Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ACCOMMODATION
CRINAN CANAL AND AROUND
CAIRNBAAN
Cairnbaan Hotel
By lock number five on the canal
T
01546 603668,
W
cairnbaan.com.
Eighteenth-century
coaching inn built at the same time as the canal, which it
overlooks, accommodating twelve very accomplished and
well-designed rooms.
Cha
rmingly staffed too and there is a
good restaurant/bar).
£85
CRINAN
Crinan Hotel
T
01546 830261,
W
crinanhotel.com.
Occupying an enviable position overlooking the harbour,
this long-standing family-run hotel has twenty artistically
decorated rooms (indeed the hotel has its own gallery),
many with a private balcony from which
to ta
ke in the loch
views. They do, though, come at a price.
£180
6
EATING AND DRINKING
CAIRNBAAN
Cairnbaan Hotel
By lock number five on the canal
T
01546 603668,
W
cairnbaan.com.
This hotel's lively
restaurant-cum-bar makes for a useful pit stop, and with
lots of passing trade from the canal, it does well, too.
Although local seafood is the main staple, there's much
more besides, such as tempura of haggis and a wickedly
tasty Argyll game pie (£14).
Daily 11am-10pm
.
lock-side café for a home-made sausage roll, or a mug of
tea with an enormous scone, jam and butter (£3.85).
Easter-Oct daily 10am-5pm.
Seafood Bar
Crinan Hotel
T
01546 830261.
Reward
yourself after the long canal-side walk with some
steamed mussels or an Arbroath smokie (£13) washed
down with a pint, at the same time as enjoying one of
the most beautiful views in Scotland - especially at
sunset, when the myriad islets and the distinctive Paps
of Jura are reflected in the waters of the loch.
Easter-
Oct daily noon-12.30pm & 6-8.30pm.
CRINAN
Coffee Shop
By the lockside
T
01546 830261.
If you
only fancy a quick refresher, head down to the cheery
Kintyre
But for the mile-long isthmus between West Loch Tarbert and the much smaller East
Loch Tarbert, the little-visited, sparsely populated peninsula of
KINTYRE
- from the
Gaelic
ceann tire
, “land's end” - would be an island. Indeed, in the eleventh century,
when the Scottish king, Malcolm Canmore, allowed Magnus Barefoot, King of
Norway, to lay claim to any island he could circumnavigate by boat, Magnus dragged
his boat across the Tarbert isthmus and added the peninsula to his Hebridean
kingdom. Despite its relative proximity to Scotland's Central Belt, Kintyre remains
quiet and unfashionable; its main towns of
Tarbert
and
Campbeltown
have few obvious
attractions, but that's part of their appeal.
THE SCOTTISH BEAVER TRIAL
In 2009, a colony of beavers from Norway were reintroduced to Knapdale Forest as part of a
five-year project by the
Scottish Beaver Trial
(
W
scottishbeavertrial.org.uk). The first beavers to
be released into the wilds of Scotland for over four hundred years, their reintroduction met with a
rather mixed reaction, though their effect on the environment (and to a lesser degree the local
economy) has been, and continues to be, closely monitored by an independent project team.
From the interpretation centre at
Barnluasgan
(four miles west of Cairnbaan), it's a
twenty-minute walk to Dubh Loch, where most of the beaver activity takes place. Here, there's
a viewing platform and another rough path that cuts through to Loch Coille Bharr, the two
lochs separated by an 18m-long dam that took the beavers around four to five months to
build - a quite remarkable feat of engineering. Either side of these two lochs, you'll also see
their lodges, large and impressive tangles of severed branches, wood and mud. The best time
to see these fascinating creatures is either at dawn or dusk, and though sightings are by no
means guaranteed, there is a strong possibility that you will witness some beaver activity. Take
along some binoculars, midge repellent and refreshments (you could be waiting a while), and
don't bring dogs. You can follow the trail yourself or, alternatively, join one of the
free
guided
tours
that take place on Tuesday and Saturday evenings between June and September.
