inveraray on loch fyne, argyll

The region of Argyll just north-west of Glasgow looks fantastic on the map - the Lonely Planet describes the region as making cartographers sweat with "its dramatically contorted coastline - fjordlike sea lochs lacerate the coast, their surfaces reflecting the weather's moods."

I saw a miniscule part of Argyll, taking a bus from Glasgow to the pretty town of Inveraray located on Loch Fyne, a loch (the Scottish Gaelic term for lake) formed by the sea coming in 65 kms inland from the Sound of Bute, a channel separating the island of Arran from mainland Scotland. Inveraray is probably 50-55 kms inland, so when you're there it is impossible to tell that it is on a sea loch as opposed to simply a loch surrounded by land on all sides.






One of Inveraray's tourist attractions is the Inveraray Castle, the seat of the dukes of Argyll, the chiefs of Clan Campbell (one of the Scottish clans - more on Scotland's clans in another post). I'm assuming that that's the duke and duchess of Argyll below... frankly, it looks like an advertisement for a TV soap...


I didn't bother to go into the castle since I wasn't enchanted :) Instead, did a leisurely walk past the castle and up to the summit of a nearby hill with stunning views over the town and the loch - known as the Dun na Cuaiche walk - post coming up on this walk.