Lazy Days - Culture Trail

With a unique combination of adventure, activity, culture and tranquility on offer the Tweed Valley really does have something for everyone. If you are particularly interested in exploring the culture of the area you really are spoilt for choice.

Here are just some of the cultural highlights on offer in this beautiful part of Scotland.

A must is a visit to Traquair House near Innerleithen which is Scotland's oldest inhabited house spanning over a thousand years of Scottish history and still a family home. Strong associations with Mary Queen of Scots and the Jacobites, highlights include the secret stairs, spooky cellar, the library, 18th century dining room and you can sample Traquair Ale at the brewery.

Also in Innerleithen is St Ronan's Wells which is housed in an historic spa and has strong links to writers Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg.

If you head south through the Tweed Valley and only half an hour from Traquair you can visit Abbotsford House near Melrose. This is the home that Sir Walter Scott built and lived in and includes fascinating collections, the renowned library and study in a beautiful setting overlooking the Tweed.

To learn more about the life of Thirty Nine Steps author John Buchan visit the John Buchan Museum in Broughton. This is just one of over 100 books he wrote and which were influenced by his Scottish upbringing and time spent in the area.

And when you come back to Peebles you can top off your cultural journey with a visit to The Eastgate Theatre for a performance of your choice from their all year round arts events.

Find out more and view our Google map of the tour online.

Christmas at the Tontine Hotel

We've just announced our Christmas packages for this year at the Tontine Hotel.

Find out more and download all our festive menus at the website.

Lazy Days - Garden Lover's Trail

For Garden Lover's the area has some wonderful gardens to explore and all very different from each other.

Kailzie Gardens just outside Peebles is a large Scottish domestic garden on the grand scale which occupies a beautiful position on the River Tweed. Surrounded by magnificent hills, and planted with a wide variety of mature specimen trees.

Dawyck Botanic Garden at Stobo is one of four gardens that comprise the National Botanic Gardens of Scotland and is a regional garden of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh whose mission is to explore and explain the world of plants.


St Ronan's Wells Visitor Centre in Innerleithen is housed in an historic spa, the exhibitions tell the story of Innerleithen and St Ronan's Wells, describing their connections with the great Scottish writers, Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg.

The natural beauty of the grounds of Traquair House are a perfect complement to the intimate nature of the house. There are no formal gardens here but over 100 acres of woodlands, lawns and the more modern maze now celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2006.

Find out more on our website.

Lazy Days - Take your Time Walking Trail

This is an area which offers numerous opportunities for walkers of all abilities. Covering 13 miles from Peebles to Broughton, The John Buchan Way, a new path which is way marked in both directions and mainly follows long established hill tracks, is a good route for beginners and can be finished off with a trip to the John Buchan Centre at Broughton.

For Forest Walking there are numerous routes at Glentress varying from short strolls of an hour or so perhaps to see specimen trees or a waterfall, to longer walks taking 3 to 4 hours and reaching viewpoints commanding extensive panoramas. There are even identified routes which are suitable for buggies, dogs on leads are also permitted. Forest Walking is also available in Thornielee Forest and Pirn Caberston Forest, both within the Tweed Valley Forest Park.

There are also numerous Town Walks around Peebles and Innerleithen which vary in distance such as the 5 mile Tweed and Neidpath Castle Walk or the Peebles Town Trail which takes you on a fascinating historical walk of the town.

Find out more, or book on our website.

Lazy Days - the Fully Flexible Go Golfing Trail

You have 21 courses in total to choose from throughout the Scottish Borders but if you want to concentrate on the courses local to Peebles itself namely - Peebles Golf Course, Innerleithen Course, Championship Cardrona and West Linton, our Flexible Go Golfing Trail could be the answer. Enjoy either 6 rounds of golf including 3 nights dinner, bed and breakfast at The Tontine Hotel from just £268 per person or 10 rounds with 5 nights dinner, bed & breakfast from £420 per person. Our dedicated Golf Planner Sarah can organise all your golf to suit your individual requirements.

For committed golfers we specialise in looking after golfing groups to all of the 21 courses in the Scottish Borders and have been proud to sponsor the 'Freedom of the Fairways Golf Passport' for the past five years. You can find out more about our great value golfing breaks in the Scottish Borders here.

Hospitality for Former Beltane Queens was “Assured” as Tontine Hotel has Joint Celebration

The Tontine Hotel celebrated a double celebration last month – as well as hosting a reunion tea party for thirty five former Beltane Queens – ranging from the Beltane Queen from 1935 to the current 2009 Beltane Queen – the Peebles Hotel became the first in the Scottish Borders to achieve the prestigious Hospitality Assured benchmark.

Hospitality Assured is an important service sector framework which supports business sustainability and creates a service culture to improve customer experience across the board.

Said Kate Innes of The Tontine Hotel who owns and runs the Hotel with husband Gordon: ”We certainly had a very busy and eventful Beltane Saturday – our Tea Party for former Beltane Queens attracted thirty five former Queens. We were really pleased with the turnout and everyone had a wonderful time. It was well supported locally too I believe as the Sense Charity shop just a few doors down won first prize for their window display depicting the Beltane Queen tea party!”

“I want to take this opportunity to thank all the former Queens for coming as well as this year’s Queen Rosie Bowick,” she said.

Said Gordon Innes: We are also delighted to secure Hospitality Assured and it’s even better that we are the first Hotel in the Borders to have done so. We have always taken great pride in our service culture – our promise to guests is that we go the extra mile in ensuring that they have a first rate experience with us – and we found that working towards HA provided us with a real framework in which to focus our attention as a team on the customer and how we could add value to their customer experience.”

“We also found that as a unit our staff morale was given a boost – running a Hotel is very much a people industry and we wanted our staff to feel valued and properly supported by us. The Tontine is extremely well known in Peebles, it’s very much the focus for a number of annual community events and we are proud to put it further on the map in this way,” said Gordon.


Seen as a way to benchmark a company against the best in its class as well as increase profitability, Hospitality Assured is endorsed by the British Quality Foundation and Quality Scotland Foundation.

Riddell Graham, Director of Communications and Strategy for Visit Scotland said:
“As an organisation which is also Hospitality Assured, I would like to applaud The Tontine Hotel for this achievement – they have an extremely customer focused approach and ensure that customer service goes hand in hand with everything they do.“

Lazy Days - the Foodie Trail

A treat for the tastebuds! This trail gives you a real flavour of the Tweed Valley and highlights a selection of local restaurants, cafés and independent food suppliers which all provide the very best of local produce.

Try the famous Caldwells Ice Cream in Innerleithen and for locally produced beers you can sample Broughton Ale throughout the area or Jacobite Ale from Traquair, Scotland's longest continually inhabited house which has its own Brewery. Ask our barman for Cuddy Bridge Apple Juice, hand pressed juice made in Innerleithen, or try your hand at making delicious chocolates and truffles at the Cocoa Black Chocolate School in Peebles.

As well as The Tontine for tasty lunches, leisurely dinners and daytime light snacks and refreshments (we use local produce wherever possible), the Foodie Trail recommends local restaurants such as The Sunflower in Peebles; the Horseshoe Inn at Eddleston and Osso Restaurant in Peebles on Innerleithen Road.

Forsyths the Butchers & Bakers in Peebles is a Peebles landmark and the place to go for cold meats and pies for picnics. For the perfect accompaniment to all of this delicious local food a visit to Villeneuve Wines is a must, they are one of the leading fine wine and whisky retailers in the U.K. and currently list over 2000 wines from all around the world and over 150 malt whiskies. You will be spoilt for choice!

Whitmuir Farm at West Linton is highly recommended for organic produce and supply everything from fresh soft fruits, organic eggs and meat. Also Bonnington Farm is known for their organic eggs both chicken and on the odd occasion duck.

There's more ideas on the Tontine website.

Lazy Days - Mountain Biking Trail

Follow the Green Route at world class Glentress - Scotland's biggest and most popular mountain bike centre - just three miles away from The Tontine. It is a 4.5 km route suitable for beginners or families with young children. Linked to the Skills Loop next to the Buzzard's Nest car park, the Trail is one of the first in the UK to comprise mainly of tailor made single track rather than just simply forest road. This Lazy Days Mountain Bike Trail is a gentle up and down route with no scary bits! It is suitable for most people in good health so an ideal introduction to Mountain Biking if you have never tried it before.

For the committed Mountain Bikers Glentress offers some of the top mountain bike routes in Great Britain. Considered by many biking journalists as one of the best dedicated mountain bike centres in Britain, Glentress is suitable for year round use (one of the requirements of the Forestry Commission was that not only should they be rideable in all weather, they should also have a working life of 20-25 years for conservation reasons). Special mention needs to go the Helly Hansen V Trail which is a 19-mile monster of a ride with everything from killer climbs, rocky chutes, drop offs, technical singletrack and blindingly fast descents with berms to whip you round corners.

Call us now on 01721 720892 or fill in our reservation form to enquire about availability.

Lazy Days at the Tontine

As a hotel known as Everything an Active Break Should Be we were keen to make sure that we were offering something of interest for all our guests. That's why we have launched "Lazy Days" which offers a choice of themed itineraries for visitors who want to spend a little longer savouring their time in the beautiful Tweed Valley.

We have made the most of the most popular activities and attractions the area is known for - Cycling, Golf and Walking. "Lazy Days" goes several steps further in offering ready made active trails with all new opportunities for guests which are both relaxing and enlightening - allowing for gentle exercise but nothing too strenuous.

Over the next few weeks we'll feature different breaks - starting with the Fully Flexible Go Golfing Trail.

If you want to concentrate on the courses local to Peebles itself namely - Peebles Golf Course, Innerleithen Course, Championship Cardrona and West Linton, our Flexible Go Golfing Trail could be the answer. Enjoy either 6 rounds of golf including 3 nights dinner, bed and breakfast at The Tontine Hotel from just £268 per person or 10 rounds with 5 nights dinner, bed & breakfast from £420 per person

Find out more on the website.

Easter Sunday Lunch at the Tontine

Sunday 12th April 2009, 12.00 – 3.00pm
Get the family together to enjoy a special Easter Sunday lunch.
2 courses only £14.50 per person
3 courses only £16.50 per person
Healthy children's menu available

Download the Easter lunch menu here.

Mothers Day Lunch at the Tontine

Sunday 22nd March 2009, 12.00 - 3.00pm
An easy way to show your Mum how much you appreciate her!
2 courses only £14.50 per person
3 courses only £16.50 per person
Healthy children's menu available

Download the Mother's Day menu here.

Valentines Dinner Scottish Style

Saturday 14th February 2009, 7.00 – 9.00pm
Romantic Candlelit Dinner for two in the Adam Room
3 courses only £45 per couple

Download the Valentines menu.

Peebles Burns Club 10th Annual Burns Supper

Saturday 7th February 2009
7.00pm for 7.30pm
Join us to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns.
Three course meal plus a complimentary dram - £18 per person
Admittance by ticket only.
Tickets available from the Tontine
For additional information call 01721 721563.

Download the menu here.