PERTH – that’s Perth, Scotland, not Perth, Australia – slots into a list of potential city break locations like New York, Paris and London in the same way that Peckham did on the side of Del Boy’s yellow Robin Reliant in Only Fools and Horses.

That is to say it sticks out like a sore thumb. Even if you were to consider a city break solely in Scotland, the city would not make the top three.

But do not write it off so quickly.

Perth, unsurprisingly, is a great location to explore Perthshire. It is just 30 minutes drive from the beautiful St Andrews, and not much further to Dundee, which has a buzzing nightlife.

While Dundee was once the downtrodden cousin of Perth, it is now on the up, with a lot of regeneration money being ploughed into the city ahead of its year as capital of culture.

But Perth has its plusses. It is nearer for a start.

It is about a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Bolton and I recommend a two-stop strategy to break up the journey.

Stop at Tebay (tebayservices.com) just past junction 38 of the M6 if you can. It is possibly the most expensive middle-class service station you will ever see. It is worth visiting, just so you can tell others about it.

There is no Burger King, no Greggs. There’s not even an M&S or a Costa. Instead there’s a butcher’s offering locally sourced organic meat, and a farm shop selling very expensive cheese. But I digress.

We stayed at the excellent Parklands Hotel (theparklandshotel.com) in Perth, close to the banks of the River Tay.

The hotel has just 15 rooms, each with its own style. Ours had an impressive four-poster bed, a huge flat screen TV and a huge en suite bathroom, complete with jacuzzi bath. The room would not look out of place in a Premier League footballer’s country mansion.

There are two restaurants – one is onsite, and more relaxed, then there is a fine dining affair at 63 Tay Street (63taystreet.com), a brisk five minute stroll down to the riverside.

Both were excellent. We ate at the Tay Street joint on the first night. It was just us and some high powered oil execs on whose business deal I was trying to earwig – but nevertheless, it was a very nice experience after the long drive.

The morning after, after a hearty full Scottish breakfast to line the stomach back at the hotel’s own restaurant, we headed to the Famous Grouse experience (thefamousgrouseexperience.com), a distillery about 15 minutes drive from the city centre.

Contrary to what one might expect, this is not where they make Famous Grouse whisky, rather, this is where they make The Glenturret Highland, a single malt which will set you back just shy of £40.

It is also one of the single malts which makes up Famous Grouse’s blended whisky.

The hour-long tour costs £10 and for that you get to try a couple of wee drams of God’s water as well as being given a “strolling lecture” by an amusing Scottish chap on how they make the stuff. It was complicated stuff. I’m none the wiser on how the magic happens and I won’t be attempting to make my own whisky any time soon.

There are plenty of other places to visit in and around Perth. We went to the charming Glenalmond Tweed (glenalmond.com) – a quaint little tweed shop, somewhat off the beaten track.

It stocks an astonishing array of Harris Tweed gear (which, I’m told, is very on trend) with everything from phone covers and cushions to coats, bags and hats.

The whole of their stock is on view in one higgledy piggledy little room. Buyer beware, though. The stuff ain’t cheap. So leave your wallet at home.

It is also worth visiting the famous Scone Palace (scone-palace.co.uk), especially if you are currently gripped by the BBC’s adaptation of Wolf Hall.

After a second excellent meal – the best steak I've had in a long time time in the hotel's own restaurant – we carried on east to St Andrews (visitstandrews.com) to visit family, then north to see friends in Dundee. The two destinations are a good bet for shopping and nightlife respectively.

Perth may not have quite the same kudos as Edinburgh or Glasgow – but it makes for a more relaxed city break – and its geography makes it the ideal base to explore north of the border.