Villages
in Argyll and Bute.

It’s 20:57 in Argyll and Bute.

Argyll and Bute

Painted harbours and planned towns.

Argyll and Bute's towns and villages each have their own character. There's the painted harbour of Tobermory on Mull, the Duke of Argyll's white Georgian town at Inveraray, and Oban, where the ferries leave for the islands. On Islay, Bowmore climbs from the shore to a round church, and Portnahaven's whitewashed cottages ring a sheltered inlet. Campbeltown and Tarbert have fishing and whisky in their blood. Slow down and wander.

Village of the day19 hours ago

Helensburgh.

A planned Georgian resort on the Firth of Clyde, home of the Comet, John Logie Baird and Mackintosh's Hill House.

Read about it

From our guide18 hours ago

Rothesay.

Rothesay is where ferries arrive from Wemyss Bay on the mainland – but it is worth exploring in its own right. On the island’s eastern shore, it’s a Victoriana-meets-Art Deco resort town with period mansions and stunning 1920s winter gardens. It also contains some of the fanciest toilets in the country: the Victorian gents’ at the pier are done out in green marble, ceramic mosaics and glass-sided cisterns. A well-preserved early 13th-century castle stands stalwart near the marina, telling tales of a three-day siege by King Haakon IV of Norway, being occupied by Robert the Bruce, and serving as a base for Cromwell’s troops during the late 17th century.

See the place

Stay16 hours ago

Argyll and ButeThe Drury300 yards

Argyll and ButeGlencruitten House1.4 miles

Argyll and ButeUisge Bothy4.0 miles

Stay near Oban Harbour.

The three good places closest to it: The Drury, Glencruitten House and Uisge Bothy.

See Oban Harbour

From our guide15 hours ago

Tarbert.

Tarbert, once a major herring port, twinkles in a steep, sheltered bay at the head of East Loch Tarbert, where the masts of yachts and fishing boats tinkle. Overlooked by the threadbare remains of Robert the Bruce’s 14th-century castle, it’s often called Argyll’s prettiest village. It retains a lived-in feel: there are independent local businesses, including a grocer’s and a fishmonger, and there’s a nice gallery.

See the place

From our guide14 hours ago

Tighnabruaich.

On Argyll’s Secret Coast, Victorian and Edwardian villas with pointy gables and stained glass windows coalesce in Tighnabruaich along a strip of the Kyles of Bute, where they overlook one of the few surviving working wooden piers in the Firth of Clyde. It belongs to the heyday of paddle steamers when Glaswegians went “doon the watter” – up the Clyde and through the Kyles of Bute. Art lovers will enjoy the collection of art shops and galleries.

See the place

From our guide12 hours ago

Oban.

The Gaelic name for the Victorian seaside resort Oban, once described by Queen Victoria as “one of the finest spots we have seen”, is An t-Òban, or ‘little bay’. But what it lacks in perceived size, it makes up for in appeal. It’s horseshoe-shaped, enjoys some of Argyll’s best sunsets and is dubbed Scotland’s seafood capital. There’s a good range of shops, pubs and eateries, as well as a chocolatier, distillery and a fantastic museum on war and peace, all rippling out from Coliseum-like McCaig’s Tower atop Battery Hill with its views of the Atlantic islands.

See the place

From our guide11 hours ago

Inveraray.

On the shores of Loch Fyne against a backdrop of mountains, Inveraray is a fairytale set of symmetrical white Georgian and neoclassical townhouses. Its neo-Gothic castle, home to the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, chiefs of Clan Campbell, has been used as a filming location multiple times and is said to be roamed by ghosts. And for an interesting fact, the town’s bell tower has the second heaviest peal of ten bells in the world (the heaviest is Wells Cathedral in England).

See the place

Autumn9 hours ago

What Tobermory looks like in autumn.

Mull's main town, a planned fishing port of 1788 whose painted houses curve round a sheltered bay on the Sound of Mull.

Read about it

Did you know8 hours ago

Oban was only a small village until the Victorian steamers came.

Oban, now the busy ferry port of Argyll, was a small fishing and trading village until the steamers of the early Victorian years began to call.

See Oban · Argyll and Bute

From our guide5 hours ago

Campbeltown.

Campbeltown spreads around a sheltered harbour near the southern tip of Kintyre where it enjoys 40% less rainfall than the rest of the west of Scotland. It’s thought that whisky originated here and its whiskies are regarded by many as the best in the country. It’s also home to Scotland’s oldest continuously run cinema: the 1913 picture house, with gloriously restored art deco styling. Just offshore – accessible via a shingle causeway twice daily at low tide – is Davaar Island, with seven caves, one of which contains an 1887 cave painting of the crucifixion. It was painted by a local art teacher following what he described as a vision, completing the entire thing in secret. When local fisherman came across the artwork, they took it as a sign from God, and were so furious when they discovered the mortal nature of the artist that they drove him out of town. The island has several holiday cabins and is a good spot for seeing wildlife including dolphins, seals and minke whales.