Hello.

I am currently in the midst of planning a trip to Scotland from August 25th to September 6th. I have most of my intinerary set. I am looking to get some help planning three days in Argyll from Monday Sept 1 - Wednesday Sept 3. Since we will only be spending three (half Monday, full Tuesday,half Wednesday)days/two nights in Argyll, I do not want to spend a ton of time traveling from place to place. Also, we will be using public transportation (train, bus, ferry)to get there. My question is this, where in Argyll can I get to in a relatively short time frame from Glasgow, where we can do some hiking/biking, a little touring, and experience "small town" Scotland? Also any good B&B suggestions would be great as well. As you can probably tell I am new at this world traveling thing and ANY help you could give me would be GREATLY appreciated!

There are direct flights from Glasgow to Islay, which is lovely. You'd need a rental car, to get around but there's some beautiful scenery and friendly people in lovely small towns.

I've checked out Islay's bus system and it seems doable by public transit.

We will be headed there September 2009 ,also by public transport. Anxious to hear how your trip went.

I don't think it would be that easy by public transport as the buses aren't exactly frequent.

When we were there last we met a couple who had assumed they'd easily be able to get around by bus but had found they just didn't run frequently enough to give any flexibility at all. There were no more rental cars available so they were reliant on lifts. We met them at a tasting and gave them a lift to their next booked session stopping for a shared lunch first.

I am told that there might be a ferry that we could catch in Glasgow that would take us out at least to Dunoon. Hopefully I can get confirmation of this. Actually, is Dunoon a destination that might fill my criteria?

Dunoon is a small town. You can certainly hike and bike and get the feel of a small town. We have always stayed at Foxbank, right in the Alexandria Parade. If the Murchison's are still running it, it should be good.

We haven't been there for a while, but things don't seem to change much there.

You can see the statue of Burns' Highland Mary, A lighthouse built by RL Stevenson's father and learn about the Lamonts and Campbells. I don't know if the Waverley is still running these days, but it was a fun day trip to Rothesay.

The Cowal peninsula, (which is where Dunoon is) is lovely. We spent a week in a cottage on the shores of Loch Fyne in Cowal last September. There is plenty of walking around the area and a bus service, plus you could go to Bute .
Have a look at http://www.cowal-dunoon.com/ to get a taster of the area.

The fact that you specified Argyll makes me think that you must want to visit specific places in Argyll & so want to be within reach of them ? Is that the case and if so what are the places you want to visit ?

And you say you'll be travelling there from Glasgow, but where are you going afterwards ?

The reason I mention Argyll, is that I am told that it is fairly close to Glasgow and it would take less time to get there. I'm not really sure how big Argyll is but I am assuming that the southern part of Argyll is only a few hours from Glasgow. Please let me know if a am misinformed. Also, I have nothing in particlular that I am looking to see. We will be looking to take a boat tour, and do some hiking. Basically, we are looking to get into the "country". I will be heading back to Glasgow
after Argyll.

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

Dunoon is definitely doable with public transportation from Glasgow and in less than 2 hours - depending on bus/train/ferry schedules. You can easily walk all over Dunoon and have a good time. We lived there for 3 years and visited for a few days a few years ago.

Dunoon would fit what you're looking for. The other option on the northern fringes of Argyll would be Oban. Direct rail and bus from Glasgow. "Small" town by most standards but quite large by Argyll standards, and can get busy in summer. South of here you have some of the most important historic sites in Scotland, though most Scots have never heard of them.

How about Arran, 'Scotland in miniature' ? You could get there from Glasgow by train to Stranraer & ferry.

Get to Dunoon from Glasgow by train to Gourock (45min)then ferry from Gourock.
If going from Glasgow or Prestwick airport pick up the train later at Paisley Gilmour Street station.
(from Prestwick buy your train ticket half price on the train by showing any airline docs)
There is a beautiful arboretum just outside Dunoon with a castle & self catering cottages:
http://www.aboutscotland.com/argyll/massan.html
(the Younger botanical gardens at Benmore)
Its about 2-3 miles outside Dunoon on the bus route to Inveraray and Oban.
Kilmartin is worth a look if you like ancient stones etc. Kilfinan has a nice little inn.