keen to pop in to the Cafe for food & drinks. ( 6 of us ). But the'Welcome' was shocking with getting just a point of where to dock our boards , which was fine , away from the pontoon, but then when we were looking for a way to exit water up to Cafe, we then got another ' point' to exit up a steep stoney, goose pooed slope. So we just got back on our boards & spent money elsewhere. Such a shame.

Beautiful stop.off on our way back South

This is one of my favourite places in the world, great food, lovely view and we've been a loads of time over the years. Enjoyed it everytime.

One of my favourite places ever to visit, great views, lovely food, could just sit there for hours. Been loads of times over the years and still look forward to visiting.

Lovely location and fresh home baked food

Bit damp on the day but very relaxed atmosphere. Will visit again next time we are in the area

Hi there lovely food reasonable prices good service and Woodlands walk excellent 😀 👍

What a great little business being run here by knowledgeable and talented staff. Campbell was very helpful in giving advice and the loan of equipment to my husband when he hired a boat- because of this he caught his first ever salmon after 40 odd years of fishing!! Jane’s cakes- homemade were delicious along with very nice coffee and a warm friendly welcome. I have seen a couple of poor reviews and find them hard to believe and certainly not our experience! A beautiful peaceful place- not to be missed if you’re in the area!

We hired 2 fishing Rods, a net and a boat from here for a day of fishing and we really enjoyed it while getting sunburnt :D The café food was delicious and we were able to stop off half way through to get food before hopping back into the coat for more fishing.

Lovely setting. Friendly staff.

Had another awful experience here today. We paid for our fishing permits here (a ridiculous amount for a Loch that seems to only stock paddleboarding tourists) When we got back, one of the staff was staring at us, like we didn't belong here, ran inside, and reported us for supposedly fishing without permits. We were chased into the car park and interrogated for our papers, which felt pretty over the top. This isn't the first time we've been treated like criminals by this lot just for enjoying our own countryside. They won't get another penny from me. Judging from some of the other reviews I'm not alone in feeling this way. Edit: The owner responds to my complaint, first by calling me a liar and follows up with some nonsense which I am happy to clear up here. The conversation in question (which you can review from your apparent covert recording - bit sinister in itself I think) did indeed involve a wee bit at the end about parking. You started however with "were you fishing?" And "do you have a permit?" "Where'd did you get the permit?" It was only after we had gave you the information you backed down and turned it into "ummm well you need to let us know if you're parking mkay..." A couple of peculiar things to note from this response... He states he was recording conversations of customers and apparently has spies set up around the Loch who managed to inform him that we were seen fishing in the morning... Rubbish of course but not exactly a shining advert for the place. Orwells Loch? I encourage all readers to inspect the one star reviews and see if you can pick up a theme of the most common complaint and judge for yourself.

We recommend. The service is incredibly nice and the cake is super tasty. With a view of the lake you can sit there and watch the ducks.

Biker friendly. Lovely views food and staff.

We rented 3 boats and really could not have expected more from the friendly owner. And the scenery OMG 🥰

It is a beautiful location to stop and have a little lunch or feed the ducks with the children obtaining a bag of seed for £1. Usually, it can be quite a busy location during the summer season. There is a free car park available.

Smashing cup of coffee and the black pudding roll was absolutely brilliant.

Great dog walking area and nice scenery

Closed, with no prior warning or signs. Drove there especially to enjoy the views whilst having a coffee and snack.

First visit was way back in the 80's. Lovely views, well worth a visit.

Wasn’t going to write a review but after stumbling on these reviews thought it best too after our experience in July,owner has Zero people skills as he tried to tell us how to place a boat seat beside the engine the way he liked it this way but he forgot he wasn’t the one fishing and my father has placed his seat this way for over 50 years,also wouldn’t let me place my boat seat as it might mark the seat in the boat( had a protective pad to stop that!)so had to leave it in the car then tells us you don’t need a Drouge to fish but clearly we did as there was a breeze or we wouldn’t have wanted to attach it but we were told you need to attach it once we were out on the water as he didn’t have time to watch us attach it(takes 2mins tops to attach). Then when we went to get our deposit back he wanted the receipt back to check it to give the cash back which we couldn’t find but got cash back as he was just being awkward. Payed for a full days fishing but lasted 3hrs as we felt as welcome as a fire in an orphanage!!!

Lovely wee place to stop after a walk round Loch Faskally . Had some tasty breakfast rolls but home baking also looked amazing . We were able to sit outside and watch the loch and the ducks . Perfect - Thank you .

Absolutely gorgeous spot! Had delicious soup and bloomer bread cut into door steps. I believe it was sweet potato coconut and chilli. Mister had a breakfast sandwich which he enjoyed.

Very friendly staff and cafe with lovely food. Great welcome and very informative with bike hire and local info.

a hidden gem .. you need to visit

We visited here for the first time as my daughter was desperate to go out on a rowing boat. Unfortunately we struggled with this and didn't get to far, but the proprietors let us change the boat to a pedalo which was much better,( thank you very much) and Will definitely return when up there again.

1 star because 0 isn’t an option! Never even got through the door with a group of 5 willing customers! We were in 2 canoes trying to pull up on the shore line (not the owners jetty) and was shouted at from the jetty being told that we cannot land. We said we were coming to use the cafe but still turned away! They might want to hire their own equipment, but it’s a Loch side cafe! And we were coming to spend money so seems a little odd & definitely unwelcoming!

1 star because 0 isn’t an option! Never even got through the door with a group of 5 willing customers! We were in 2 canoes trying to pull up on the shore line (not the owners jetty) and was shouted at from the jetty being told that we cannot land. We said we were coming to use the cafe but still turned away! They might want to hire their own equipment, but it’s a Loch side cafe! And we were coming to spend money so seems a little small minded and not good for Pitlochry unfortunately. We understand that they won’t even let swimmers out of the water!

I selected the greenpea and bacon soup today. There is only one way to describe the soup, and that is amazing. An absolute hidden gem.

Very friendly and helpful Staff when hired my mountain bike and nice breakfast as well in the cafe before set on bike

Family run very knowledgeable about thier surroundings paddleboarding.canoeing.fishing.rowboats.pedalo's

Nice place for a cuppy and something to eat

I don't know why people are saying the owner is rude, he was a perfectly well behaved, friendly man, very helpful too. The boating station is a family business and likely understaffed at times, I guess people just expect the red carpet rolled out when they turn up somewhere... We had a lovely time paddleboarding, the cafe had insanely good cakes and nice little terrace to enjoy the river views. Thank you, we'll be sure to be back!

Had a great time Kayaking, we found the staff and owner to be helpful and encouraging and not at all rude, would thoroughly recommend Pitlochry Boating Station, great cafe too! 🍰 ☕️ Thank you!

Fabulous scones!! Boat hire very expensive, dearest prices found in Scotland for fishing

Small but amazing. Cakes and tea with a view. 👌

Rate for the coffee shop … extremely rude / unprofessional behaviour from the owner. My friend and I spotted this place as we wanted to have a tea / dessert after eating our own picnic. While I was waiting for my friend inside to decide together what we wanted to eat, the owner went mad because I ordered « just a tea » and started to be very agressive / rude. Hence we decided not to order anything else, didn’t even finish my tea and left.

If you wish to wander through woodlands on well made paths , then this is an o.k. place to do so. If you want to go bank fishing , then you will be disappointed. Access to the water is VERY limited due to overhanging trees and you will find that you are fishing in one of a handful of tiny clearings with walkers and dogs passing right behind you. Boats are available ,but the price is eye watering for a lone angler. I would advise anglers to spend their money on visiting one of the many superior waters that are available within easy driving distance of Pitlochry.

Extremely rude owner. In the few minutes we were deciding what kayak or boat to rent, he came and told us this place is private and we should think outside, and that we were not allowed to park. He did not even ask No wonder there wasn't any customer around with that standard of service. Go somewhere else to rent a kayak, you won't regret it.

Great place to eat very friendly free parking great food

I had a very enjoyable trip out on the boat fly fishing. Boat and equipment top class. Was shown most likely trout areas and given map of shallows / weed beds to avoid. Found the staff very pleasant and nothing was a bother to them, even got two (complimentary) fruit scones to take home at end of day. Really nice to go somewhere and feel so welcome. I will definately go back again to enjoy the cafe fare and have another day out on the loch.

Had a beautiful late breakfast/ lunch. Staff were very friendly in a lovely atmosphere.

Found this wee cafe while doing the circular walk round Loch Faskally. The rain had come on just as we were passing and we decided to stop for a coffee. We had our wee dog with us so sat outside on the sheltered patio. Coffee was good, the carrot cake was awesome and such a picturesque setting. Staff couldn’t have been more helpful opening door and helping hubby out with our tray. Will definitely return.

Stopped off for a bacon roll on way home. Nice setting friendly and helpful. Lots on menu.

Must visit again when I have more time

Despite the weather, a wonderful day out. We had the whole Loch to ourselves. The scones are amazing too! Thank you.

Cafe in a lovely picturesque area. Quick, efficient, polite and friendly staff member. Coffee and scone lovely. A very pleasant, if short, visit to Pitlochry on the road from Tain to Edinburgh.

Excellent mountain / E-bike hire service available here, along with other worthwhile outdoor hire activities including kayaking, Paddle boarding and fishing rods. Great wee cafe too, serving lovely breakfast rolls and sweets, I will visit again for sure, Thank you.

Lovely baguettes for lunch and the scones are the best I have tasted .

Always get lovely Coffee & Cakes. Been visiting for many many years & always have to call at the Boating Station.

Found the lochside café and boating station. Views are beautiful. Eat in or out. Coffee was delicious. Filled rolls hot and cold. Cake and scones. Very clean and friendly.

Bank fishing is very limited due to overhanging trees. Not much doing other than tiny perch. A boat might be the way forward and water levels are poor right now.

I have visited here numerous times and taken minibuses full of people here for breakfast, coffee and cake but after the shocking experience yesterday, I will not go back. On an excursion yesterday, I stopped off briefly, to let my Indian friends see Loch Fascally and let their children, see and feed the ducks. We had been there for only around 10 minutes and were leaving to go l, when one of children needed to use the bathroom but entry was refused, as we hadn't been in the cafe, my friend was asked for 50p to let her child use the toilet. She didn't have any money on her, so returned to the vehicle to get her bank card to pay the 50p and the child was able to use the bathroom. She advised later that she had actually been charged £3.50 (50p for the bathroom and £3.00 for parking) They may have made £3.50 yesterday but have lost any future business from me.

Great place but really spoilt by the (male) owner...the cork is in too tight and cannot interact with humans...I'm sure his name tag said Basil..

Lovely. Stopped here and had a roll and fried egg. Very very good. Nice clean cafe and friendly service. Beautiful view also.

Pre-booked a kayak hire. Arrived and was sitting in a kayak in 5-10 minutes. Great location and easy booking/checking-in.

Great place, delicious coffee and amazing views. Just don't advice to go near closing time (5 o'clock), owner gives clues to leave in a bit rude way. You can also buy special food for ducks and feed them.

We hired 2 cayaks yesterday for a perfectly enjoyable hour with our kids which was totally overshadowed by the horrible behaviour of the owner of this boating station to two young boys. After we finished we witnessed the owner refusing the boys to come ashore on HIS jetty because it was his and why should he let them because he owned the rights to this bit of the Loch and they hadn’t hired anything from him. They were young boys! Their mother was distraught and she pleaded with him to let them but he refused. Luckily the boys were proficient in the water and eventually paddled to the nearby bank. I have never witnessed such miserly behaviour particularly in front of his own customers. I was so shocked and saddened by the lack of compassion and generosity.

Very rude and disrespectful staff no regard for customer avoid this place and save your money !

Very rude staff worst customer service

Absolute joke of a place with zero customer service. Went today to get ice cream out the freezer and feed the ducks with our kids, huge queue and when it got to our turn the lady went through the back and started washing dishes. My husband said excuse me but can I get served as the ice cream is melting. The lady said ‘I’ve dishes to do’, the man who was booking boat trips came over and said there was only 2 of them working today and my husband said that’s fine but the ice cream is melting and what about customer service. The man then said ‘in that case put them back’, so we put them down on the counter and walked out. I’ve been visiting since I was a wee girl and certainly will not be back. We went up the town and got way friendly service and nicer ice cream!

We just love this spot. Great food, great view!

Poor attitude and rude. Forced an elderly gentleman to move off one of their benches, forcing him to sit on the grass, because he did not buy something from their cafe.

This is a favourite refreshment stop on the way up/down the A9 between Perth and Aviemire or Inverness. Nice teas, coffees and cakes plus great soups and freshly made sandwiches. A good choice of seats indoors and sheltered outside provide a great view while you snack away from the bustle of a long drive.

Had a great coffee at the shop, but it was very busy and was queued out of the door.

Ein nettes kleines Ausflugscafe. Der Kuchen ist spitze und die Bedienung sehr freundlich und hilfsbereit. Hier ist es auch möglich ein Ruderboot zu mieten.

Enjoyed a nice plate of soup , coffee and a scone after a long walk. It was busy but managed to get a seat outside. Very pleasant staff

Tucked away within the most beautiful & tranquil spot in Pitlochry on Loch Faskally is this quaint Fishing Cafe. Having had a fresh & scrumptious Breakfast, we returned for Lunch the following day. One could sit outdoors or indoors depending on the Scottish weather of course 😀 some of us rented small fishing boats & rods as the Salmon 🐟 popped out to greet us but wise enough 😉 😜 to keep away from being caught. Others took paddle boats around the Loch while the crazy ones opted to enjoy a swim 🏊‍♂️ . A couple of minutes on foot from the main street and yet so peaceful (down the road from The Green Park Hotel). I don't want to forget to mention the Warm Welcome we received from the lovely couple managing this wee gem !

First time travelling up to the Cairngorms and stopped at Pitlochry boating Station for a bite to eat and ended up hiring a boat for an hour. Such a beautiful place and the staff there were very friendly. Stunning views and surroundings and very reasonably priced. Recommended to walkers and water enthusiasts.

Stopped here for coffee and cake whilst touring Scotland.

When it's open it's a good place to hire a boat

Excellent prices and very knowledgeable staff.

A little expensive but great site

Came across this lovely cafe by accident (looking for a wild swimming point) Staff were so smily and helpful. My husband ordered the cheeseburger (with huge amounts of trimmings) and I had a bacon/egg roll. Unfortunately, the burger was a little too rare, dealt with quickly and a new serving appeared. Both were delicious. And then the coffee, mmmmmmm, scone - scrumptious and the apple shortbread delightful. Got chatting with the owners who were so pleasant Will definitely be back

The most obnoxious staff I have every met. Whether as a customer or a tourist they were unhelpful, downright disrespectful and just extremely unkind. I would not recommend using this place at all. Please think twice before contacting/or using them.

A very good place to take a break. Nice setting by a Loch, very decent cafe offering: good coffee, homemade cakes, soup and filled baguettes.

Lovely we place for a tea or coffee and even a we boat to hire for a time.

Beautiful setting and a lovely cafe selling good fare. We'll worth a visit. Great walk around Loch as well.

Lovely host's offering fine freedom on the Loch

Lovely quiet area with loads of nature

Fantastic friendly welcome. Delicious coffee. Amazing selection of home baking, cakes and specialty’s of Scotland. Soup and sandwiches looked good too! Well worth a visit for the food and views

Left after 5 mins owner shouting at a customer

Great place. However the £3 parking fee is a rip off.

The views here are incredible and taking a boat out on the Loch is an incredible experience. The surrounding forest is a fantastic walk with many chances to take a dip in the water.

Tried the loch for the first time .the staff at the boating station are very helpful and give you good advice in what you need.so all and all had a awesome day out on the loch. So whatever water sports you like this place is a must.thanks folks

The cafe was closed and there was a £3.00 charge for the car park

Hired a pedelo and the kids had a great time for an hour....

Used to visit here many years ago, as my parents were regular holidaymakers to pitlochry. Absolutely stunning views over Loch faskally so peaceful and beautifully quiet! Haven't used the boating experience here, but the boating station was very busy with people who wanted to go on the loch while we were there...

Had great fun hiring kayaks for the morning.

We hired e-bikes as an anniversary treat. I had tried e-mailing (as per the info. on the website) but received no response so ended up calling. The lady who answered was very helpful but was clearly distracted as she was talking to people in the background all the way through our call. Anyway, booking was made and full payment taken. When we arrived, the lady seemed surprised and said, "Oh, we didn't think you were coming because of the weather". (Forecast was torrential rain all weekend, but we thought it would just be part of the adventure). I did wonder why they would assume we were't coming, but hadn't tried to contact me to check. In any case, she then went on to say she'd have to phone the owner as he wasn't there and she didn't normally deal with e-bike hire. She was quite curt and came off the phone asking if we could come back the following day, which really gave us the impression that we weren't wanted! Perhaps she was feeling under pressure as this wasn't part of her usual role but it was a very strained and awkward checking-in process. We went ahead and took the bikes out and had a great time, despite the foul weather. When we returned, we were 'greeted' by a man I assumed was the owner, who barely spoke - just took each bike for a short ride (I presume to check we hadn't damaged them), then disappeared, leaving the same lady we had dealt with earlier to refund our deposit. To be fair, she was much friendlier in the afternoon and seemed genuinely interested to know how we had found the bikes. All in all, we were left with a very poor impression of the place, which is such a pity as the bikes themselves were great. We assumed everyone was just having a bit of an 'off' day, but now reading earlier reviews, it seems that poor customer-service is an issue here. As a result, we will sadly not be making plans to return.

great value, really helpful. Lovely location

Nice place for a trip. No matter whether boating or hiking

Family run boating Station/cafe. You hire boats paddle boards etc. Only £15 for a 1 hour taster session on the paddle boards . Very good.

Booked online £30 for one hour pedalo Poor fitting life jackets which had seen better days. The pedalo was not working properly and extremely hard to pedal as a result. The children found it virtually impossible (14 & 17 yrs) so myself & my husband pedalled. As a result we couldn’t go far. We’re keen mountain bikers so fitness wasn’t the problem. When the hour was up we explained to the guy that there was something wrong and he said the previous folk had run it agound! He immediately rested it out to the next people. Poor customer service & a long queue to wait in to get your deposit returned! They only appear interested in getting money & not people’s enjoyment or experience. Would not recommend it return……. Which is a shame as we work & live locally .

Great afternoon out in a beautiful location. Well worth it.