RegionUsable guide

Argyll and Bute

Council area of Scotland

Photo: DeFacto, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Overview

Argyll and Bute is a region in the western Scottish Highlands. It's a scattered, disparate region, but you can't blame the planners who created it from other counties in 1974. Blame those long cold sea lochs that break up its terrain and force the roads to wind around and double back. What united it in the 19th and early 20th centuries was in-shore shipping from Glasgow using the Crinan Canal as a short cut: a fleet of "Clyde Puffers" like those of the Para Handy Tales of Neil Munro.

Getting there and around

Getting there

By train
Your first task is to reach Glasgow, which has rail connections throughout England and Scotland.
By road
The usual approach is by A82 along the west bank of Loch Lomond to Tarbet.) Stay on A82 northbound for Crianlarich and Tyndrum, then A85 for Taynuilt and Oban.
By boat
Ferries sail roughly hourly between Wemyss Bay and Rothesay on Bute, between Gourock and Kilcreggan, between Hunter's Quay near Gourock and Dunoon on Cowal, and between Portavadie on Cowal and…

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Getting around

You probably need a car. Points along the major routes have a couple of long-distance buses each day, and six trains for stations to Crianlarich.

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Airports and nearby hotels

Choose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.

Glasgow Airport

Glasgow · International · GLA

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Read before you go to Argyll and Bute

Articles and travel topics about Argyll and Bute and United Kingdom.

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Full travel guide

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TownsCowal (Còmhghall) is the peninsula west of Loch Long. So close to Glasgow, yet so remote and unpopulated, because of the long sea lochs that separate it from other areas.

UnderstandGlaciers carved out a series of deep valleys across the west of Scotland, which flooded as the sea level rose to become fjords.

Get inGlasgow Airport (GLA) is the principal airport for this region, with a good range of European and UK flights. For long-haul use Manchester (MAN) or London Heathrow (LHR) or Gatwick (LGW).

Get aroundYou probably need a car. Points along the major routes have a couple of long-distance buses each day, and six trains for stations to Crianlarich.

See

Eat

Drink

Stay safeStandard advice applies about dressing for a change in the weather, not leaving valuables on display in your car, and steer clear of the occasional rowdy drunk.

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Sources and licences

Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Argyll and Bute" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Summary from the Wikipedia article "Argyll and Bute", available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikipedia
Photo: DeFacto, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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