The Sir Walter Scott steamship on Loch Katrine in the Trossachs

The Trossachs, Loch Lomond & Highland Perthshire

Rob Roy’s country — big lochs and wooded hills, barely an hour from Glasgow.

Rob Roy’s country, and the first place Victorian Scotland ever came on holiday — the wooded lochs and gentle mountains that Walter Scott made famous. It is the Highlands in easy reach: barely an hour north of Glasgow, yet the moment you pass Balloch the scenery turns properly dramatic. That closeness is the whole appeal for a short break, and the reason the honeypots get busy — so we’d steer you toward the quieter east shores and an early start at the famous spots. This is the first national park in Scotland, and it stretches from the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond up into Highland Perthshire and Breadalbane.

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond is the largest stretch of fresh water in Britain, and it has two very different sides. The busy west shore (the A82) runs past Balloch at the foot of the loch — the gateway town, with its country park, the shops at Loch Lomond Shores and the sad old paddle steamer Maid of the Loch — and the pretty conservation village of Luss. Luss is genuinely lovely, a row of estate cottages against the water, but we’ll give you our honest take: it has become a bit of a money-machine, with steep parking charges and coach crowds, so go early or out of season. Families should seek out the Loch Lomond Fairy Trail in the woods there — carved sculptures, tiny fairy houses and poems that keep children spellbound.

For our money the quieter, wilder east shore is the better one. Balmaha sits under Conic Hill on the West Highland Way, with forest walks, a good inn and a van-friendly overnight — and the walk up Conic gives you the whole loch and its islands laid out below. It is the side to come to if you want the scenery without the coach parks.

The Trossachs

Inland from the loch, the Trossachs proper is a compact tangle of wooded hills and hidden lochs. Callander is the natural base — a cheerful little town that’s the gateway to it all, with the Bracklinn Falls and Callander Crags on its doorstep and cracking cycling and walking in every direction. It’s especially good in autumn, when the woods turn.

The jewel is Loch Katrine, the loch that inspired Scott’s Lady of the Lake and still supplies Glasgow’s drinking water. No private cars reach the far shore, which keeps it blissfully unspoilt — the lovely way to see it is aboard the century-old steamship Sir Walter Scott, or on two wheels along the traffic-free lochside road, which makes one of the best easy bike rides in Scotland. A definite visit.

Kinross & Loch Leven

East of the park, Loch Leven at Kinross is ringed by a flat, 13-mile path that’s a joy to walk or cycle, past a big RSPB reserve loud with wildfowl. Out on an island in the loch stands Loch Leven Castle, the grim island prison where Mary, Queen of Scots was held in 1567, forced to abdicate, and from which she made her famous escape by boat — reached by a little ferry, and worth the short crossing for the story alone.

Highland Perthshire & Breadalbane

North of the Trossachs the land rises into Breadalbane. Killin is the picture-book stop: the River Dochart tumbles right through the village over the wide, rocky Falls of Dochart, with the ancient healing stones of St Fillan kept nearby and the head of Loch Tay just beyond. Above the village, the Kinnell Estate — the old seat of the MacNab chiefs — hides a fine prehistoric stone circle.

The old stone bridge over the Falls of Dochart at Killin — The Falls of Dochart tumbling through Killin.

West towards Tyndrum, the quiet field at Dalrigh marks the spot where, in 1306, Robert the Bruce was routed by the MacDougalls and lost the Brooch of Lorn from his cloak — a good place to stop and picture the Wars of Independence at their lowest ebb. And to the east, handsome Dunkeld guards the Tay — a little cathedral town of giant Douglas firs, Telford’s graceful bridge and the ruined-but-beautiful cathedral in its riverside close, with Beatrix Potter’s Birnam just over the water.

Why the Trossachs & Loch Lomond?

Because it delivers the full Highland hit — big lochs, wooded hills, steamers and Rob Roy legend — barely an hour from Glasgow, which makes it the perfect first taste of the north or an easy short break in its own right. Swap the honeypot car parks for the quiet east shores and the traffic-free lochside at Katrine and it’s idyllic. Ideal for families, cyclists and anyone short on time — well worth it.

Explore more: Lochs · Castles · Clans · Standing Stones · Kirks & Abbeys.