Loch Lomond Itinerary
Welcome to The Start of the Scottish Highlands
My first ever visit to Loch Lomond, a fantastic weekend with great company. We packed a huge amount of activities into our short weekend at this magnificent place.
After planning the trip for weeks, the weather had not predicted very promising results, heavy rain and downpours given for the entire weekend, we were not sure whether to cancel and re-book for another weekend when dryer weather predicted. We decided to go with it, a bit of rain never hurt anyone, even in a non-waterproof child sized tent.
And so we set off, 0430hrs on a summer morning from Chesterfield. A great start until the moment we passed the England/Scotland boarder, immediately rain was smashing down onto the M74, spray from lorries, cars skidding even one crashed over 4 lanes, not a pretty sight. We couldn't act surprised as we knew the forecast.
After another couple of hours having to slow down on the motorway to avoid skidding we eventually arrived into Luss village where we were staying. The weather immediately cleared up and the sun came out almost like we were being welcomed.
We found Luss caravan and camping site where we were staying, got the tent pitched in a matter of minutes, we kicked back watching everyone else struggle with their giant oversized tents.
We chose Luss of all places around Loch Lomond as research showed it was a great base to travel to other places, had plenty of amenities and things to do in the village, not to mention being home to a camp site with pitches on the shores of Loch Lomond.
During the weekend in Loch Lomond, we managed to pack quite a few activities in.
Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP)
Based on Luss Beach, Loch Lomond Adventures will provide you with a bunch of water sport options, Kayaking, Canoe, we chose to try Stand up Paddle boarding. We had a 1hr slot for rental of our boards, of that time I think I spent all of 5 minutes actually stand up paddleboarding, the rest either falling in or 'Sit down paddle boarding'. whilst I was falling in, Lucy was busy getting blown into the Loch by the strong winds.
Walked Some of the West Highland Way, Balmaha to Milarrochy Bay and Back
This is such a beautiful walk, along the different shores of Loch Lomond and views of surrounding mountains. This is a great section to choose, Milarrochy Bay as the half way point is a bonus as there are public facilities if you are in need. Upon your return to Balmaha, there are a few cute coffee shops you can grab a warm cup of joe from.
Visited Abandoned Buchanan Castle
This is a must see! Hidden from plain sight, you would never know the castle was there if it was not for the power of google, follow the postcode in the itinerary at the bottom of the post to find it.
Since its closure in the 1950's the castle has deteriorated and now lies completely overgrown and lost in time.
Visited Ballach Castle and Grounds
Nice castle and beautiful grounds and gardens. (Free parking and entry to the grounds)
Drank Some Irn-Bru
The national drink, although I only had sugar free, not sure if this fully counts. Maybe I just need to return to try the real thing.
Took in the Best View of Loch Lomond From the Inveruglas Pyramid Viewpoint
Not on the original itinerary but definitely worth the visit. We found a little spare time so we took a short trip north of Luss to the Inveruglas pyramid, here you can climb up the steps to see the best view of Loch Lomond.
Went on a 90 Minute Circular Cruise Around Loch Lomond
A great cruise even if it were raining. You can sit below deck in the dry and check out the views of the Lochs many islands or you can sit or stand above deck for 360 degree views of the beautiful landscape. Of course I did the latter, a little rain wont ruin my experiences.
What Changed compared to the Itinerary
A few things changed from our itinerary, due to the predicted weather we swapped a few activities around, that did not play in our favour, the cruise we moved from Friday to Sunday, turned out to be dry Friday and it rained during the cruise Sunday!
The spontaneous decision to visit the Inveruglas pyramid was a great one, you should definitely add this to your itinerary, I am thankful we came across it as the view is amaaaaziiing!
We decided to not go to Loch Lomond Arms as we enjoyed the bliss of sitting by the campfire with a hot coffee. The pub would have been great if the weather was accurate, I'm sure a break from the rain would have been appreciated.
Cooking on the camping stove is pretty fun and is a must do on camping trips.
As we had a non electric pitch, we were limited on what food we could store so apart from the pot noodles we tried a couple of recipes.
Maple bacon pancakes were my fave but, we forgot the maple syrup so had just bacon pancakes, still tasty nevertheless.
Overall the trip was fantastic, we were quite lucky with the weather given the treseros downpours predicted, we only experienced rain whilst driving up and a spot of on the last day. During the boat trip!
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