Kilchurn Castle – A Campbell Stronghold and Lunch at Cruachan
A few hours.
The route
Kilchurn Castle stands on a grassy point at the head of Loch Awe, the Campbells of Glenorchy's stronghold for close on three hundred years.
Further west along the shore, the Cruachan Visitor Centre tells the story of the power station hidden inside the mountain above it, and its café serves lunch with views of Loch Awe.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The day
Loch Awe
A morning at the head of Loch Awe, with a ruined castle on its point, a walk over the fields by the water, and lunch further along the shore.
Kilchurn Castle
An attraction
Park in the informal area off the A85, a quarter of a mile north-west of its junction with the A819; there's no parking at the castle. A gravel path leads from there by the River Orchy and over the fields to the castle, and the ground by the loch floods at times, so wear strong shoes. Sir Colin Campbell, first Lord of Glenorchy, built Kilchurn in about 1450 on what was then a small island in the loch; today it stands on a point joined to the shore. In the 1690s the first Earl of Breadalbane turned it into a barracks for 200 soldiers. It is seen at its best from the path right round the headland.
About 10 min by car
Cruachan Visitor Centre
Lunch
Lunch is at the Cruachan Visitor Centre, a few miles west on the A85 below Ben Cruachan, with a free car park. Its free exhibition tells the story of the power station, opened in 1965, whose machine hall lies a kilometre inside the mountain; tours into the mountain itself are paused until 2028. The Hollow Mountain Cafe makes its own soups and sandwiches, with toasties, bacon rolls, scones and cakes, and there's a picnic and play area by the loch. The centre is step-free, and no pets are allowed inside.
If it rains
The path to the castle is open ground by the loch; the exhibition and the café are indoors.
On the way
- St Conan’s Kirk
St Conan's Kirk is a church on the shore of Loch Awe, first built in 1881 and much enlarged from 1907, with a chapel holding a bone of Robert the Bruce. It opens every day, from 9am to 5pm from October to March and to 6pm from April to September, and entry is by donation; events can change the hours.
Make it a weekend
