Cowal - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

Benmore Botanic Garden boasts a world-famous collection of flowering trees and shrubs including over 300 species of rhododendron and over one third of the world’s hardy conifer species plus fine collections from North and South America, the Orient and the Himalaya. The garden is located within the Argyll Forest Park, which is itself within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.

Puck's Glen is a river-formed ravine on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, with a popular scenic walking trail beside the Eas Mòr stream. It comes under Forestry and Land Scotland which has highlighted it as a feature of the Argyll Forest Park, and described it as "One of the most magical forests in Scotland, with a delightful trail along a rocky gorge.

Loch Eck is a freshwater loch located on the Cowal peninsula, north of Dunoon, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is a great place for wildlife. Red squirrels forage its shores and deep under its surface swims Scotland's rarest freshwater fishes.

Castle House Museum is amajestic historic building set in gardens opposite Dunoon Pier. The Castle House itself was built by Lord Provost James Ewing of Glasgow in 1822. Exhibits, models and photographs tell the story of Dunoon from the Neolithic to the present day. Find out about the Clyde steamers, yacht building, Cowal during the war and more. It was now one of the iconic attractions in this area and attracts a lot of tourists.

The Cloch is one of the three lighthouses built to protect the difficult waters at the head of the Firth of Clyde. The lighthouse was built by Kermack and Gall; it consists of a short, round tower with corbelled walkways, and it is now accompanied by two sets of keepers' houses. The earlier houses are used as stores and the later are easily identified by their crowstepped gables. Today, the light is fully automated and unmanned.

Lunderston Bay is the nearest sandy beach to Glasgow, and is popular with families, walkers and picnickers. There are picnic areas and a wheelchair accessible playground at the north end of the bay, where a Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park ranger station, toilets and a car park are also located. There are lifebuoy stations at the beach, but there are no lifeguards.