The Route
Lochgilphead, Inveraray, Dalmally, Tyndrum, Glencoe, Appin, Oban, Lochgilphead
This route assumes coffee in Inveraray, lunch at Tyndrum and High Tea in Oban before driving south back to Lochgilphead.
- Take the A83 north from Lochgilphead to Inveraray.
- At the T-junction beside the pier, turn left, preparing to turn left again in less than a hundred metres.
- Turn left – signed A819 to Oban – immediately after the Argyll Hotel on the left. The road narrows briefly to a single carriageway as it passes under an archway.
- Stay on this road up through Glen Aray and northwards along the east side of Loch Awe.
- At the T-junction with the A85, turn right for Crianlarich.
- Stay on the A85 to Tyndrum.
- At Tyndrum, at the T-junction with the A82, turn left for Glencoe and Fort William – or, briefly, right - for some lunch before travelling on.
- Stay on the A82 through Rannoch Moor and down through Glencoe.
- At the Ballachulish Bridge, take the A828 south, signed to Oban.
- Stay on the A828 along the shores of Loch Linnhe to the Connel Bridge over Loch Etive – which you cross.
- At the T-junction at the end of the slip road after the bridge, turn left onto the A85 for Oban.
- After Oban, take the A816 south for Lochgilphead.
This route takes you along the northern shores of the second longest sea-loch in Scotland - Loch Fyne, before swinging inland up Glen Aray to Loch Awe, the longest inland loch in the UK. As you drop downhill from the height of Glen Aray to Loch Awe, look at the hillsides opposite to see the face of the dam on Beinn Cruachan which powers the hydro-electricity turbines below in what is known as 'the hollow mountain'.
From the head of Loch Awe you drive northeast up Glen Lochy to Tyndrum, a significant highland junction and gatekeeper to Glencoe.
After Rannoch Summit and the Moor there is the great bulk of Buachaille Etive Mor, the mountain standing guard over the entrances to Glen Etive to the south, and Glencoe to the west.
Glencoe will take your breath away. Of course it has its own famous history of clan treachery – the mysteries of which can be unlocked at the Visitor Centre – but its scale, shapes, narrow defiles, broad valley floors and unexpected perspectives are never less than magnificent.
After the drama of Glencoe, the route takes you down the leafy eastern shores of Loch Linnhe, across the necks of sea lochs with glimpses of romantic ruins like Castle Stalker.
The town of Oban, almost impossibly picturesque, comes as a counterpoint to the remote landscapes you have been travelling.
The road south, back to Lochgilphead, brings you past the 'Bridge over the Atlantic' to the Island of Seil and down Kilmartin Glen, the birthplace of modern Scotland at Dunadd Fort. Kilmartin Glen is bursting at the seams with the archaeological remains of a history not yet fully decoded and the village of Kiklmartin has an award-winning museum serving good food in its cafe.
A few tips
- Notice the symmetry of the plan of the Loch Fyneside village of Inveraray. It was a planned town, built here to replace the original town which was too close for lordly comfort to Inveraray Castle, seat of the Campbell Clan.
- Look for Sir Jimmy Savile’s white bungalow in Glencoe. It sits on the corner, on the right side of the road, just below the start of the famous Aonach Eagach Ridge. A long-time man of these mountains, Sir Jimmy hoists flags at the bungalow when he is in residence.
- After Ballachulish, you will pass across the neck of Glen Duror, site of the famous Appin Murder, now being filmed and earlier the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Kidnapped’ and ‘Catriona’.
- Use Business Directory to help you track down places to stay, places to eat and places you may want to see en route.
