Undiscovered Scotland

 

Cowal, Bute & Eastern Argyll covers the Cowal peninsula, the Isle of Bute, and the easternmost parts of Argyll & Bute including the whole eastern shore of Loch Lomond. For accommodation in the Cowal, Bute & Eastern Argyll area see the links in the "See and Stay" menu above. See the map below for an outline of the area and links to surrounding areas.

The Cowal peninsula, formed by Loch Fyne to the west and Loch Long to the east, and deeply indented by a series of further sea lochs, is the most visited part of Argyll. It is easily reached from Glasgow and frequent ferry services by both Argyll Ferries and Western Ferries from Gourock serve Dunoon.

 

Dunoon is the capital of Cowal, and grew from a village to a major Clyde seaside resort in the 1800s. Drive south from Dunoon and you travel along the shore of the Firth of Clyde past Innellan to Toward, complete with its lighthouse. Following the road west from here leads past the ruin of Toward Castle to an eventual arrival on Loch Striven at Port Lamont. Head north from Dunoon and you can drive round the head of Holy Loch, passing Kilmun, Strone and Blairmore along the shore of Loch Long en route to the pretty village of Ardentinny.

North west from Dunoon the main road passes the magnificent Benmore Botanic Garden, a mountainous garden that forms one of Cowal's major visitor attractions. Further on, it follows the long established tourist trail past Loch Eck to Strachur, on Loch Fyne. Immediately north of Strachur is Creggans, home to the famed lochside Creggans Inn, until recently owned by the family of the man on whom James Bond was modelled. Strachur Church is built on the site of a much older church, and has a number of traditional west Highland grave slabs set into its outer walls.

In the northern part of the Cowal peninsula is Lochgoilhead, the resort village lying, as the name suggests, at the head of Loch Goil, an arm of Loch Long. Following the single track road for five miles down the west shore of Loch Goil leads to Carrick Castle, which is not open to the public.

The landscape of south-west Cowal is in complete contrast to the townscape of Dunoon. The Kyles of Bute, separating the north end of Bute from Cowal, offer breathtaking scenery and some of the best sailing in Scotland. Well worth a visit is the peaceful loch-side village of Tighnabruaich situated on the western Kyle. The little village of Colintraive, on the eastern Kyle, marks the narrowest point of the Kyles, a distance of little more than 200 yards. It is from here that the small CalMac ferry departs for the Isle of Bute.

The Isle of Bute is only 15 miles by 5 and yet has much to offer the visitor. Its main town, Rothesay, is a Victorian resort linked to the mainland by ferry from Wemyss Bay. What makes it particularly attractive is that it has not succumbed to the sense of faded splendour that so often afflicts such towns. As a result you get a feel for what its builders really had in mind.

Rothesay, also boasts, right in the heart of the town, its very own castle. Other attractions include Victorian toilets; and St Mary's Church. A little down the coast from Rothesay is the attractive residential village of Ascog, complete with the Ascog Hall Fernery, while a little south again is Bute's premier visitor attraction, Mount Stuart. Completing a tour of the east side of Bute brings you to Kilchattan Bay, another village which shows its origins as a Victorian resort. Close to the island's southern-most tip, in an attractive setting, are the substantial ruins of the medieval St Blane's Church. This was built in the 1200s on the site of an dark age monastery founded by St Catan, who was active in establishing Christianity on the island.

A tour around the island will eventually bring you to Ettrick Bay, the most popular of Bute's (admittedly not large) collection of beaches, which comes complete with a tea room and a wrecked fishing vessel. From here the road crosses the island to rejoin the east coast at Port Bannatyne, from where a road leads north to the terminus for the short ferry crossing to the Cowal peninsula.

Further to the north-east, the Clyde meets Gare Loch at Helensburgh, a planned settlement that emerged at the end of the eighteenth century. This offers an attractive seafront and at its western end merges into its smaller neighbour, Rhu. In the upper part of Helensburgh is the magnificent Hill House, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. Three miles east of Helensburgh, on the edge of Cardross, is the National Trust for Scotland's Geilston Garden. A little inland from Cardross are the remains of the modernist, brutalist St Peter's Seminary.

North of the Clyde, Loch Long and Gare Loch mix spectacular scenery with the intriguing possibility of rounding a corner and finding a large naval vessel parked virtually at the side of the road. This area is home to a number of major naval installations dating back to the cold war and earlier. Garelochhead lies, as the name suggests, at the head of Gare Loch, while Kilcreggan marks the southern tip of the Rosneath peninsula and is home to the last surviving Victorian steamer pier on the Clyde. On the western shore of the peninsula overlooking Loch Long is the excellent Knockderry House Hotel.

Overlooking the head of Loch Long are the Arrochar Alps, a fine collection of peaky mountains, several of which reach Munro status by breaking the magic 3,000ft mark. Beinn Narnain is a popular climb. Next in line to it is the most famous and distinctive of them, the Cobbler. Interestingly, at 2,891ft, this fails by some margin to reach Munro height; but is probably the most climbed anyway. The village of Arrochar looks across the head of the loch to the Arrochar Alps. It makes a convenient base for exploring the area and is accessible by train from the south. Less than a mile and a half to the east of Arrochar is Tarbet, on the east shore of Loch Lomond.