glasgow to Dunoon, ferry or longer drive

Ferry. It always feels like you're going on holiday 🙂

Never taken the ferry but stayed in that area a few times (Loch Fyne) and driven down to Dunoon. I expect the ferry will be much quicker. Although it's a nice drive especially the drive past Rest and Be Thankful.

Somin your situation I'd do the drive at least once but take the ferry at other times.

Edit: Benmore Botanic Gardens are lovely as is Puck's Glen, definitely worth a visit and can do both in the same day.

Ferry
Do not buy tickets on the ferry get them much cheaper at their agents
https://www.western-ferries.co.uk/pages/ticket-agents

Cheers guys,

Thanks for the linky.
Mrs Mad will be chuffed with the botanic gardens. I'll test out the café.

Cafe at botanic gardens is lovely. Well it was when I last went 3 years ago.

If you have time, do both. Ferry one way and drive round on the way back. That way you get the chance to stop for <span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">seafood at Loch fyne oysters, which is frankly brilliant.

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For even better food drive for a wee bit in the opposite direction and go to the pub at Otterferry for food.

Yep, both. Ferry there because BOATS. Drive back is really nice too, til you get to Glasgow anyway. And there's a bunch of things you can do en route.

There might be a good option with the foot ferry?

Oh Loch Fyne brewery are excellent as well.

Sadly the Benmore cafe closed last year, but Jamie might have his coffee & cake trailer in the car park which is also epic. The people from Benmore cafe now run The Blairmore, round the Holy Loch at, errrr, Blairmore!!

Yes ferry (I commute on it every day) and yes definitely buy tickets onshore first. Typically 30 mins faster to Glasgow than driving round.

Rob

If you are needing to go to Glasgow during the week is it to the Ciry Centre?  If so you can avoid sitting in your car for so much of your holiday by getting the train that meets the ferry, and it probably cheaper than taking car on the ferry.

In Dunoon, fish and chips from Lorenzo’s FTW.

go to the pub at Otterferry

wow! I remember going there several times in the summer of '95 when some friends of mine were living at Otterferry. It's called the Oyster Catcher if I recall. Hazy memeories of excellent food, pints of Cafferys with whisky chasers and the bar staff standing on the tables singing folks songs

Remember Billy Connolly singing why don't they come back to Dunoon parody of everyone gone to the moon
I was once in Dunoon and could see why folk gave up on it but a couple of miles back in the countryside on the way to Otter Ferry it's amazing change of scenery

Ferry. The Rest and be Thankful can often be closed due to landslides

I’m surprised this is even a question. Driving a car onto a boat is exciting every time. If it doesn’t feel like an adventure to you then you are broken.

God I love stw.

Thanks all.
The Oystercatcher looks ace, always preferred Caffreys to guiness

Oh also Bute has some lovely beaches. Ettrick bay is lovely and a reasonable amount of parking at the NW end by the tea room/cafe.

BTW the botanics are ace, but just alone the road is Puck's Glen which is differently ace, and also can be a relatively quick "one and done" visit. (if you go all the way to the top it takes a while but most people only do the first section I think, it's definitely the best)

If you like trees, there's also the excellently odd Kilmun arboretum- a forestry research project where they literally just planted out blocks of loads of different trees, to see what could be a good forestry tree in scotland. So one second you're walking through eucalyptus, the next coast redwoods, or japanese cedars... Some stuff just died, some is doing well, some is completely abandoned. The path network is similarly not all doing so well but that added to the fun for me, it felt more explorey and less parkey.