The first night in Scotland we would spend at the Inn on Loch Lomond at Inverbeg.
Inn on Loch Lomond at Inverbeg
We left Bowland Bridge after breakfast and drove through the Lake District via Windermere, Ambleside, Keswick and Cockermouth to Carlisle.
Then avoiding the A74M up through Galloway via Dumfries and Kilmarnock and on to Glasgow. Possibly not the best choice as we encountered a lot of delays through road works where they were using a convoy system from traffic light to traffic light through the length of the restriction. Apart from that the roads were not particularly inspiring to drive and I doubt if I would bother to repeat the experience. If I’d known beforehand I would have spent more time in the Lake District and then used the M74 motorway to Glasgow.
Glasgow brought us back to the typical urban mayhem we were so pleased to get away from the previous evening but after a short stretch of M8 west we left the motorway to cross the Clyde over the Erskine Bridge. Here we picked up the A82, a fine trunk road which would eventually take us all the way up to Loch Ness but for today the journey would end at Inverbeg on Loch Lomond. Stopping at a services near Dumbarton I bought a decent map so I could turn off the TomTom, I mean who needs it in the west of Scotland, there aren’t that many roads to get lost on. After leaving the Dumbarton area the roads seemed to get progressively quieter and the last few kilometers were extremely pleasant and a taste of things to come.
We arrived at the end of the afternoon to pull into the car park at the front of the hotel where a couple of the staff were sitting outside in the late afternoon sunshine taking a smoke break. There was immediate interest in the car with questions about which model and how old it was , this would become a regular occurrence at most places we stopped. It was another beautiful evening so after checking in and dumping the baggage in the room we sat on the terrace and sampled the local ale.
After that we crossed the main road through a tunnel to reach the shores of Loch Lomond and walked along the cycle/footpath for a way to take a few photos. I say cycle path but we didn’t see anybody using it, most of the crazy cyclists were braving it amongst the truck, bus and car traffic on the main road.
The slideshow below give you an idea of the beauty of Loch Lomond, but it does in no way do justice to just being there.
After sampling the local fare in the excellent restaurant we retired to the bar for another pint of the local Galaxy Trial and a single malt. A great way to end the day.
Local Ale of course