The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Travelling back in time and ending up in heaven
Robin takes his family to Cowal, scene of many childhood visits, and marvels as fine food and stunning scenery work their magic
As a boy I wasn’t a big fan of Cowal. Partly because I was dragged off to visit my relatives on the peninsula every couple of weeks. As an adult I now love what I consider one of Scotland’s most underrated corners. I visit as often as I can with my own kids and I’d like to share its multiple charms with you.
My mum was born in the only real Cowal town of Dunoon, a place that is already firmly on the map as the home of the annual Cowal Highland Gathering, the largest Highland Games in Scotland. It was here I headed with my parents and I now appreciate it does boast plenty more besides its sense of faded Victorian resort grandeur.
There is the site of Dunoon Castle, which enjoys great views out over the Firth of Clyde. Here stands the evocative statue of Highland Mary, the young woman immortalised in poetry by her lover, Robert Burns. The main street sports some interesting wee shops, too. A family favourite is Doon the Watter. I love taking my wee girls, Tara and Emma, in along with Dunoon lass Gran to leaf through the vintage-style souvenirs that hark back to the Dunoon golden days.
Just north of Dunoon lies Benmore Botanic Garden. Run by the same people behind the Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, this remarkable oasis showcases myriad flora in a spectacular Highland setting surrounded by a rugged wrap of hills. You can stroll here learning all about the tree species from all around the world, marvelling at more than 300 species of rhododendron and feeling tiny beneath the massive redwoods of Sierra Redwood Avenue.
You can get to Dunoon by ferry from Gourock, but my favourite way of arriving in the surprisingly remote (this is still the Central Belt, really) Cowal Peninsula is via Bute. You hop on the car ferry at Wemyss Bay for the half-hour crossing to the Isle of Bute. After a scenic drive north up this wee island – crossing the Highland Boundary Fault as you go – it’s back on CalMac for its shortest route, the couple-of-minutes crossing from Rhubodach to Colintraive on Cowal.
The ferry journey may be short but you instantly get to appreciate the peninsula’s deeply dramatic scenery as hulking hills rise up all around, with waterways snaking all around too in the majestic Kyles of Bute. The drive from here to my favourite place to stay on Cowal, Portavadie, just gets better and better as you cruise around the Kyles towards Tighnabruaich, heading deeper into the land of the Argyll Gaels, who fought over these waters with the Vikings for centuries.
I’ve stayed at hotels and self-catering escapes across Cowal but, for me, there is only place to stay these days. That is Portavadie. I went back there earlier this week for the fifth time and I aim to go back again soon! It’s that good. This impressive marina and resort emerged from unlikely beginnings as an old oil industry white elephant. The deep basin that was hollowed out – but never used for the rigs – made for the perfect marina, as the family that dreamed up this eye-catching modern development realised.
Portavadie (www.portavadie.com) is the sort of place that just keeps getting better. The £40m initial development has been added to over the years, as it has become a major part of both the local economy and community. As well as the slick main accommodation and restaurant building and 240-berth marina, there is now a lodge with more budget-conscious accommodation
and the striking new spa complex.
We normally stay in one of the luxurious apartments overlooking the marina. They are a riot of hardwood and glass that really make the most of the epic views out towards Loch Fyne and the Arran Hills. This time I brought my girls, my 85-year-old mum and brother’s family with me and they all loved this bright, creative space.
The kids and big kids alike enjoyed the spa complex too. As well as an indoor swimming pool and sauna, an outdoor deck area offers two hot tubs and – the undoubted highlight and unique in Scotland – a large outdoor heated infinity pool right on the shores of Loch Fyne. It is truly spectacular and looks at its best at sunset as the light dances around the loch, hills and clouds. Treatment rooms and more spa facilities await upstairs for adults only.
Portavadie now boasts three restaurants where fresh, local Argyll produce is the star. We are talking beef from Bute, smoked fish from Dunoon and glorious lamb from Ormidale on Cowal. The best place to enjoy it is the Marina Restaurant. Under the expert stewardship of executive chef Liam Murphy, it was awarded two richly deserved AA Rosettes in November last year.
Pushing on from Portavadie is easy on two feet as the marina marks the start of the Cowal Way. This long-distance walking trail has recently been extended to Loch Lomond, making it a total distance of 57 miles. Earlier I embarked on the section from Portavadie across to Kames with my nine-year-old daughter, Tara. This five-mile adventure took us by a remote loch and ruined castle, through the wee village of Millhouse, where, we learned, gunpowder used to be produced. Cowal is always full of wee surprises.
Kames sits right next to Tighnabruaich on the eastern shores of Cowal. They are trim twins with old stone buildings, wide waterfronts and sweeping views of the Isle of Bute. They do great food at the Kames Hotel and the seafood can also be good at the Tighnabruaich Hotel, though we’ve found it a bit up and down over the years.
My favourite beach in all of Cowal lies right on its southern extremities. Ostel Bay – known locally as Kilbride Bay, too, owing to the eponymous farm that overlooks it – is a stunner, up there with anything in the isles. I took my brother’s kids there for the first time this year and they loved tearing around its empty sands, while my brother soaked up the epic views across to the hulk of Arran. It’s well worth the boggy 2km walk in from the nearest road.
After a day at the beach or walking a section of the Cowal Way you will be hungry and, handily, Cowal excels at food and drink. The Loch Fyne Oyster Bar at the top of Loch Fyne may grab all the headlines, but there are some gems on Cowal too. I’m a fan of the Creggans Inn, with its restaurant and simpler bar. The top place to eat on the peninsula, though, is Inver.
I love that Inver uses ultra-local produce but also infuses it with a dash of real creative flair – bringing the best out of oysters from next door in Otter Ferry and various other shellfish from Loch Fyne. After lunch or before dinner I recommend talking a wee walk from the restaurant around the bay on the trail that takes you to the romantic ruins of Lachlan Castle, overlooking Loch Fyne. It is quintessentially Scottish experiences like these that Cowal excels at.
I may have been a bit reluctant as a wee boy to traipse through to Cowal every other weekend. But my mum was right about this fantastic peninsula. These days my girls would complain if we didn’t hop on a ferry to this gloriously underrated, unspoiled getaway. It may not be an island but it has all the romance of one and you can even catch a ferry there. What are you waiting for?