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Places to visit
in Argyll and Bute.

It’s 20:55 in Argyll and Bute.
Argyll and Bute

Sea lochs, islands and castles.

Argyll and Bute is a jigsaw of long sea lochs, peninsulas and islands on Scotland's west coast. There are castles on rocks and islets, a glen full of prehistoric stones at Kilmartin, and harbour towns like Oban, Inveraray and Campbeltown. Out to sea lie Islay and Jura with their distilleries, Mull and Iona, and the gentle Isle of Bute. The ferries are part of the fun. These are the places in Argyll and Bute we think are most worth your time.

CastlesBeachesWaterfallsDistilleriesMuseumsGardensLighthousesOn screen
Place of the day20 hours ago

Three Sisters of Glencoe.

Three steep ridges running down into Glen Coe from the Bidean nam Bian massif, seen from a viewpoint beside the A82 and walked into from below.

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From our archive20 hours agoIsle of JuraLoch TarbertIsle of JuraSkervuile LighthouseIsle of JuraLussa GinIsle of JuraInverlussaArgyll and ButeTigh an Truish, SeilArgyll and ButeTralee Beach

Argyll and Bute this autumn, in our photographs.

Six places in Argyll and Bute, each as we found it.

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Places to visit20 hours ago

Camus an Staca.

A great prehistoric standing stone, nearly twelve feet high, on a slope above the Sound of Jura near Craighouse.

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Did you know19 hours ago

From Ulva Ferry on the Isle of Mull, Turus Mara lands visitors for two hours on Lunga, among the puffins of the Treshnish Isles.

Lunga is the largest of the Treshnish Isles, and its colony of puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes, fulmars and shags is one of the most accessible in Scotland. The boat leaves daily at 11.40am from April to the end of July, and calls at Staffa for an hour. It costs £85 for adults and £42.50 for under-16s. The family firm has sailed these waters since 1973, and runs trips from Oban too.

See Turus Mara · Argyll and Bute
From our guide19 hours ago

Cruachan, the Hollow Mountain.

Deep in the granite that forms Ben Cruachan on the shores of Loch Awe lies a cavern huge enough to house the Tower of London. It is here that four enormous turbines convert water power into electricity at the Drax-owned pumped-hydro power station. See it for yourself on an underground bus tour. Above ground, interactive exhibits explain how the power station generates electricity on demand for Scotland. Afterwards, climb to see the Cruachan dam and reservoir, only accessible on foot – an amazing tilted-viaduct-like structure holding back milky blue waters.

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Quiz19 hours ago

Alexander II died in 1249, thirty-five years into his reign. Where is he buried?

Did you know19 hours ago

When the bishop who built Carnasserie died, his coffin was carried twenty-three miles in bad weather to be buried.

John Carswell died at a great age in 1572. He had divided opinion locally: he had taken the new church's side at the Reformation, and a good deal of the old church's property with it. But enough people thought well of him to shoulder his coffin the twenty-three miles from here to Ardchattan Priory, in weather that made the journey worth recording. The path in this film climbs from the road to the castle door. His went the other way.

See Carnasserie Castle · Argyll and Bute
From the magazine18 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 02Issue 02Spring / Summer 2021

Castle Stalker, on a tiny rock in Loch Linnhe in Argyll, takes its name from the Gaelic for hunter or falconer, perhaps because King James IV hunted nearby.

The castle stands on little more than a jut of rock, and it began as a stronghold of the MacDougalls, the most powerful family in the region. In 1388 the Lordship of Lorn passed to the Stewarts, and it was probably John Stewart who built the castle that stands today, sometime in the mid-15th century. King James IV was a regular visitor, since the Stewarts of Appin were his cousins, and his many hunting trips may well have given the castle its name. Centuries later it found international stardom in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and with magnificent mountain scenery all around, it is a photographer's paradise.

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Places to visit18 hours ago

Isle of Coll.

A low green island west of Mull, with sandy beaches, corncrakes on the machair and some of the darkest skies in Britain.

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From Issue 1 of Hidden Scotland magazineIssue 118 hours ago

Five Winter Species to Encounter on the Isle of Mull

Wildlife guide Ewan Miles of Nature Scotland on five animals to look for on the Isle of Mull in winter: red deer, hen harriers, otters, golden eagles and white-tailed eagles.

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From our guide18 hours ago

Bute Museum.

Just off the seafront in Rothesay, Bute Museum explores the island’s archaeology, history, geology, and flora and fauna via an extensive collection of photographs and artefacts. There are Mesolithic microliths, the skull of a young Bronze Age woman, a rare Viking sword hilt found near Ettrick Bay, and a touch table for children.

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New at Kilmartin Museum18 hours ago

Kilmartin Museum launches In the Footsteps of Kings, a new walking guide to Kilmartin Glen, on 10 October.

The museum describes it as the definitive guide to Scotland's most remarkable prehistoric landscape. You can register on its website to get a copy when it comes out.

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