2-day cycle tour from Glasgow to Argyll and the Isle of Bute
Cycle touring is one of our favourite ways to travel. You don’t just swish through an area, but you get to experience it more closely. You feel the landscape quite literally as your legs power you up and down hills and take you through villages and townships. You have time to stop and explore and take it all in. And when you go cycle touring in Scotland, you are spoiled for beautiful views and stunning landscapes.
In June 2025, we went on our Intermediate Cycle Tour to Argyll and Bute. Read on and we’ll tell you all about our experience. We will also share our route with you, should you want to do it yourself. And if you fancy joining us for another cycle tour, we are doing our first advanced cycle tour this August starting in Balloch, Loch Lomond and cycling all the way to Kingussie in the Cairngorms National Park. It’s going to be EPIC. You can find more details about the tour here.
Day 1
Spirits were high, as we early Saturday morning met at Women On Wheels Hub. Everyone was buzzing to get going. Once everyone had made it to the Hub, we cycled along the South City Way and then along the Clyde to reach Glasgow Central Station. It was at this point we had to overcome the first challenge of the day - getting 11 bikes onto the train. Luckily, the team is experienced in stacking bikes (have you ever seen our balance bike trailer??) so with a bit of fiddling about, we crammed on all 11 bikes and were on our way to Gourock.
In Gourock it was straight onto the ferry to Dunoon. It was a smooth and sunny sailing and the views were lovely. There’s something about getting on a ferry that makes it feel like a proper adventure! We fuelled up in Dunoon and got ready to cycle the first 21 miles up and over to Colintriave. It’s a beautiful coastal route out of Dunoon, palm trees and blue waters and the hills in the background. Calm and sunny with a little sea breeze, perfect riding conditions... For now...
As we turned inland, we were faced with the hills. First a 10% and then a 20% - the sun was beating down on us and the rally cars from Argyll Rally Car race were heading over to their start line. Let’s be honest, it was far from pleasant but everyone smashed the hills and dodged the rally cars!
As we approached Loch Striven, we had our lunch (technically our second one - totally one of the benefits of touring!) at a lovely spot at the edge of Loch Striven. Following our lunch, we jumped back on our bikes and cycled to Colintriave from where we would catch the ferry to Bute. We arrived at Colintriave with a few minutes to spare for the next ferry - talk about ideal timing! It’s literally the quickest ferry crossing, at the blink of an eye and we were on Bute!
As we arrived on Bute, we had a lovely flat (hooray!) 9 mile cycle to Rothesay. We stopped mid way for a much needed dip/paddle in the water to cool off. A seal popped it's head up to say hello as we were swimming - magical!
While we were tempted to stay and enjoy the beach, the bikes called and we continued along. In the beautiful early evening sunshine, we arrived into Rothesay, where we enjoyed some well deserved fish and chips, pizza crunch and falafel wrap! Just the fuel we needed before tackling the final hill of the day up to Roseland Campsite in Rothesay. While the tired legs were complaining, it was totally worth it for the views at camp!
We all stayed in pods, and wound down with a cup of tea, biscuits and a chat as we watched the sun go down on summer solstice. Bliss.
Day 2
On the Sunday morning, we woke up to some dreich weather but that didn't dampen our spirts. Porridge buffet breakfast with fruits and nuts, tea and coffee was served to fuel us for the day. Our legs could certainly feel the many hills we had tackled the day prior, so a group morning stretch to limber up was well needed. Then we packed our bikes and off we went in the drizzly rain to do a loop of Bute.
The weather wasn’t playing balls in the morning, and it was quite wet to start, at times battering our faces making it hard to see. Dripping wet, we arrived at the Kingarth Hotel which saved us with cups of tea and coffee and shelter in their garden whilst we waited for the rain to ease off.
As lovely as the Kingarth Hotel was, we couldn’t stay forever and jumped back on our bikes and continued onto Ettrick Bay where we stopped for lunch. In contrast to the morning, there were glimmers of blue sky! Ettrick Bay is stunning with lovely views over to Arran. Refuelled and dried off and only 5 miles to go, our spirits were high!
As we got over to the other side of Bute, the sun was shining - what a way to finish the tour! The ferry and train home were a breeze. On the train journey home we shared stories of our highs and lows of the trip. We all agreed it had been a fabulous time - even with the challenges we had met along the way. We arrived back to Central Station where we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
An excellent weekend all round, some big achievements from the group - some peoples first touring weekend, some peoples biggest climb, biggest mileage, swims in the cold Scottish waters and first time trying a pizza crunch!! The encouragement and support from everyone was brilliant and really kept the group going especially on the hills and in the rain. Just one fabulous weekend!
Fancy doing the route yourself?
If you would like to do this route, simply jump on a train from Glasgow Central to Gourock. You can buy tickets in advance here. Get the ferry to Dunoon. More details on the ferry tickets and schedule here. Then start the Day 1 route which you can find on Komoot.
Overnight we stayed in camping pods at the Roseland Holiday Park, which we can warmly recommend. You can find more details and book here.
Our Day 2 route was a loop of the Isle of Bute. You can view our route here. On your way back you will catch a ferry from Rothesay to Wemyss Bay (ferry tickets and schedule here) and then a train from Wemyss Bay to Glasgow Central.