Argyll: Loch Lomond to Kilmartin and Oban

Route description

Leave Glasgow on the A82 along the west shore of Loch Lomond and stop at Luss, a village of stone cottages with a pier and a beach. At Tarbet turn onto the A83 to Arrochar and up Glen Croe to the Rest and Be Thankful pass.

Landslips often close the A83 here; when they do, traffic is escorted along the old military road in the glen, so check Traffic Scotland before setting off. Beyond the pass the road drops to Loch Fyne and follows it round to Inveraray, a white Georgian town beside the castle of the Dukes of Argyll.

Take the A83 south to Lochgilphead and the A816 north to Kilmartin Glen, where burial cairns, standing stones and cup-and-ring carvings lie in the fields. The hill fort of Dunadd, a short climb, was the seat of the early kings of Dál Riata.

Detour to Crinan, where the Crinan Canal meets the sea in a basin full of yachts, then follow the A816 north past sea lochs to Oban. From Oban, ferries leave for Mull and the islands, which makes this a good first leg of a longer west-coast trip.