The Cowal peninsula is really a handful of peninsulas. It forms the bony wrist and hand extending southwest between Loch Long and Loch Fyne into the top of the Clyde waterway, gripping the Isle of Bute between thumb and forefinger.

Its landscape is bordered by the drama of the Arrochar Alps and marries the great pass of Rest and Be Thankful in the north with the charm of the sheltered waterways of the Kyles of Bute and the village of Tighnabruich in the south. It includes the old Argyll forest, now part of Scotland’s first National Park, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs.

Its history is bloodier than many. Glencoe was not the only place where the Campbells did the dirty.

Cowal’s more recent history maintains the connection with conflict. The Holy Loch, running north from Dunoon, was a Royal Navy Submarine base in World War II and became the British base of the American Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet from 1961 to 1992.



The main towns are Dunoon in the southeast with Lochgoilhead in the northeast and Strachur in the west on Loch Fyne. Dunoon was one of the traditional seaside resorts for Glasgow, supported by the busy Clyde steamers. Today it annually hosts the largest Highland Games in the world, the Cowal Gathering and remains a centre for business and holidaymaking.