📌 Argyll & Bute
★★★
Loch Awe is Scotland’s longest freshwater loch, stretching 41 km through sparsely-populated terrain between Dalmally and Ford in Argyll. The two ends couldn’t be more different. Awe’s north bank is hugged by an A-road and railway line, with thousands of tourists passing by daily in the summer months. Of the sights at this end, Kilchurn Castle is increasingly popular, but St Conan’s Kirk is still a bit of an undiscovered gem, while fewer still venture underground to Cruachan Power Station, buried into the bedrock of Ben Cruachan. As for the rest of Loch Awe – it’s an oddly elusive place. Despite having a road around almost its entire shoreline there are no large settlements and no major tourist sites; if you’re looking to “get away from it all”, you could do much worse. The B840 along the east bank takes you back to a Scotland of old, with informal paths meandering down to the shoreline at several points. On the west side, loch views from this unclassified road are much more limited, but there are a handful of worthwhile walks – see the map below.
🌍 Location
📌 Between Taynuit, Dalmally & Ford, Argyll & Bute
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 084230
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.361679,-5.100835
🚆 Oban fork of the West Highland Line runs along the north bank, stopping at Loch Awe (station) & Falls of Cruachan | 🚌 Buses use the A85 along the north bank; there are also very infrequent services along the west bank (limited views)
🚗 Numerous viewpoints / parking options on east bank road; occasional spots on north / west bank roads
