Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARGYLL AND BUTE
ISLE OF BUTE
Benmore Botanic Garden
A815, six miles north of Dunoon • Daily: March & Oct 10am-5pm; April-Sept 10am-6pm • £5.50 •
T
01369 706261,
W
rbge.org.uk
Serenely pitched amidst lush mountain scenery at the foot of Loch Eck,
Benmore
Botanic Garden
is an offshoot of Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden. It's a beautifully
laid-out garden occupying 120 acres of lush hillside, the mild, moist climate allowing a
vast range of unusual plants to grow here, with different sections devoted to rainforest
species native to places as exotic as China, Chile and Bhutan. he garden boasts 300
species of rhododendron and a memorably striking avenue of great redwoods, planted
in 1863 and now over 150ft high. You can also wander through a Victorian
fernery
, as
impressive for its architectural features - notably a fine vaulted entrance, grotto and
pool - as for the plants housed within. And look out, too, for “Puck's Hut”, designed
by the prolific Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer, in honour of Sir Isaac Bayley
Balfour, who did much to raise awareness of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Clad in various timbers and tiled with red cedar, it originally stood in Puck's Glen in
the Eachaig Valley, hence the name.
6
Isle of Bute
he island of
BUTE
is in many ways simply an extension of the Cowal peninsula, from
which it is separated by the narrow Kyles of Bute. hanks to its mild climate and its
ferry link with Wemyss Bay, Bute
has been a popular holiday and convalescence spot
for Clydesiders for over a century. In its heyday in the 1880s, thirty steamers a day
would call in at the island's capital,
Rothesay
, which easily eclipses Dunoon as the most
attractive seaside resort on the Clyde thanks to some splendid Victorian architecture,
decent accommodation and eating options, and the chance to visit
Mount Stuart
, one
of Scotland's most singular aristocratic piles.
Bute's inhabitants live around the two wide bays on the island's east coast, which
resembles one long seaside promenade. To escape the crowds head for the sparsely
populated west coast, which, in any case, has the sandiest beaches. he best of these, six
miles south of Rothesay, are
Kilchattan Bay
, which has a lovely arc of sand overlooked
by a row of grand Victorian houses and, further up the west coast,
Ettrick Bay
.
Bute stages a couple of terrific annual events, namely its own
Highland Games
on the
third weekend of August, and the
Bute Jazz Festival
over the May Bank Holiday,
usually featuring renowned international artists.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
ISLE OF BUTE
By ferry
Two CalMac ferry services operate from the
mainland to Bute; the main crossing is from Wemyss Bay
to Rothesay, and the other is the very short crossing at
the northern tip of the island, from Colintraive, in Cowal
to Rhubodach.
Destinations
Colintraive-Rhubodach (frequently; 5min);
Wemyss Bay-Rothesay (every 45min; 30min).
Rothesay
Bute's only town,
ROTHESAY
is a handsome Victorian resort, set in a wide, sweeping
bay, backed by green hills, with a classic palm-tree promenade and 1920s pagoda-style
pavilion originally built to house the Winter Gardens. Many of the buildings could use
a lick of paint or two, but despite this, the town retains a certain well-worn charm.
Pavilion toilets
The Pier • Daily: Easter-Sept 8am-7.45pm; Oct-Easter 9am-4.45pm • 20p
Rothesay's
Victorian toilets
, built in 1899 by Twyfords, are a feast of marble, ceramics
and brass so ornate that they're now one of the town's most celebrated sights. he
Victorians didn't make provision for ladies' conveniences, so the women's half is a
