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.

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Cowal - quiet location with lochs, glens and stunning scenery

Author Holiday West Highland |

THE Cowal Peninsula is another West Highlands area of great charm, a marvellous unspoiled stretch of land starting in the north at Cairndow on Loch Fyne. In the south, three fat Þ ngers of land are separated by Lochs Riddon and Striven, the Kyles of Bute and the Firth of Clyde.

Some tourists drive through Cowal just to reach Colintraive and the ferry to Bute, but not to stop is to miss an awful lot. In fact, Cowal makes an ideal touring base as it’s a quiet location with lochs and glens, high mountains, ancient castles and stunning inland scenery. Here too is Argyll Forest Park which offers high mountains for experienced walkers and climbers as well as gentle forest trails – ideal for a day’s rambling and for spotting bird and wildlife. From the north you can enter Cowal on the B828 at the quaintly named Rest And Be Thankful on the busy A83 or via Cairndow on the A815 along the shores of stunning Loch Fyne which offers great views of Inverarary and Furnace and down the loch.

A stop at Ardkinglas Woodland Garden at Cairndow is an ideal way to start your visit. In the gardens are some of the tallest conifers in the British Isles and a fine collection of rhododendrons.

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