Glasgow Greenock Shore Excursion Highland Lochs, Castles & Glens

Leaving the Port we will drive for just under 1 hour crossing over the Erskine bridge and passing through the historic town of Dumbarton where your guide will point out Dumbarton Castle. William Wallace was betrayed in 1305 by Sir John Menteith who imprisoned Wallace at Dumbarton Castle before handing him over to the English. Our first stop on the tour will be the beautiful conservation village of Luss situated on the banks of Loch Lomond. You will have some time to take in the small village and wander down to the Loch and take in some of the best views found in the area. Your guide will tell you about Luss Parish Church built on the grounds of the ancient cemetery that dates back to the 7th century and even has a Viking Hogback grave stone estimated to be from the 11th century. The village was also the setting for a local TV series called Take the High Road. The Grade B listed cottages which give the village its character were left over from the workers of local slate quarries.

Leaving Luss we will have a 30-minute drive to our next stop passing through the village of Arrochar along Loch Long and into Glencroe. At the top of the Glen, we will make a photo stop and take in the views from the rest and be thankful car park which was given its name by soldiers who built the original military road in 1773 and inscribed a stone that still sits there to this day.

Driving 30 minutes to Inveraray we will now stop at the impressive Inveraray Castle the Clan seat of the Campbells. One of Scotland's most famous Clans your guide will tell you about the Castle and how the Campbells rose from being a relatively small Clan in the 13th century to becoming the most powerful Clan Scotland has seen. The Castle is the residence of the Duke of Argyll a title given to the Chiefs of Clan Campbell by William of Orange in 1701. The Castle's foundation stone was laid in 1745 replacing a previous 15th-century Castle. Take time to explore inside the Castle & its beautiful gardens. Please note Inveraray Castle is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, therefore we are unable to visit the interior of the castle. We will still visit Inveraray town and you will be able to get exterior pictures of the castle.

Either before or after the Castle visit you can spend some time in the delightful little town of Inveraray population 570. It was one of the first towns to be built completely from scratch in 1770. You can spend your time wandering the small Main Street looking inside the local stores for some fine whiskies or local produce or instead of visiting the Castle, you may prefer to visit the Old Inveraray Jail built in 1820. Lunch is advised to book before the tour or if you prefer to have a flexible lunch to maximise attraction times please inform the guide in the morning.

Another 30-minute drive we will come onto the longest freshwater loch in Scotland called Loch Awe where we will find the original Campbell seat of power, Kilchurn Castle. Built in 1450 it was severely damaged by lightning in 1760 and abandoned in favour of the new Castle in Inveraray. This will be a 10-minute stop at the viewpoint along the A819 road.

St Conans Kirk is just a short 5-minute drive and this impressive church has been voted in the top 10 buildings in Scotland over the last 100 years by Royal Incorporation of Architects Scotland in 2016. Built between 1881 and substantially extended in 1914 it is one of our favourite stops. Built by Walter Douglas Campbell for his mother Agnes it is one not to be missed on the tour. Admission is by optional donation.

Just under an hour's drive, we will have our last stop of the tour at An Ceann Mor also dubbed Inveruglas Pyramid which is a viewing platform looking southwards down Loch Lomond where you get to see how the Loch starts to widen in the southern section. (This stop is time permitting)

We will make the drive from Inveruglas back to your ship to conclude the tour. This drive is approx 1 hour.