Nestled in the heart of Aberfeldy is what I think is one of the world’s best bookshops. Now I know everyone thinks their favourite bookshop is world beating but this one has multiple awards to back me up!

Opened by Michael Palin in 2005, The Watermill was voted Independent Bookshop of the Year in 2009 and 2016, hit the New Yorker’s 75 greatest bookshops in the world list and is number two on the National Geographic’s Seven of the UK’s best cafe bookshops list.

The Grade A listed former oatmeal mill is a destination in itself, with the building dating back to 1825. The bookshop is a joy to visit – composed of a number of squeaky floored rooms with the skeleton of the former mill evident at every turn. The three storey building also hosts a gallery on the top floor and a cafe on the lower level.

If the bookshop was not so well stocked with a great range of contemporary fiction and non-fiction, as well as a superb local interest a Scottish section and a welcoming nook full of children’s books, I would happily spend all day sipping coffee and working my way through a steaming bowl of cauliflower cheese soup in front of the cafe’s roaring log burner. Bliss.

The upper floor gallery is curated by local contemporary landscape artist and ceramicist, Zanna Wilson. Currently on display until March 5, 2023, is “Dazzled” – a selection of works with a broad range of media and prices, aiming to bring some dazzle to the winter months.

Next door to the mill, sister shop, Homer, offers a stylish and eclectic range of homewares, and in the run up to Christmas is the perfect place to find unique, stylish and environmentally conscious Scandi-Scots treasures.

If you are lingering a little longer in Perthshire or planning a trip, The Watermill acts as a local social hub and holds a number of literary events over the year.

If you can’t make it up to the Highlands to visit this gem of a bookshop why not support the team by buying from their online shop. But really, it’s well worth a trip north. I’m off to pack a bag…