Dunoon

Dunoon sits on the western shore of the Firth of Clyde, on the Cowal Peninsula, and for well over a century it has been the gateway between Glasgow's commuter belt and the wilder scenery of Argyll. Most visitors arrive the way generations of Glaswegians have arrived for their holidays: by ferry, watching the town's church spires and Victorian terraces grow larger across the water. That approach still shapes the place. The promenade along Alexandra Parade and Marine Parade is lined with tall bay-windowed guest houses built for steamer trade day-trippers and week-long holidaymakers, and the town retains a slightly old-fashioned, unhurried seaside character that has come back into fashion rather than gone out of it.

Behind the front, Dunoon is small and walkable, built around a pier, a compact high street and the wooded knoll of Castle Hill, where the ruins of the medieval Dunoon Castle look out over the water. What makes the town a genuinely good base, rather than just a pleasant one, is what lies beyond it. The Cowal Peninsula stretches away to the north and west in a tangle of sea lochs, forestry and hills, and Dunoon is the natural jumping-off point for all of it, from the botanic garden at Benmore to the long sweep of Loch Eck and the quieter shore villages around the Holy Loch.

The town also carries a slice of Cold War history that surprises people who only know it as a Victorian resort. Between the 1960s and the early 1990s the Holy Loch, immediately north of Dunoon, was a US Navy base for Polaris and Poseidon submarines, and the American presence left a lasting mark on the town's shops, accents and folk memory. That layered past, added to the older Highland and Lowland Scots history of the Cowal peninsula, gives Dunoon more to talk about than its size would suggest.

Top things to do in Dunoon

Dunoon's attractions divide neatly between the town itself and short trips into the surrounding Cowal countryside, so a few days here rarely feel repetitive.

• Castle House Museum traces the town's history from the medieval castle through the Victorian steamer age to the Cold War submarine base, in a Victorian house built for a local sugar merchant.
• Benmore Botanic Garden, a few miles north of the town, is an outstation of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, famous for its avenue of giant redwoods and its rhododendron collection.
• Puck's Glen is a steep wooded gorge walk near Benmore, threaded with footbridges over a tumbling burn and waterfalls, and one of the most photographed short walks in Argyll.
• Dunoon Pier and the Cowal waterfront are worth a slow stroll, taking in the Cowal War Memorial, the pier's Victorian ironwork, and views across to Gourock and the Cloch lighthouse.
• Cowal Highland Gathering, held each August, is one of Scotland's largest Highland games, with massed pipe bands, heavy events and Highland dancing drawing crowds back to the town every summer.
• Kilmun Arboretum and the Holy Loch shore make an easy afternoon drive, combining a Forestry and Land Scotland tree collection with the quiet villages of Kilmun, Sandbank and the former submarine base.
• Toward Point Lighthouse, south of the town, is a good easy walk or drive with views down the Firth of Clyde towards Bute and the Cumbraes.
• Loch Eck, a long freshwater loch a short drive inland, offers fishing, quiet lochside walking and access into the wider Argyll Forest Park.

Getting to Dunoon

Dunoon has no railway station of its own, so almost every rail journey ends with a ferry crossing of the Firth of Clyde. The usual route from Glasgow is a ScotRail train from Glasgow Central to Gourock, a journey of around 45 minutes with two departures an hour, followed by the CalMac passenger ferry from Gourock pier to Dunoon, which takes about 20 to 25 minutes. From London, this means travelling by train to Glasgow Central (around four and a half hours on the direct Avanti West Coast service, or by LNER and a change), then continuing to Gourock and across by ferry; door to door the trip typically takes seven to eight hours.

Drivers have two realistic options. The passenger ferry from Gourock does not carry cars, so for a vehicle the usual crossing is the Western Ferries service, a short and frequent ferry that runs between McInroy's Point, just west of Gourock, and Hunters Quay, immediately north of Dunoon; crossings take about 20 minutes and run very regularly throughout the day. Alternatively, Dunoon can be reached entirely by road via the A83 and A815 around the head of Loch Long and Loch Eck, a scenic but considerably longer route of around two and a half hours from Glasgow. On-street and pay-and-display parking is available along the seafront and around the pier, with additional parking near the Queens Hall and the town centre shops.

Best time to visit Dunoon

Spring brings the town's gardens into their best form, with Benmore's rhododendrons and azaleas typically at their peak from April into May, and longer daylight making the walk through Puck's Glen and the wider Argyll Forest Park especially rewarding. Summer is Dunoon's busiest season, when the Cowal Highland Gathering in August fills the town with pipe bands and visitors, ferries run at their most frequent, and the seafront cafes and beer gardens are at their liveliest; it is also, by west of Scotland standards, the driest and warmest time to visit. Autumn thins the crowds while keeping the hills around Loch Eck and the Cowal forests colourful well into October, and is a good season for walkers who prefer quieter paths. Winter is quiet and often wet, but the town's Victorian architecture and hillside backdrop still look striking under low light, hotel rates drop noticeably, and the shorter ferry crossing means Dunoon remains an easy winter escape from Glasgow even when the weather closes in.

Where to stay in Dunoon

The seafront terraces along Alexandra Parade and Marine Parade, running north towards Kirn and Hunters Quay, hold most of the town's guest houses and several of its hotels, and suit visitors who want sea views, an easy walk to the pier and shops, and a classic Clyde coast promenade outside the front door. West Bay, on the opposite side of the headland, is quieter and slightly more residential, with a couple of larger hotels set in their own grounds and gardens, and suits visitors who prefer a short walk into town rather than being in the thick of it. Kirn and Hunters Quay, a mile or so north of the centre, are the natural choice for anyone arriving by the Western Ferries car crossing, and offer a more low-key, villagey base with quick access back onto the road network. For a rural stay, the shores of Loch Eck and the Benmore area, a short drive inland, put walkers and wildlife-watchers close to the forest paths and gardens rather than the seafront, at the cost of needing a car for everything else.

Food and drink in Dunoon

Dunoon's food scene leans on its seafood and its long history as a holiday resort, with fish and chip shops along the front doing brisk trade alongside more contemporary cafes and bistros that have opened in recent years. Local seafood, particularly langoustines and scallops landed around the Clyde and Cowal coast, turns up on menus at several of the town's restaurants, often served simply to let the produce speak for itself. The town's hotels tend to run their own bars and dining rooms rather than relying on standalone restaurants, and a few, including some of the seafront hotels, keep a genuinely local crowd alongside overnight guests, which makes them a good measure of where residents actually eat and drink. A small Saturday farmers' market and the independent shops along Argyll Street are worth a look for Scottish cheese, baking and preserves to take home, and the traditional ice cream parlours along the seafront are an essential stop on a fine afternoon, a habit that goes back to the town's earliest days as a steamer resort.