Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
INFORMATION AND TOURS
LUSS
Tourist information
Pick up local information at the
Luss Visitor Centre (
T
01436 860229).
daily;
T
01301 702260).
Boat tours
At the pier over the road from the prominent
Tarbet Hotel
you can hop on an hour-long loch cruise run by
Cruise Loch Lomond (
T
01301 702356,
W
cruiselochlomond
.co.uk). The same operator also offers trips to Inversnaid and
Rowardennan on the eastern side.
TARBERT
Tourist o
ce
Tarbet has a small tourist o
ce (April-Oct
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
LUSS
Coach House
Loch Lomond Trading Company Limited
T
01436 860341.
A spruce and lively little tearoom
serving a range of teas, cakes, ciabattas, Orkney ice cream
and its own take on haggis.
10am-5pm.
Lodge on Loch Lomond
T
01436 860201,
W
loch-lomond.co.uk.
This modern lodge, just north of
town, has a string of rooms with balconies and views over
the loch, and serves decent meals in its restaurant,
Colquhoun's
.
6-9.45pm, Sun 12.30-3.30pm & 6-9.45pm.
£179
INVERARNAN
Drovers Inn
By Ardlui, North Loch Lomond
T
01301
704234,
W
thedroversinn.co.uk.
The bar features a
roaring fire, barmen dressed in kilts, weary hillwalkers
sipping pints, and bearded musicians banging out folk
songs. Down the creaking corridors, past moth-eaten
stuffed
ani
mals, are a number of resolutely old-fashioned
rooms.
£65
7
Food served
Mon-Sat noon-5pm &
Crianlarich and Tyndrum
CRIANLARICH
, some eight miles north of the head of Loch Lomond, is an important
staging post on various transport routes, including the West Highland Railway which
divides here, one branch heading due west towards Oban, the other continuing north
over Rannoch Moor to Fort William. he West Highland Way long-distance footpath
(see box, p.293) passes by. Otherwise, there's little reason to stop here, unless you're
keen on tackling some of the steep-sided hills that rise up from the glen.
Five miles further north from here on the A82/A85, the village of
TYNDRUM
owes
its existence to a minor (and very short-lived) nineteenth-century gold rush, but
today supports little more than a busy service station and several characterless hotels.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
CRIANLARICH AND TYNDRUM
By train
Crianlarich is well served by regular trains.
Destinations
Fort William (3-4 daily Mon-Sat, 1-3 on
Sun; 1hr 50min); Glasgow Queen Street (6-8 daily Mon-
Sat, 1-3 on Sun; 1hr 50min); Oban (3-4 daily Mon-Sat,
1-3 on Sun; 1hr 15min).
By car
At Tyndrum the road divides, with the A85 heading
west to Oban, and the A82 heading for Fort William via
Glen Coe.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
By The Way Hostel and Campsite
Lower Station Rd
T
01838 400333,
W
tyndrumbytheway.com.
Right beside
Tyndrum Lower railway station is a good campsite and small
purpose-built bunkhouse; the cute wooden “hobbit hou
ses
”
in the ground
s slee
p four and are self-cat
ering
. Camping
£8
/
person; hostel
£16
/person; hobbit house
£40
Real Food Café
Tyndrum
T
01838 400 235,
W
therealfoodcafe.com.
For a refreshingly different
roadside dining experience, it's well worth trying the airy
café on the main road serving fresh, fast food that's locally
sourced and cooked to order.
Mon-Thurs & Sun
9am-10pm, Fri 11am-10pm, Sat 7.30am-9pm.
The Trossachs
Often described as the Highlands in miniature, the
Trossachs
area boasts a
magnificent diversity of scenery, with distinctive peaks, silvery lochs and mysterious,
forest-covered slopes. Strictly speaking, the name “Trossachs”, normally translated as
either “bristly country” or “crossing place”, originally referred only to the wooded
glen between
Loch Katrine
and Loch Achray, but today it is usually taken as being the
