Of all the private guided tours of Scotland, the thought of visiting Loch Lomond might slip under the radar compared with some other destinations. True, it doesn’t have the very particular history, heritage and architecture of Edinburgh, and it will never be as famous as Loch Ness with its infamous monster. But it is a wonder to behold in its own right.
Loch Lomond was combined with the nearby Trossach hills to form Scotland’s first National Park in 2001. This is not just because of its wonderful scenery and wildlife, but because, more so than areas further north, it quite literally spans the Lowlands and Highlands, with Glasgow and the rest of the West of Scotland close by.
This led to certain provisions being put in place to help preserve its beauty, and in some ways the loch itself has some very varied characteristics. At its southern end, where the national park starts, it lies at one end of the urban sprawl of the West of Scotland at the top end of the Vale of Leven. A fun fact here: the loch used to be known as Loch Leven.
A Loch Of Contrasts
Elsewhere, however, it is extremely unspoiled, a contrast that owes much to two factors.
The first is the sheer size. This is, at 27.45 square miles, the largest lake on mainland Britain by surface area, stretching over 30 miles from end to end. The busy townscape of Balloch and Alexandria at the southern end seems a world away from the peaceful surrounds of Ardlui at the northern tip.
Secondly – and related to this – there is the fact that the loch is crossed by the Highland Fault Line. At the southern end, the loch is wider and the land around it undulating. Further north, it is rugged and mountainous. Indeed, anyone heading north beside the Loch will soon see Ben Lomond, the southernmost of the 282 Munros (mountains over 3,000 ft / 914.4 m).
This fault is visible as Conic Hill stands on the fault line on the eastern side of the loch, while an archipelago of large islands forms a rough line across the loch. This includes Inchmurrin, the largest island on any lake in Britain and a past haunt of famous Scottish royal figures like Mary Queen of Scots and Robert the Bruce.
From The Mountaintop To The Bonnie Banks
North of the fault line, the loch gradually narrows, forming into a classic glacial ribbon lake of the sort seen all over the Highlands. Apart from Ben Lomond, other mountains overlooking the loch include the Luss Hills and Ben Vorlich, another Munro. If you are fit and fancy a guided walk up one of these peaks, Ben Lomond is one of the easiest Munros to climb.
Any hillside, even the relatively modest height of Conic Hill, offers some wonderful panoramic views of the loch and its islands, extending further over the lowlands towards the Clyde Estuary and out to sea. But a guided tour can also include some short and simple walks along the ‘Bonnie, Bonnie banks’ of the loch, to quote the famous folk song.
Along the way, especially on the quieter east bank, you may see some people walking a lot further, for the West Highland Way passes through beside the loch on its 96-mile trek from Milngavie to Fort William. You can rest assured our tour will not leave you with the aches and blisters they will endure!
A Myriad Of Attractions
Instead, your excursion will take you to one beautiful local place after another. While parts of the loch are quiet and unspoiled, others have their fair share of tourist honeypots, such as the Sea Life aquarium at Balloch, or the adjacent Lomond Shores watersports centre. But our tour will focus on the unspoiled and the wild, with eagles and otters in quiet places.
It isn’t that Balloch is uninteresting; it has a bird of pretty centre and a castle. The latter is set in a large park with wonderful views across the loch and towards Ben Lomond. On the opposite side is the Loch Lomond Golf Club, which has been an occasional championship venue, offering world-class golf in a world-class setting.
Loch Lomond may not be as famous as Loch Ness due to the absence of a monster (although claims have been made on occasion), but this cryptozoological deficit should not cloud the fact that this is not just Scotland’s largest loch by surface area, but a place of beauty, history, music and lots of wildlife. Who needs a monster when you have otters?
This is a place with bonny, bonny banks indeed – and a lot more besides.
