
Tighnabruaich
The village of the house on the hill, strung along the Kyles of Bute on Argyll's Secret Coast, with one of the oldest steamer piers on the Clyde.
Tighnabruaich, the house on the hill, strings itself along the western shore of the Kyles of Bute, the narrow waters that wrap round the north end of the Isle of Bute.
This is Argyll's Secret Coast, so called because few people pass this way unless they mean to, and the Kyles here are less than two miles across, narrowing to a few hundred yards at Rubha Ban.
The village grew with the Clyde steamers. Its villas, Victorian and Edwardian, with sharp gables and stained glass, look out over the water, and at the northern end stands one of the oldest piers on the Clyde, built in the 1830s for the steamers on the route to Inveraray and rebuilt in 1884. Since 1975 the Waverley, the last seagoing paddle steamer, has called here on its summer sailings.
The shore road runs on to Kames, and there are art shops and galleries to browse along the way. Kilbride Bay's sands lie at the tip of the peninsula to the south.
Free to visit at any time of year.
The Waverley calls at the pier on some of its summer sailings.
- Where
- On the A8003, on the west side of the Kyles of Bute.
- The pier
- Built in the 1830s, rebuilt 1884 to 1885.
Scotland, in print.
Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.
For further reading, before you go.
- Tighnabruaich and the KylesThe villages and the Secret Coast.kylesofbute.comKyles of Bute↗
- Tighnabruaich PierThe steamer pier's story.scottish-places.infoGazetteer for Scotland↗
- Kyles of ButeWalks above the Kyles.walkhighlands.co.ukWalkhighlands↗
- CowalThe peninsula.undiscoveredscotland.co.ukUndiscovered Scotland↗
