📌 Village in Argyll & Bute
★★★
Tarbert, Argyll (not to be confused with Tarbert on the Isle of Harris or with Tarbet on Loch Lomond) is a remote village on the long road to Campbeltown. Despite its small size, the village is a (relatively) bustling regional hub with the main north-south road passing through and nearby ferries to Islay, Cowal and Arran. A lonely ruined castle overlooks the colourful houses hugging East Loch Tarbert’s waterfront, while West Loch Tarbert is only a few miles in the other direction across a narrow isthmus. Indeed, the Gaelic name translates as carrying across, and boats have historically been dragged across the neck of land here to avoid the long voyage around the Kintyre peninsula. The most famous example involved the portage of the Viking longship belonging to Norwegian King Magnus Barelegs in the 11th century. The story goes that King Malcolm of Scotland offered Norway all the isles off the west coast of Scotland circumnavigable by ship. Resourceful King Magnus duly set sail around Kintyre, completing the circle by having his boat hauled across the isthmus and thereby claiming it as an “island”, and his own.
🌍 Location
📌 Argyll & Bute
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NR 864686
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.863331,-5.414503
🚶 The village and castle (steps involved) are easy to explore on foot.
🚢🚌 Tarbert is a calling point on the long Glasgow to Campbeltown coach route, and there are several infrequent local buses. There’s also a ferry across Loch Fyne to even more remote Portavadie.
Explore nearby
<1 mi away
>> Tarbert Castle ★★
