Here's a few suggestions for things to see and do in Loch Lomond, Helensburgh & West Dunbartonshire:
Pleasure Cruises
The ultimate way to relax and soak up the scenery. Savour
Loch Lomond from Balmaha, Balloch, Tarbet or Luss, or
the Clyde, from Helensburgh and Kilcreggan.
Watersports
Loch Lomond offers a variety of activities from water-skiing
to sailing, which is also hugely popular on the Gare
Loch and Firth of Clyde.
Golf
Fine courses welcome the visitor at Alexandria, Cardross,
Dumbarton, Helensburgh and two at Clydebank, with wonderful
views over the Clyde.
Fishing
Choose from freshwater fishing on Loch Lomond and the
River Leven or a spot of sea angling on the Gareloch
or Loch Long.
Indoor leisure
Sports facilities are available at the modern leisure
centres in Clydebank, Dumbarton, Helensburgh and Alexandria.
Shopping - Great shopping opportunities are on offer
at Clydebank, Dumbarton and Helensburgh, or why not
pick up a bargain at the retail factory outlets in Alexandria.
Loch Lomond, Helensburgh & West Dunbartonshire Loch
Long from the Cobbler
Picturesque villages nestle along the
loch-indented Clyde estuary, famed for sailing and sea-angling,
against a backdrop of heather and bracken clad mountains.
Pleasant scenery,
plentiful activities and a surprising history make Helensburgh
and the Clyde Sealochs an excellent touring centre.
The attractive shoreside village of Cardross, with its
origins dating back to the mid-17th Century, boasts a fine golf
course and a ruined castle, once home of the Napiers of Kilmahew.
The National Trust for Scotland’s Geilston Garden is charmingly
simple, with a walled garden and wooded glen. Close by is Ardmore
Point, a privately owned peninsula with a nature trail laid
by the Scottish Wildlife Trust who manage the area as a nature
reserve. The Green Isle
The Rosneath Peninsula - known locally as ‘the Green Isle’
- is quiet, peaceful and very relaxing. Its name derives from
the Gaelic ‘Rosneimhidh’, meaning a sanctuary - most
appropriate as the visitor escapes from the hustle and bustle
of modern life.
The villages of Cove, Clynder, Rosneath and Kilcreggan are secluded
little communities, amidst natural beauty with a character of
their own. Linn Botanical Gardens, with a delightful Italianate
villa set in 3 acres of signposted gardens, features year-round
colour, with over 200 species of rhododendrons. There are also
pleasure cruises to be enjoyed, from Kilcreggan.
Helensburgh from
Ardmore Point
Kilcreggan
Other attractive
villages dot the coastline, from Rhu, with its popular marina
and beautiful Glenarn Gardens, to Garelochhead, again busy with
yachtsmen enjoying the glorious sailing waters of the Clyde.
The steep sided Glen Fruin, between Helensburgh and Loch Lomond,
offers the charm and tranquillity of a Highland glen. A stone
monument, however, hints at less peaceful times, when the Colquhouns
were massacred by the Macgregors in 1603.
At the head of Loch Long stands
the small holiday village of Arrochar, dwarfed by the magnificent
splendour of the famed ‘Arrochar Alps’ which encircle
these upper reaches of the loch. The distinctive shape of ‘the
Cobbler’ - Ben Arthur - is one of Scotland’s most familiar
landmarks and a mecca for both walkers and climbers. Walking, cycling
and pony trekking are also well catered for in the nearby Argyll
Forest Park.
Elegant Resort
The graceful holiday town of Helensburgh was named after the wife
of Sir Robert Colquhoun, who founded the town at the end of the
18th Century. Handsome buildings; wide, elegant, tree-lined streets;
the long promenade and attractive parks and gardens create a pleasantly
distinguished atmosphere, even more so in summer as pleasure cruisers
jostle at the pier.
In upper Helensburgh, developed by wealthy Victorian Glasgow merchants,
is the Hill House, now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland.
This exquisite building, complete with original furnishings, is
renowned as the finest domestic masterpiece of the internationally
famous Scots architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Other famous
local connections include Henry Bell, originator of the steamship
and, of course, John Logie Baird, the inventor of television.
Highland Horizons
North of the town lie the foothills of the West Highlands, where
fjord-like sealochs, gouged out by great glaciers, cut deep
inland. Once the masts of Viking longboats crowded in Loch Long
- named from the Gaelic ‘Loch of the Ships’. Today,
you are likely to encounter yachtsmen or sea anglers in the
popular sporting waters of the Gare Loch or the Clyde Estuary.
