Discovering South-Argyll	A mix of hikes and gentler walks on the Cowal peninsula, the Isle of Bute, in Inveraray and along Loch Lomond, one of the most accessible and beautiful yet least known corners of the Highlands of Scotland.

Introduction to your walking holiday in South-Argyll, Scotland

South-Argyll, bitten into by many sea lochs, stands discreetly aside from the northward and westward summer rush, hidden behind its own mountains. The Cowal peninsula, where we will stay during the walking holiday, is on the road to nowhere… except to itself and to the island of Bute… and this ‘nowhere’ is more than enough for those in the know. It is a land of quiet corners - beautiful and very much off-the-beaten-track. Rugged mountains such as Beinn an Lochan and Beinn Bhuidhe in the north give way to gentler hills, peaceful glens and a lovely coastline to the south. We should not see many people on the hills and we can often have the shore to ourselves too.

South-Argyll has many prehistoric riches: a number of burial cairns and standing stones and also a wealth of iron age forts. Around here the views from the shores of Loch Fyne towards Arran's sharp peaks are dramatic, and the Kyles of Bute around Tighnabruaich are especially beautiful. Further north, near Strachur, we'll see medieval Castle Lachlan on its shore-side rock and can try to imagine the life of early christian monks at the ruins of Kilbride chapel.
Across Loch Fyne is Inveraray, a very attractive, if very small, town with 18th century architect-designed buildings of elegant simplicity that deserves and repays exploration of all its byways. Dun na Cuaiche, with it’s strategically-placed watchtower, offers stunning views down Loch Fyne.
Across the Kyles (Gaelic 'caolas' = narrows), the Isle of Bute lies with its head tucked between two of Cowal's prongs while its tail seeks the open sea. A lovely sliver of land, Bute is a geological and scenic hybrid of highland and lowland. North of Rothesay and Loch Fad (Gaelic 'fada' = long) the hard highland schists of Cowal are continued on Bute, but the island's southern half is geologically lowland, except at its southernmost tip where the basalts of Garroch Head and St. Blane's Hill echo the ruggedness of the north. Our day on the island takes in this volcanic tail where steep little hills and rocky coasts look out to Arran's jagged skyline. Amongst the natural beauties are some man-made ones: the remains of mediaeval St. Blane's chapel, sitting serenely in a wooded hollow, offer a marked contrast with the ruined strength of a vitrified hill fort, less than a mile away above a rocky shore.
Loch Lomond, with Ben Lomond rising high above it, is the largest fresh water loch in Britain. A boat will take us across the loch to the start of our walk.

Wildlife
For those interested in wildlife, there are good numbers of mammal species throughout the peninsula, including red and roe deer, otters, red squirrels and pine marten. In the sea lochs are common seals, porpoises and otters. Encounters with mammals can be unpredictable, but, as our week will take us into a range of habitats, we will certainly see lots of birds. On the hills and moors, for example, we could come across curlew, snipe, raven, red grouse, ptarmigan and golden eagle (at least 3 pairs in Cowal). On one or two of the hill lochans there are red-throated divers. Woodland gives flycatcher and redstart, warblers, finches and tits, with buzzards soaring overhead and sometimes black grouse. The shore gives many species, amongst which oystercatcher and heron, with eider and merganser nearby, are constant presences, while in summer the call of the sandpiper is a special mark of the west highlands. Offshore we can see the spectacular knife-dive of a gannet on a feeding trip from the colony on Ailsa Craig.

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Day-by-day Programme

The programme will be subject to variables such as weather and the abilities of the group and changes may also be made to take account of lambing, deer stalking, etc. Any such alterations will always take into account the need to maintain the overall character of the holiday.

 

1. Sunday: Strachur and Strathlachlan
2. Monday: Loch Goil
3. Tuesday: Loch Lomond
4. Wednesday: Ardkinglas House and Inveraray
5. Thursday: Isle of Bute
6. Friday: Arrochar Alps

 

Saturday: Glasgow - Cowal
We meet in the afternoon in Glasgow (city or airport). From Glasgow to Strachur, near where you will be based for the week, takes a little under one and a half hours.

Sunday: Strachur and Strathlachlan
Our first day takes us amongst rugged little hills overlooking Loch Fyne and along its quiet shores where seals and sea birds live peacefully beside the ruins of an early Christian chapel, a medieval castle and an abandoned farming township.
This area, with its birch and oak woods fringing open hill land has been the home of the clan MacLachlan since at least the 15th century. Other records suggest that they have been here much longer than that.
9 miles/14km and 1200ft/380m of ascent

Monday: Loch Goil
We will walk in the Ardgoil hills which dominate the village of Lochgoilhead and command glorious views over the length of a beautiful sea loch - Loch Goil. The most rugged of these hills - the Steeple - belies its 1280 feet (380m): with its silver-grey cliffs of schist, steep slopes and several landslip caves it has the feel of a much bigger mountain. By the way, the landslides happened at the end of the ice age, 10,000 years ago, so there's no likelihood that anything's going to fall on your head today!).
We may also walk part of the old track known locally as the 'Duke's Path' (once a major route for the Dukes of Argyll between their Inveraray home and the Lowlands); from it we can climb any one of a number of hills, small or large, depending on the weather and the fitness of the party - whatever our choice, the views will be good, with a high possibility of seeing a herd of red deer.
The minimum is 5 miles/8km and 1300ft/400m of ascent.

Tuesday: Loch Lomond
We will take the passenger ferry across Loch Lomond to Rowardennan on the eastern shore. Loch Lomond is the largest fresh water loch of Scotland. The loch also crosses the highland fault line, noticeable in its changing character and more rugged terrain moving from south to north.
We will do a circular walk through Queen Elizabeth Forest Park and along open hillside of the slopes of Ben Lomond with spectacular views across Loch Lomond and the Arrochar Alpes. Ben Lomond is a nature reserve, owned by the National Trust of Scotland.
7 miles/11km, 1475ft/450m of ascent
If the group is very fit, we might even walk up Ben Lomond (3193ft/974m), the most southerly Munro in Scotland.

Wednesday: Ardkinglas House and Inveraray
Today is a gentler day. We're going west of Loch Fyne to Inveraray. We will have a tour of Ardkinglas House, designed and built in 1907 by Robert Lorimer one of Scotland's leading architects. Lorimer was allowed a free hand and the result is a large neo-baronial style mansion of over 80 rooms set in its own gardens.
Inveraray Castle, set in elegant planned grounds and beside the equally planned and equally elegant white-painted 18th century town, is well worth seeing and there are excellent walks in the estate. Perhaps the best of these - all on path and track - takes in the riverside and some varied woodland on its way to the 700 feet high (220m) top of . The view from the watchtower here is the very best there is of Inveraray, the castle and Loch Fyne.
Afterwards we will take a walk around the town, perhaps visiting the very good museum in the former jail and courthouse (accurate and interesting social history, not at all ghoulish tat). There is also an excellent museum at the old farming township of Auchindrain, a 15 minute drive away. There's nowhere better for gaining an insight into the life lived in the pre-clearance highland countryside.
Up to 6miles (9 km) and up to 1300 ft (400 m) of ascent.

Thursday: Isle of Bute
Southwards, today, to the Isle of Bute, to its south end to see the wide seascapes of the lower Firth of Clyde, with views to Arran's wild mountains and to Ailsa Craig. The walk is a circular one along the coast past Glencallum Bay and Garroch Head, returning north across lava hills. Apart from the views, attractions include seals and seabirds, while those interested in history will particularly enjoy seeing the substantial ruins of a 12th century chapel with a much older early-Christian enclosure, both set in beautiful surroundings. The graveyard near the chapel includes a Viking hogback-style gravestone. There is also lots of geological interest along the shore.
Up to 8 miles/13km and up to 1000ft/300m of ascent

Friday: Arrochar Alps
Today's walk takes us to the summit of one mountains of the Arrochar Alps, as a fitting climax to our week. We've had a fairly gentle day on Thursday, so should be OK to make the most of today.
The Cobbler is one of the hills we might do. Superlatives are appropriate for this mountain with its dramatic rocky top. This is a real mountain walk with some scrambling. This will be a hard day, but one offering great rewards, with views far into Argyll and across Loch Lomond - weather permitting! - and a sense of achievement.
6 miles/9km and up to 2990ft/910m of ascent

Saturday: Cowal - Glasgow
After breakfast, we will take you back to Glasgow (city centre or airport).

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Discovering Sout-Argyll walking holiday pictures

Click on the picture to enlarge.

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Am I fit enough?

This walking holiday is designed for people who are fit and used to walking all day. We will walk up to 11 miles (17 km) per day with an average 1000ft/300m of ascent. On one day it might be as much as 3000ft/900m but there are also easier days. Our routes sometimes traverse pathless glens, climb mountains or thread remote passes and there may be some scrambling. On most days as much of our time is spent off path as on it. Scotland can be very wild and tough going: 10 miles here is often much harder than 10 miles elsewhere. All that said, we don’t want to break any speed records, especially not when going uphill and you’ll have all the rewards of walking in one of the most beautiful and fascinating parts of the Highlands and Islands.

We partnered with Fit for Trips to make sure that you will fully enjoy your hiking trip to Scotland and reduce the risk of injuries. They have developed fitness programmes specific to our walking tours and hiking holidays to help you to get in shape. Customers of About Argyll Walking Holidays will get 20% discount. Click here for details.

If you're still not sure whether or not you can cope after you've read this and the details of the week's programme, please get in touch to discuss it further.

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Accommodation

This is either in carefully selected Bed & Breakfast accommodation or Guest Houses. You can rely on the quality of the accommodation that we find for you - its comfort, its food and the professionalism and welcoming nature of those who run it. The B&Bs and guest houses we use are more personal and the quality of the accommodation is as good or even better than of hotels in the same category. Double and twin rooms will have an en suite or private bathroom.
If you have particular requirements or prefer to stay in a hotel, please let us know so that we can do our best to meet them.
Details of where you will be staying will be sent to you well in advance of your holiday.

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Clothing and Equipment

You will need to bring boots with a good tread that provide adequate ankle support, warm clothing, waterproofs (top and over-trousers) and a rucksack big enough for your spare clothes, a packed lunch and whatever else you normally like to have with you (binoculars, a camera, etc.).
Boots are especially important. They don't have to be particularly heavy, but wearing ultra lightweight ones may mean your feet get wet and trainers definitely aren't adequate nor, on some of the rougher and steeper going, however short it may be, are they safe. Trekking poles can be very useful, especially for anyone with knee problems.

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Dates and Prices for 2012

Description	8 days (Saturday to Saturday), accommodation on the Cowal peninsula in carefully selected B&B or guest house.
Walking	6-11 miles (10-18 km) daily, with a mix of rough going and path. Four days with longer walks and two gentler days.
Code	Date	Price	Remarks
DA1	5-12 May	£690.00	Single room: £70 extra
DA2	14-21 July
DA3	15-22 September
Groups of 4 or more can book other dates, please ask.

The price includes:

• The services of our well-qualified, well-informed and welcoming guide.
• Small group - usually between 4 and 8.
• An attractive, well-thought-out walking programme (6 walking days).
• Carefully-selected accommodation (sharing a double/twin room), breakfast and picnic lunches on walking days.
• Transport by minibus, ferries and boats, as needed, throughout your holiday and from / to Glasgow / Glasgow airport, at its beginning and end.
• Entrance fee to museums, if visited.
• Short evening get-togethers to set the scene for the next day's walking.
• 20% discount on Fit for Trips customised fitness programmes.

and most especially

• Personal care and attention in all that we do for you.

For general information and booking, please click here.

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