The name "Cowal" is from the Gaelic "Comgall", one of the four chiefs of the ancient Argyll Kingdom of Dalriada from which modern Scotland was born.

Cowal has been inhabited and invaded since Neolithic times. The evidence of its textured and often bloody history can be seen all over the area. Two hundred years ago, according to Tom Atkinson, the only person to speak Lowland Scots or English in Dunoon was the minister. The spoken language was Gaelic – but today, throughout Cowal, you’re not likely to hear it.

For all its proximity to Glasgow, Cowal remains relatively unexplored. It is an amalgam of peninsulas - hilly fingers reaching into the Clyde and creating a series of slender lochs: Loch Long, Loch Goil, the Holy Loch, Loch Striven, the Kyles of Bute, Loch Riddon, Loch Fyne.

There are the long, dramatic, inland waters of Loch Eck. There are the picture postcard views over the Kyles of Bute from the road south along Loch Riddon. There are high vantage points like Ballochandrain above Otter Ferry, looking west across Kintyre to the Atlantic islands of Jura and Scarba, separated by the Gulf of Corryvreckan. There is Ardlamont Point, south of Tighnabruich, looking across to the high mountains of the Isle of Arran and guarding the entrances to Loch Fyne and to the Kyles of Bute.



From Dunoon it's only a 40 minute drive to the Kyles of Bute, an area known world wide for its natural beauty. The drives takes in the A8003, which has some magnificent views, and brings you in to Tighnabruaich by the Royal Hotel.
From here you can either turn left to historic Tighnabruaich pier or right to the village of Millhouse and on to the Kyntire ferry.

Argyll Forest on the east side leads to the so-called ‘Arrochar Alps’ dominating the area in the north. Straddling Cowal and its neighbouring area of Helensburgh and Lomond, they take their name from Arrochar, the picturesque town at the head of Loch Long, tucked in below the gothic skyline of The Cobbler and a traditional base for climbers and hill walkers.