Heading off to a cottage near Lochgilphead for a week in Easter. Any suggestions on family friendly routes (sprogs are 2 & 5 so about 15 miles max), stuff to do, good pubs etc? Thinking about maybe exploring Islay and Jura perhaps. Cheers all.

Gigha is a worth a visit – we took the bikes over last time.
Cycling along the Crinan canal is nice too – flat and easy as well.
There are several things to do in Inverary including the castle and the jail.

Dunadd – crown yourself king or queen of dalriada (shoe Size 5 is about right. bring your own boars blood/sacrifice of your choice)
Carnasserie castle – Run about, shout into the dungeons/well
standing stones – Pause for a moment and remember these were up BEFORE the pyramids.
Cairns – pretend you are dead, crawl in a hole. Well I did when I was 5…still do.
kayak in loch sween
Hide in the monastic cells on Eilan Mor
Boat Hire tayvaillachVisit Cruachan powerstation
Inverary jail is a bit tooristy/tired and wasted on a 5 year old.

For bikes
The forest road south of crinan to tayviallach is nice. There are loads of options for maw and weans to get somewhere and dad to nip back to get car if it gets too much. There is a flat track down the wee peninsula in loch sween ideal for a picnic at the end.

There were Beavers but someone shot them.

Cheers all

I second Cbike with Tayviallach. Fabulous wee place with more boats than cars. The forest trail from Crinan also passes through Carsaig.

Watch out for dolphins and otters ( only time i have seen them in the wild)and a possibility of whales.

The drive from Bellanoch to Tayviallach via Caol Scotnish looks more like Canada than Scotland.

And daddy can do the Firetower Trail too if he gets a pass from mum !

The whole area has fantastic scenery, including the canal towpath.

But don't tell anyone, keep it nice and quiet.

Your in a similar position to me with the ages of your kids and there are plenty of family friendly runs around the area 🙂

Refreshment stop at Tayvallich inn halfway around 😉
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/ourwoods.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/ScotlandArgyllandButeNoForestKnapdaleForestGleannaGealbhanArdnoecycleroute
Another..
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/ourwoods.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/ScotlandArgyllandButeKilmichaelForestKilmichaelForestGlashanLochGlashanTrail

The firetower itself is pretty family friendly as alot of it is fire road, so the family can watch dad go head over heels on rough singletrack 😆 or else they can do the cup and rings walk which intertwines with the firetower trail as you have a quick blast on the trails 🙂

Lots and lots of decent walking around the area, as mentioned before the beavers are in Knapdale forest and great fun for young kids (mine love trying to see them!)and they are based at Loch coille-bharr
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/recreation.nsf/$$SearchPlacesToGo?Openform&n=&nt=lochgilphead&cr=Scotland&ct=All%20Counties&op=w&g=uaems&sr=

The summer timetable kicks in this friday (26th) for calmac so visiting Islay and Jura is a little easier. Jura would be an excellent day out, also the passenger ferry from Tayvallich starts again on the 2nd of april http://www.jurapassengerferry.com/ which saves the hopscotch from Islay…

Food wise, plenty to choose from now – the Argyll inn in Lochgilphead is worth a visit as it has good beer and excellent food. Horseshoe Inn in Kilmicheal glassary does good food and the kids can run riot as very friendly, also Kilmartin hotel, Cairnbaan hotel, crinan hotel…..

Im based in Lochgilphead so if your looking for more info drop me an email 😉

stucol- yeah been itching to head to this area for ages. A fair distance from home (aberdeen) but looks like a paradise of cycles, walks, beaches and bays.

Anyone take the bikes over to Islay? Half thinking about going from Port Ellen to Pork Askaig if seas calm so sprogs don't get sea sick! 2 hours each way I think.

bikes are free on cal mac if i recall so good cheap way of seeing the island, never done it myself though. Port ellen to port askaig is a fair trek with the kid's in tow, as its about an hrs drive but it would be lovely weather dependant.

steviegil – wow great stuff thanks! looks as if a week might not be long enough!

Carnasserie castle

Crinan Canal

Tayvalich

There's also beavers in the lakes above Tayvalich, we didn't see any but worth a look (loads of family friendly walks and rides in the area too.

An often overlooked but stunning part of Scotland IMHO

Definitely a take the passenger ferry to Jura, lovely place.

Kilmory Beach

Family friendly estate road continuing south form the coastal road past Kilmory

Port Ellen to Port Askaig is a fair trek with some fairly hefty climbing on busy roads

better to cycle along the south coast taking in the distilleries 🙂

If you are going to go over to Islay then take the car end head for the north coast

it's a bit pretty up there

We'll be further north at easter, hoping to catch some good weather!

Amazing pictures Mrmichaelwright, your really selling my part of the country very well!

thanks 🙂

it'll be more my part of the country too in a couple of years hopefully

mrmichaelwright – Member

An often overlooked but stunning part of Scotland IMHO

I could not agree more but im slightly biased 😆

Huggis i replied to your email fella 😉

mrmichaelwright – thanks for the advice and – wow – great snaps! very inspiring!

Oh its lovely up there!!! most go again soon. The church and vistor centre at Kilmartin are well worth a visit.