Although just an hour and a half from Glasgow, the house sits in some of the loveliest scenery in Scotland. The Kyles of Bute are renowned with both walkers and sailors as among the most stunning bits of coast in Scotland. Whatever the weather in Argyll, usually remarkably mild, this is great country for site seeing, with every corner revealing a new variation on the theme of mountain, loch, valley, sky, woodland, sea, rock, and beach. The Cowal peninsula is a fabulous base for an active holiday with marvellous wildlife, numerous gardens, other tourist attractions to visit, and a variety of sporting activities.
The house has grounds of 23 acres, and sits about a mile above the head of Loch Riddon, enjoying complete privacy and lovely views down the glen to the river Ruel. The Island of Bute itself is as little as 15 minutes away from the house – accessed via a ferry from Colintraive – and was a “must visit” destination long before Stella McCartney got married there or former racing driver Johnnie Dumfries moved into Mount Stuart House as the new Marquess of Bute.
Inverary with its famous Jail and Castle, seat of Clan Campbell for the last few hundred years, is only 45 minutes away, as is Loch Lomond. Dunoon is another tourist destination in its own right, and it is just under half an hour away. You can get to Glen Coe in an hour and a half; to Stirling, Oban or Fort William in under two. Loch Ness and Edinburgh are easy enough day trips – reachable in less than 2 and a half hours.
As well as general site-seeing and trips to the Island of Bute, Inverary and further afield, there are a host of other activities you can undertake around Glenaruel. It’s fabulous walking country and you will be provided with twelve mountain bikes for those who want to explore on two wheels rather than four. There are some really excellent routes direct from the house, involving all sorts of terrain and levels of strain!
There’s a lovely 9 hole pay and play course ten minutes away above Tighnabruaich. There are five bags of golf clubs for the house and they probably won’t be too fussed about the usual rules regarding golf shoes provided you don’t arrive in jeans and carve the course up. The same applies to the almost equally spectacular nine hole course at Blairmore & Strone, half an hour away. Cowal Golf Club at Dunoon and Inellan are the 18 hole courses in the area that welcome visitors.
For fishing, there are too many options to go into here, but you can spend anything from £9 per day to over £1,000 for river fishing in the area. You can fish for trout in the nearby stream for nothing or in the Lochen at the head of the river. Mackerel on a line in a boat on the Kyles is a right of passage for hundreds of West of Scotland kids every year. They swim in shoals all around these waters and there’s no permit payable.
It’s a fabulous part of the world for water-sports of all sorts. Horse-riding, climbing, canoeing, caving, archery, quad biking, paint-balling, and clay pigeon shooting are also all available either on site or in the area.
There is a wee shop selling all the basics at the camp-site in the Glendaruel valley, about a mile’s walk away, beside the historic Kilmodan standing stones. You get a slightly bigger choice in the Spar at Tighnabruich five miles away. Dunoon is 16 miles away and is a thriving market / harbour town with award-winning bakeries, cafes and butchers, as well as a big Co-Op and a big Somerfield supermarket.
Scotland is not really well served by pubs in general; this area is definitely an exception. The Glendaruel Hotel is a lovely wee pub, a two mile drive away, and serves good pub grub. The Colintraive Hotel and Tighnabruich Hotel are each a tad busier and a tad more ambitious in terms of menu. Chatters in Dunoon is highly recommended, and the Whistlefield and Coylet Inns on Loch Eck are also worth a visit. Less than half an hour away from the house is a wonderful restaurant on Loch Fyne, overlooking the old Castle Lachlan. The Benmore Gardens tea room is not half bad, either, and the Otterferry Inn and Loch Fyne Oyster Bar have good reputations (on which, it might be said, they trade slightly). All in all, though, there are few areas of Scotland where you can enjoy such a variety of excellent, reasonably priced menus.
| Local Amenities |
| Nearest Airport |
Glasgow
(71-80 km)
|
Nearest Ferry port |
Dunoon
(16-20 km)
|
| Nearest Village |
Glendaruel
(3 km)
|
Nearest Town/City |
Tighnabruaich
(10 km)
|
| Nearest Restaurant |
Colintraive
(9 km)
|
Nearest Bar/Pub |
Glendaruel
(2 km)
|
| Nearest Beach |
Ardlamont
(16-20 km)
|
Nearest Golf |
Kyles of Bute
(13 km)
|
