Dunoon Area

Loch Fyne at Strachur

Western Ferries

Loch Goil at Lochgoilhead

Area Main Page

The Cowal peninsula, formed by Loch Fyne to the west and Loch Long to the east, is the most visited part of Argyll. It is not far from Glasgow and frequent ferry services by CalMac and Western Ferries from Gourock serve Dunoon. You can browse books about Argyll in our Bookshop (this may take a moment to load).

Dunoon is the capital of the Cowal region, and grew from a village to a major Clyde seaside resort in the 1800. It is dominated by Castle Hill upon which sits Castle House, built in the 1820s by a wealthy Glaswegian who generated local protest about access to common land around the house. On the last weekend in August, Dunoon plays host to the Cowal Highland Gathering, the largest of its kind in the world.

The landscape of the south-west Cowal is in complete contrast to the townscape of Dunoon. The Kyles of Bute, tracts of water separating the north end of Bute from Cowal, offer breathtaking scenery and some of the best sailing in Scotland.

Well worth a visit is the peaceful loch-side village of Tighnabruaich situated on the western Kyle. The village is home to Tighnabruaich Sailing School which offers week-long courses from beginners to advanced. There are wonderful views over the Kyles from here, shared also by the neighbouring village of Kames.

The little village of Colintraive, on the eastern Kyle, marks the narrowest point of the Kyles - a distance of little more than 200 yards. It is from here that the small CalMac ferry departs for the Isle of Bute.

North west from Dunoon the main road follows the long established tourist trail past Loch Eck to Strachur, on Loch Fyne. En route it passes the mangificent Benmore Botanic Garden, a mountainous garden that forms one of Cowal's major visitor attractions. Immediately north of Strachur is Creggans, home to the famed lochside Creggans Inn, until recently owned by the family of the man on who James Bond was modelled.

The precise northern end of the Cowal Peninsula is undefined, but for practical purposes can be taken as the line of the roads leading to Lochgoilhead, the resort village lying, as the name suggests, at the head of Loch Goil, an arm of Loch Long.