Pitlochry’s Enchanted Forest
Every October, Pitlochry’s Enchanted Forest transforms Faskally Wood into a luminous world of light, sound, and surprise.
Paths glow. Shadows dance. Voices whisper in the branches. It’s not a show you watch — it’s a story you surrender to.
Above all, it’s a sensory journey: a place to notice, to pause, to let the forest speak to you in light and hush.
Teams of artists and lighting designers reimagine the woodland each year, creating an experience that enchants, delights, and stays memorable for years.
2025 will be the 4th year we’ve brought our English language holiday guests to see this show.
This blog shares why.
The Enchanted Forest | It’s an Immersive Experience
The event shuttle bus drops you in the forest, where you step out of time. Lights pick out tiny details — moss, leaf edges, reflections on water — while bigger installations loom, altering perception.
You walk, you listen, you feel. The forest shifts and walks with you, turning your senses more alert. The dark becomes part of the magic, and the light feels like discovery.
The event brought the night sky down into the forest, and helped us look anew at both tiny leaves and the whole world, universe and cosmos.
“There are stunning, huge, choreographed shows to see and hear – as well as the tiny details of the forest picked out by lights.”
Why The Enchanted Forest Resonates With My Approach
When I design a holiday, I don’t deliver lessons. I create a curated container — spaces, experiences, conversations — where the English you already carry comes alive.
The Enchanted Forest is one of those spaces. It slows you, invites you, gives you permission to notice and respond.
In that quiet wonder, English doesn’t need to be forced. It simply arises. Like theatre, it is transcendental. Giving you the chance to become someone else.
Like my holidays, the grand spectacles and the micro-moments blend together.
The forest is a backdrop to a curated story. It changes who you are.
Take Our Autumn Adventure
October 2025
The Journey Through Light & Shadow
Here’s how your experience might unfold:
- Arrival & Dusk
You step into the forest at twilight. The light forest grows around you. - Path & Discovery
You follow illuminated paths. Sometimes there’s a vivid installation; sometimes light teases out a birch leaf at your foot. - Sculpture, Sound, Surprise
You pass large choreographed displays — shapes, moons, glowing eyes, movement — interspersed with subtle installations that reward patience. - Fireside & Connection
Scattered fire pits warm the night. People mingle, talk, reflect. Stories and languages mix by flamelight. - Return & Reflection
On the ride back, lights dim and camaraderie emerges. The shared journey lingers.
Price per person
per week, 2026
Giving You the Cosmos on your Holiday
Each Autumn English Coaching Holiday is grounded in the natural beauty of Perthshire — the colours of lochs, hills, and ancient woodland. These slow landscapes give you time to notice, to breathe, and to let English unfold in real conversation.
The Enchanted Forest brings something different, and equally important: art and culture on a grand scale. Teams of artists and lighting designers reimagine Faskally Wood each year, creating a theatrical journey that draws thousands of visitors. It’s not hidden or quiet — but that’s part of its power.
Stepping into this glowing forest means stepping out of your usual habits. You walk a path designed to surprise and delight, share impressions with others, and find yourself speaking English in new, spontaneous ways.
By day, you wander through Scotland’s natural palette. By night, you surrender to light, sound, and spectacle. Together, these experiences create contrast — and in that contrast, transformation happens.
“The event brought the night sky down into the forest, and helped us look anew at both tiny leaves and the whole world, universe and cosmos.”
Ruth, 2019
Celebrate What You Know
I don’t teach English in the old way. I create the conditions where the English you already have comes alive. My role is to give you spaces, experiences, and conversations that help you:
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Respond more quickly and accurately
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Feel less stressed and less tired when speaking
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Grow confident in English that feels natural and yours
The Enchanted Forest is one of those experiences where you can let the surroundings override your doubts, fears and usual self and test something completely new.
When your experience is memorable,
Your English is memorable.
The Best Conversations Happen at Firesides
The inclusion of fire is just genius. Of course, it’s warming, but it’s also a very primal emotion seeing it burning bright against a dark, cold night.
If you like to visit festivals in Scotland, you’ll know that the communal fires are where great chats and sharing happen – very much the ethos of our English language school, which is why we quite often take our language learning guests to a local shoreside and have a small fire, watching the sunset.
The End of the Show
Take the bus ride back into town. It feels like there’s new camaraderie between everyone, even strangers, having shared this experience.
It’s rare to get to share this communal experience on a holiday, and it is profoundly part of your story of belonging here. In Scotland and in English.
Visit the Enchanted Forest on an English Coaching Holiday
For me, the Enchanted Forest isn’t just a spectacle — it’s a reminder of how stepping into something different can shift the way we see, feel, and speak.
That’s what my holidays are about too. They weave together Scotland’s natural beauty, cultural landmarks, and shared conversations to create experiences that change how you connect with English.
The forest of lights is only one evening, but it captures the spirit of the whole journey: slowing down, stepping out of habit, and letting thousands of small details join together into one bigger story you’ll carry home.
Like our holidays, the Enchanted Forest is a reminder that when you slow down and surrender to the moment, immersion itself becomes transformative.
Activity at a Glance
Enchanted Forest Excursion
How does this English holiday activity help your English & positively impact our community:
✅ Great for mental/physical health
✅ benefits our local community.
⭕ preserves craft skills, historic machinery, monuments etc.
⭕ supports Scottish industry/agriculture
⭕ gets you talking with a rich and diverse selection of people, or about diverse subjects.
✅ supports arts & artists
⭕ explores Scottish wildlife in non-invasive ways
⭕ a good introduction to Scottish culture
✅ financially contributes to preserving culture
✅ It is for fun & feeling good in English.
First published 2019. Updated September 2025 to reflect our current approach.
Further Information
Testimonials
British Council
The British Council listed our speciality Real-World English in its Top 2024 Language Teaching Innovations.
Friendly community
Perthshire was voted the Friendliest Region on Earth by Booking*com.
What more perfect combination could you need for an English conversation holiday?
5 Star Reviews
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