This post is split into different sections. The first section covers a trip to Inveraray and Campbeltown, via Glasgow.
The second section covers a trip to Inverness, Invergordon and Cromarty.
The third section will cover the gem towns around Edinburgh: Culross, Haddington, Kelso and Edinburgh & Leith plus Dunfermline, Scotland’s “newest” city (it was awarded city status in 2022)…
1. Inveraray and Campbeltown
If you’re not driving, then the only practical way to do this trip is by bus. I used http://www.citylink.co.uk and the City Link app to find timetables, fares, buy and store tickets. Bus 926 runs approximately every 3 hours and takes around 4hrs20 to do the 140-miles between Glasgow’s Buchanan Street bus station and Campbeltown’s bus station. I say Campbeltown’s bus station as that is what it’s called but it’s actually just two bus stops opposite each other. One for arrivals: one for departures. Simple but effective. The buses are big, modern, have a toilet and there’s a 10-minute stop at Inveraray, which is roughly half-way.
Inveraray
According to http://www.visitscotland.com Inveraray is “…the traditional county town of Argyll overlooking the still waters of Loch Fyne…”
Except that it’s not exactly “traditional” in that it was established in 1745 by the 3rd Duke of Argyll – something of a model town along the lines of Bourneville, Port Sunlight and Saltaire. Of course, establishing the new town meant demolishing the old one – but the people were at least re-housed in the new houses. It is included in the list of Scottish gem towns as a set piece of Scottish Georgian architecture. Key buildings that are worth visiting include the neoclassical church, and Inveraray Jail and courthouse, now a museum. A short walk out of the town takes you to the neo-Gothic Inveraray Castle, which is the family home of the Dukes of Argyll. The castle is set in extensive grounds which contain a number of marked walks, including one that rises over 800 feet to the tower atop Dun Na Cuaiche from where there is a spectacular view over the castle, town and loch…
The Harbour and Loch Fyne
Loch FyneInveraray’s Celtic Cross – it is either medieval (1300s or 1400s) or early 19th century, depending on which article you read…The War Memorial to the Highlanders who perished during WW1 and WW2…
The Town
Glenaray & Inveraray parish church was designed by Robert Mylne in 1792 to house two congregations, English and Gaelic, each had its own entrance under its own portico. The former jail is now a museumThe Ocho restaurant is in a fine buildingInveraray Bell TowerAll Saints Church dates from 1886…
The Castle
Tarbert
Tarbert is a pretty fishing village on an inlet of Loch Fyne. It is a popular overnight stop as it is close to the Kennacraig ferry terminal for ferries to Islay and Jura. Note that the CalMac ferry services are in a state of flux at the moment, for reasons that are well documented elsewhere, so checking service availability is essential. Note also that there’s a Tarbert in the Hebrides and a Tarbet on the shores of Loch Lomond…
Campbeltown
Campbeltown is classified as one of Scotland’s official whisky regions alongside Islay, Speyside, Highlands and the Lowlands. Although the smallest of Scotland’s whisky regions today, Campbeltown used to be the whisky capital of the world, with more than 30 distilleries in the town. Today there are just three distilleries remaining: Springbank, Glen Scotia and Glengyle’s Kilkerran.
Campbeltown became a whisky boomtown in the 1800s. All the ingredients were there: Kintyre for barley, peat bogs to supply peat for the malting process, the waters of the nearby Crosshill Loch and coal from Drumlemble mine near Machrihanish to fuel the stills. Campbeltown was also a natural deep-sea harbour and a busy port. As the whisky industry grew, ships took the whisky to the fast-growing markets of Glasgow, London and, more importantly, America. By the late 1800s, Campbeltown was a prosperous, flourishing town.
But it didn’t last. The introduction of Prohibition in the USA in 1920 virtually killed the export market. Seventeen distilleries closed in the 1920s and, by the end of the decade, only Rieclachan was still distilling. By 1934, Springbank and Glen Scotia had restarted production – but Rieclachan had shut for good. The Glengyle distillery, founded in 1872 and closed in 1925, was bought in 2000 by J&A Mitchell (owners of Springbank). Following rebuilding and restoration, production of Kilkerran resumed in 2004…
The Harbour
Harbourfront
The Campbeltown Cross was brought from Kilkivan Church to serve as a market cross in 1680. It is the largest and best known example of a late medieval Celtic cross in Argyll. Dating from around 1380, it has intricate Celtic and religious markings…I stayed at the Royal HotelThe Campbeltown Picture House opened in 1913 and is one of the earliest purpose-built cinemas in Scotland and possibly the oldest continuously running cinema in the country…The Burnet Building is home to the Campbeltown Museum and the Linda McCartney Memorial Garden. The building opened in 1899 and designed in the early Scottish Renaissance style by the Glasgow architect John James Burnet…The Linda McCartney Memorial Garden opened in November 2002…The Linda McCartney Memorial Garden
Main Street
The Town Hall was built between 1758-60 – its original timber spire was rebuilt in stone in 1788. It was extended and remodelled in 1866.The former White Hart Hotel is empty and derelict – Campbeltown is still in recovery…What was once Castlehill Church has been converted into flats and is now known as Castlehill Mansions. It was the site of Lochead Castle, built in 1609 by the 7th Earl of Argyll but long since demolished…
Street Scenes
The Heritage Centre is well worth visiting with lots of exhibits and information on the history of Campbeltown…Campbeltown Parish Church – closed outside of services – was built between 1869-72. It was designed by James Burnet in an Italian Renaissance style and the bell tower has become a well known landmark… Campbeltown Parish Church
Distilleries
By 1843 there were 25 distilleries, producing 700, 000 gallons of whisky a year. At its peak there were 30 distilleries but not all of them were producing at the same time. The introduction of Prohibition in 1920, in the USA, virtually killed the export trade and by the end of the 1920s only Rieclachan was still distilling. By 1934, Springbank and Glen Scotia had restarted production – but Rieclachan had shut for good…
SpringbankSpringbankSpringbankGlen ScotiaGlen ScotiaGlen ScotiaFollowing restoration, the Glengyle distillery, founded in 1872 and owned by J&A Mitchell (owners of Springbank), resumed production of Kilkerran in 2004.GlengyleThe former Hazelburn Distillery is now a business centre. After studying organic chemistry in Glasgow, Masataka Katetsura came to Hazelburn Distillery in 1920 to work. He returned to Japan with his Scottish wife, Rita Cowan, and established the first Suntory distillery in Hokkaido. He later founded his own distillery in Yoichi that still produces whisky under the Nikka brand…What remains of the Benmohr Distillery is a depot for West Coast Motors and their busesThe former Lochhead Distillery is now in ruins and used as a car park…Cadenhead’s is owned by J&A Mitchell…A photo of the Springbank I sourced for the launch of the Tesco Finest range
2. Inverness
According to http://www.visitscotland.com, Inverness is the “capital of the Highlands” and “voted as one of the 50 best places to travel to in 2025”.
You need to allow plenty of time to get there, though. It’s about 156 miles (251km) from Edinburgh but takes a lethargic 3hrs32 by train; around 3hr20 by car and 3hr48 by bus. That’s an average speed of 45mph. Compare that to the 2hrs52 it takes to go from London Kings Cross to Newcastle (290 miles/467km). The Scottish government is in the process of completing the dualling of the A9, so it will soon be quicker by car and bus. There are no plans to double-track the railway line…
It is about 168 miles (270km) from Glasgow and the train takes an equally leisurely 3hrs20; around 3hr15 by car and 3hr38 by bus(timetables courtesy of ScotRail, CityLink and Google Maps)…
If it’s such a great place, why not make it easier and quicker to get to? And why does it take so long, anyway? Well: much of the line from Perth to Inverness (about 100 miles) is single track with few passing loops and with no plans to double-track the line…
Scotrail still uses HSTs for inter-city services. These stalwarts of the GB intercity network were gradually withdrawn from 2019 in England & Wales…
Three churches line the River Ness. From left to right: the Old High Church, the Free North Church and St Columba’s Free High Church…Inverness Castle consists of two sections. The first dates from the 1830s and was built as a courthouse. The second, completed in the 1840s, served as the prison. Sitting on the banks of the River Ness, in the heart of Inverness, the castle is an imposing building…
Cathedral of St Andrew
In 1853 it was proposed that there should be a Cathedral of the Highlands in Inverness. The foundation stone was laid by the Archbishop of Canterbury on 1866, and the Cathedral was opened for services in 1869. At the time a debt of £8,000 remained on the building and it was not until it was paid off in the middle of 1874 that the Cathedral could be finally consecrated. At the time it was the first Cathedral to be completely built and consecrated in Great Britain since the reformation…
Other Churches
The Catholic Church of St Mary was designed in 1837 by William Robertson in the Gothic Revival style. It was extended and given a new altar and reredos with carved figures and mosaics by W L Carruthers in 1893. There was further restoration in 2014…The Old High Church on the left and the Free North Church on the right – both closed to visitors…The Free North Church was built between 1889-93 – nothing says “welcome” like having the church locked outside of services…The Old High Church – there has been a church on this site since 1171 but the oldest remaining part is the bell tower, dating from the 15th or 16th century. The Old High Church graveyard
The City
The faux castle: built in 1836 as a court house and in 1846 a prison was added… The Town House is a municipal building located on Inverness High Street. Designed by architect William Lawrie in 1882, the house was built to replace the very first town house in Inverness, which was built in 1708 and demolished in 1858. An update on the town house took place in 1898 when William Meikle & Sons installed stained glass windows to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The building was also extended in 1907 and refurbished in 2018…Built in 1848 as the head office of the Caledonian Bank, which had been set up in in Inverness in 1838. The bank was subsequently taken over by the Bank of Scotland. It closed as a bank in 2003 and became a pub but remains one of the few attractive buildings in the city centre…Inverness Museum and Art Gallery. There has been a museum on this site since 1826 but, for some inexplicable reason, it was transformed in 2007 into this dismal building. They could, of course, have hired a decent architect to create something inspired, but no…The Rose Street Foundry & Engineering Company Ltd was formed in 1895 by amalgamating three other foundries and the buildings are on the site of one of these, the Inverness Iron Works, dating from pre 1860. Architects Ross and Macbeth built the French Renaissance 3 storey building in snecked rubble with freestone dressings. If only Ross and Macbeth had been around to redesign the museum… https://rosestreetfoundry.com/about/historyDunbar’s Hospital was built in 1668, by Provost Alexander Dunbar, as an almshouse and hospital. It later became a school. The ground floor is now used as a senior citizens day centre…Abertarff House, built in 1593, is the oldest house in Inverness. It was gifted to the National Trust for Scotland in 1963, and the building was restored by the Trust in 1966.The bus station is normally a hive of activity with local and intercity buses – it is usually quicker, cheaper and more comfortable to use either CityLink or Flixbus than the trains…The city seems unfairly cursed with woeful 1970s and 1980s architecture…
Cromarty
Cromarty is the best preserved example of an 18th century town in Scotland. It’s also a gem town. Situated 24 miles from Inverness, on the tip of the Black Isle at the mouth of the Cromarty Firth. For over 700 years Cromarty was a lively trading port, peaking in the 17th century with trade with Norway, Sweden, Holland and the Mediterranean, and then again in the herring boom of the 19th century when dozens of fishing boats sailed from its harbour.
It is due to the depression following these booms that Cromarty is preserved today as the most attractive town on the east coast of the Highlands, and due to the oil boom in the 1970’s that its current prosperity has allowed for the repair and renovation of so many of its fine old buildings. https://www.black-isle.info/cromarty
The Harbour
The Town
The old brewery is an 18th century brewhouse now converted into a B&B…
Grand Houses
Invergordon
I came to Invergordon several times in the early 1990s, as Invergordon Distillers supplied our own label whisky…
The Distillery
Invergordon is a fairly new distillery, having been founded in 1960, with the intention of being a large-scale grain whisky production. In 1993 it was bought by Whyte & MacKay. In 2007, Whyte & Mackay was bought by United Breweries of India and they sold it on to Emperador Distilleries of the Philippines in 2014…
Street Art
What do you do when your town has no attractions: no castle, museums, galleries – just a working town but still gets thousands of tourists visiting ever year…
Oil and Cruise Liners
The Port of Cromarty Firth is one of Europe’s leading port facilities for Oil & Gas works, with over 700 oil and gas rigs coming in for maintenance ever year…
Invergordon has a population of around 4,000 yet welcomes over 125 cruise ships and 200,000 visitors ever year…
3. More To Come
Yes: four more gem towns – Culross, Haddington, Kelso, Edinburgh & Leith (counted as one for any mathematicians out there)
