Greenock – Coastal Road Trip

Day 13 – Greenock to Dunoon

Another 120 miles ahead of us today as we set off from Greenock to loop around the mainland, and end up only a few miles away across the Firth of Clyde at Dunoon.

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Long, Arrochar, Old Pier — Loch Long.

Port Glasgow

Coastal Road Trip, Port Glasgow, Newark Castle — Our first castle of the day, Newark Castle. Quite a rabbits warren of rooms… it went on and on.

Coastal Road Trip, Port Glasgow, Newark Castle, Jarno Knight — Jarno picking a fight with the lovely lady working in the Historic Scotland castle shop.

Dumbarton

Coastal Road Trip, Dumbarton Castle, Cannon — And on to our next castle, Dumbarton Castle. The heavens opened at this point, but still we scrabbled up the many steps to the top of the castle hill. But took the best picture back down at the bottom of this cannon pointing out across the Firth of Clyde to where we’d just come from earlier in the morning.

Helensburgh

Coastal Road Trip, Helensburgh, Hill House, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Table, Chairs — One of the highlights of the day were the unmistakably Charles Rennie Mackintosh interiors of Hill House. BTW, a correction, we call it Hill Top House by mistake in the daily video (should be just Hill House) – thanks Julian’s Mum & Dad for pointing that out 😉 Living room table and chairs.

Coastal Road Trip, Helensburgh, Hill House, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Bedroom — Bedroom furniture and window. Perfect complimenting each other.

Coastal Road Trip, Helensburgh, Hill House, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Hall Light — The hall stair lighting with its rich deep purple glass.

Coastal Road Trip, Helensburgh, Hill House, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Entrance Hall — The entrance, every element Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Gare Loch

Coastal Road Trip, Gare Loch, Yellow Boat — A solitary yellow boat on Gare Loch.

Loch Long

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Long, For Fox Sake Slow Down — We slowed down…

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Long, Grey Mountains — Views up Loch Long with the mountains fading into fifty shades of grey.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Long, Arrochar — The sun reemerged as we reached the head of the Loch near Arrochar.

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Long, Arrochar, Old Pier — And the remainders of the old Pier at Arrochar.

Glen Croe

Coastal Road Trip, Glen Croe — The bright evening sunlight highlighting the uneveness of Glen Croe.

Lochgoilhead

Coastal Road Trip, Lochgoilhead — Lochgoilhead, not surprisingly at the head of Loch Goil.

Loch Fyne

Coastal Road Trip, Loch Fyne — Loch Fyne looking mysterious as the rain sets in again.

Dunoon

Coastal Road Trip, Dunoon, Hunter's Quay Ferry Terminal — The view from our B&B bedroom window, overlooking the small ferry terminal at Hunter’s Quay.

Daily video

Day 12 – Stranraer to Greenock

Day twelve already! Getting deeper in to Scotland as we head for Greenock (just west of Glasgow).

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Ardrossan, Flowers — Ardrossan

Stranraer

Coastal Road Trip, Stranraer, Lighthouse — A small lighthouse peeping over the shorline between the ferry terminals on Loch Ryan.

Ballantree

Coastal Road Trip, Ballantree, Pirates — Scottish pirates? Unlikely today in the quiet (almost empty) and the slightly smelly harbor of Ballantree.

Lendalfoot

Coastal Road Trip, Lendalfoot, A77 — Impressive views north along the coastal A77 road just before Lendalfoot.

Girvan

Coastal Road Trip, Girvan — What a great backdrop to Girvan. A few miles further on we tried to get close to Turnberry Lighthouse, unfortunately it’s now surrounded by a luxury Trump hotel and golf course, so we gave up…

Culzean Castle

Coastal Road Trip, Culzean Castle, Julian, Jarno — The super impressive Culzean Castle, both inside and out. National Trust Scotland have clearly invested in the property and the facilities.

Coastal Road Trip, Culzean Castle, Arms — One way to show off the Kennedy family arms.

Denure

Coastal Road Trip, Denure Castle — The remains of the small castle just as you enter Denure.

Alloway

Coastal Road Trip, Alloway, Burns Cottage — Just before Ayr, we arrived at the birthplace of the Scottish poet Robert Burns (this cottage).

Coastal Road Trip, Alloway, Burns Cottage, Maggpie, Tam, Sculpture — A sculpture of Maggpie the horse and Tam, from the Burns poem Tam o’ Shanter.

Ardrossan

Coastal Road Trip, Ardrossan, Flowers — Lovely flower displays on the seafront brightening up a rather dull Ardrossan.

Portencross

Coastal Road Trip, Portencross, Trees — Hourglass figured trees on the road to Portencross Castle.

Coastal Road Trip, Portencross Castle, Julian, Jarno — Portencross Castle, and it started to absolutely pour down with rain, so surprised we managed to get any pictures at all of this 1300s castle.

Hunterston

Coastal Road Trip, Hunterston, Cranes — Looking back from Fairlie to the silhouette of the cranes at the coal handling port of Hunterston Terminal.

Largs

Coastal Road Trip, Largs, Rainbow — As the rains cleared and the evening sun burst through the clouds, a huge rainbow appeared over Largs, which seemed a surprisingly busy holiday town.

Cloch Point

Coastal Road Trip, Cloch Point Lighthouse — Just before arriving at Greenock for the night, we made a quick stop at Cloch Point Lighthouse overlooking the Firth of Clyde, and now someones home.

Daily video