West coast of scotland

[Bald Monkey]

Hi everyone,

 

My wife and I (plus the dog) are thinking of have a two break on the west coast of scotland in September. Having never been there before does anyone have any opinions on what must be seen, great restaurants (we like seafood), pubs etc. We are hoping to cover as much of the area as possible and are looking at staying in a place called Kilfinan which is on the south east shore of Loch Fyne.

Unfortunately the wife doesn't want to do any major hill walking but if anyone can suggest any easy scenic routes in that area it would be great. Also any scenic drives and villages that must be visited.

 

Thanks

 

Gary

[Tom D]

 

This is a great drive, near Loch Torridon and Applecross.

 

If you get across to Skye, you'll get the meal of a lifetime at The Three Chimneys three chimneys - restaurant and accommodation, isle of skye, scotland It costs a bit, (around £50 - £100 a head) but is one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, and well worth it IMO.

Hope you have a great time.

[Yve_Clark]

We stayed at this self catering cottage at Glenshiel a couple of years ago. Beautiful accommodation and dogs are welcome. Scenery from the lounge was fantastic - Five Sisters of Kintail as a backdrop behind Loch Duich - stunning! Only a half our drive across to Skye and yes, a meal at The Three Chimneys is a culinary delight. Accommodation also available at Three Chimneys, but pricey. The drive through Glencoe is amazing. You won't regret a trip north! Have fun!

[samarb]

For views I can strongly reccomend anywhere between ullapool and kyle of localsh

[Clark Forest]

As a general rule, Scotland gets beautiful anywhere 20 mins North or West of Glasgow. I've just come back from a week's biking tour up there, and the scenery (even though I've seen so much of it all many many times now) still amazes me.

 

Quite literally anywhere up there is great, Stirlingshire is often overlooked but well worth a run, especially as it's not that far from Loch Fyne (if that's where you're staying?). Killin , for example, is a really nice wee village, pretty much slap bang in the middle of the country.

 

For seafood, you're in a pretty good starting location - Loch Fyne Oysters would be as good starting point as any - they sell stuff straight out of the loch, so pretty much as fresh as you can get!

 

You're not all that far North from that point, so Applecross / Glencoe etc (although well well worth a drive up) aren't all that easily accessible unless you're planning on moving around for a few nights during your stay?

 

As mentioned, the run up to Applecross is stunning, there's an old road called Bealach Na Ba, which is worth the trip up there alone. Oh, and the pub at Applecross serves seafood straight off the boats, you can't get much fresher than that!

 

Be warned - it is a proper long trek up there though!!

 

Oban would be worth a night - there's a seafood restaurant there on the harbour that's won umpteen awards for it's food (I forget the name of it but I could direct you to it no problem if needs be!). We saw a family of dolphins out in the harbour in Oban a couple of weeks ago, so it's well worth a visit if you're up that way.

 

Like I said earlier on, there are so many places to see & go to in Scotland, and everyone's got their own 'GO HERE' and 'DO THIS' - the best way to do it, I found, is to jump in the car and find it all out for yourself!

 

Final warning though, you'll not want to go home again after spending time up there!!

[Charlieh]

applecross pass is awesome, although i must admit to having spend a lot of time up near durness/cape wrath and the walk out sandwood bay is increadible, its a lovely area but a long drive up there,

[Stephen Blair]

i have just had 5 days holiday in 'kilfinan house', my friend owns it, the hotel is great also,i got married there nearly 3 years ago.. loads of big trees and seafood all around there mate, its pretty much the start of the scenic west coast imo, the ferry is 30 mins from glasgow airport on the m8, take the ferry much nicer and a great start off point. pm me if you want any more details. book well in advance for digs and ferries etc. some stuff might be off season in september, we missed out on clydesdale horse riding on skye be about 2 days before:thumbdown:

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Take your waterproofs. Drysuit, mask, snorkel and fins were my everyday clothes when I lived in glasgae...

[Bald Monkey]

i have just had 5 days holiday in 'kilfinan house', my friend owns it, the hotel is great also,i got married there nearly 3 years ago.. loads of big trees and seafood all around there mate, its pretty much the start of the scenic west coast imo, the ferry is 30 mins from glasgow airport on the m8, take the ferry much nicer and a great start off point. pm me if you want any more details. book well in advance for digs and ferries etc. some stuff might be off season in september, we missed out on clydesdale horse riding on skye be about 2 days before:thumbdown:

 

Cheers everyone for the suggestions. Keep them coming:001_tongue:

 

SWB - We have booked into a cottage on the Ardmarnoch estate. Do you know it?

[Jamie]

if you are after the best beach in scotland i'd say head to Sandwood, it's a long long long drive (being about 4 miles from teh top of the countrY)then a 4 mile walk think the beach is a mile long or something, if you camp its deserted.

 

Plockton is a nice village

 

Gruinaird bay when its crap is a hole in the sun it's gorgeous

 

Tounge bay is nice

 

Never done the south west (thats this year)

 

Jamie

 

p.s. if it isn't raining the midges are out