Welcome to HOLIDAY West Highland - Discover the West Highlands

Isle of Bute - a favourite holiday destination

Author Holiday West Highland

At the tiny ferry stage at Colintraive the Isle of Bute look’s just a stone’s throw away and to cross over to it takes five minutes. To land on Bute is to enter a magical island lying sheltered in the Clyde estuary. Another ferry at Wemyss Bay between Gourock and Largs takes about 30 minutes to arrive at Bute’s main community of Rothesay.

The town, a royal burgh, is a firm favourite with holidaymakers with its castle, shops and its very fine, ornate Victorian architecture. Its classic Victorian seafront façade, pier and promenade are especially fine. Rothesay also has a castle and plenty of accommodation together with restaurants and cafes. The Gulf Stream ensures Bute has a mild climate and you can see tropical plants and palm trees in many places.

Bute, like the rest of the West Highlands, was invaded by the Vikings and during the early Christian period. In more recent times it has been a favoured holiday destination for Glaswegians who would come ‘doon the watter’ each year to holiday here during Glasgow Fair. Dunoon was another popular destination. Bute has been occupied by man for more than 5,500 years and if you explore the island you’’ll find standing stones and cists and even a vitrified fort at Dunagoil Bay.

Bute Museum in Stuart Street, Rothesay displays many of the island’s ancient artefacts.

There are early Christian sites dedicated to St Ninian and St Blaine, missionaries who sett led here to spread the Christian word. The island is also the ancestral home of the Stuart kings of Scotland and an important legacy of this is the castle at Rothesay. Built of circular design it withstood many attempts to sack it. The English took it at one time but Robert the Bruce recaptured it in 1311, only for it to be destroyed by Oliver Cromwell in 1659 and finally burned by the Duke of Argyll. However, it has been substantially restored in the last 120 years. Mount Stuart was built to replace the castle. The jewel in Bute’s crown is Mount Stuart, the main seat of the Marquises of Bute.

This splendid Victorian house a few miles from Rothesay has a breathtaking gothic frontage and is sumptuously furnished inside. The gardens are ranked among Europe’s finest and there’s a visitor centre with a gallery, shop, lecture/audio visual centre and restaurant. Each year Bute holds a jazz festival, Highland Games, agricultural show, concerts and art festivals. For other activities there are plenty of coastal walks, horse riding at Kilchatt an Bay and there are three golf courses with some of the finest views in Scotland. You can cycle in peace along the island’s almost deserted roads and find fine sandy beaches and legacies of the island’s past. An abundance of seafood round the island means its restaurants can off er top quality food. Also the island is renowned for the taste and quality of its beef and lamb.