3 Days on the Isle of Bute - Day 2

View from one of the bedrooms
in Mount Stuart

The amazing family home of the Marquess of Bute is located on the Isle of Bute and called Mount Stuart.  This is such huge part of any visit to this island, and for many, the only reason to come, that I believe it requires a blog entry all on its own. So you will have that to look forward to!

Since Mount Stuart didn't open until 11am unless you wanted a guided tour, which we did not, we had a few hours to kill and they were very well used!


No matter where you look on Bute, you will see the Victorian history of this seaside destination.  One thing they are very lucky to still have are the Victorian toilets!  From what I have been told, this particular public toilet near the ferry terminal was not unique.  But when all these things became old fashioned, people decided to tear them down instead of treasuring history. That is, with the exception of this one.  Who ever stopped the destruction of this treasure should get a medal (maybe they did!).

This facility is still open to the public, entry fee .40 pence, but since it is also an historic treasure, it is not unusual for females to enter and appreciate this tribute to Victorian taste, even with something as mundane as a toilet.  What is odd and surprising is the lack of a similar Ladies' public toilet!  And that is because there wouldn't have been one.  What I have been told and also read up on is that Victorian ladies had to be very aware of where they were and what image they projected.  I was told that even if there had been a public toilet, they would have been too modest to use it. Anyway, there is a ladies room now, but it is modern and I never took any photos of it!

A funny thing happened while I was waiting to take a photo with no one else in it....a local man came in and used one of the urinals!  Thankfully, he chose the one just beyond the left corner of this photo so I could not see him. No, he was not still there when I took this!

We headed north to Rhubodach and the ferry stop there. It is not a terminal, just a little ferry that crosses the water to Colintraive in only 10 minutes.  We wanted to see Highland Cattle and were not disappointed!

Driving along the island, there are a few normal roads with two way traffic, but there are also quite few single track roads.  They are not difficult to negotiate, but everyone on the roads has to maintain awareness of what is coming their way!

Back to Rothesay on our way to Mount Stuart, we tried to find the highest point we could for a good overview of the island.  We had visited Canada Hill on a previous visit and it was a great viewpoint. It got its name from when islanders would climb up there to wave goodbye to their loved ones on their way to a new life in Canada.  (Not sure if that is true, but I was told this.)  We did not go there but found a nice place to see the road that reminds us of Lombard Street in San Fransisco!

Rothesay Castle is just at the bottom of the curvy road. It is a ruin but well worth a visit, which we did last time. I think it was the first place we used our Historic Scotland cards, apart from where we purchased them at Jedburgh Abbey.

So now it was time to visit Mount Stuart and I will write about that probably tomorrow or as soon as I can. Like I said, that gorgeous building and all that history requires its own entry.

Then we decided to head out to another part of the island we had enjoyed last time.  This was back to Kilchattan, with the standing stones I never found. But they have place to leave your car and head out to the West Island Way for a bit.  If we ever have enough time on the island, I would like to do the West Island Way right, but we had an hour and we took an hour to enjoy what we could!  I apologize for having no photos of our walk!  It was getting late and the light was not good for them. But, please believe me, the scenery was breathtaking! One thing I love about walking in the UK is the accessibility, especially in Scotland.  Many times paths go over farm lands and through fields. Instead of making it difficult for walkers to pass through, fences are designed to permit easy access.  There are styles, where you can have steps or something similar to walk over a fence. There are also "kissing gates".  I didn't realise some people would not know how these worked until we were on Skye and a foreign tourist on a  bus tour couldn't figure out how to get through.  I think she was just about to go back to the bus when I demonstrated.  The gate just swings and only one body fits in the indentation before the gate swings back and you can get out the other side.

There were kissing gates on this walk so I got my husband to demonstrate!

Then took ourselves to Victoria's Hotel in Rothesay for dinner.  We had already decided we liked the look of the restaurant and the menu sounded nice, then a friend who visits Bute more than I do suggested it! So I knew it would be good! Well, it was better than good!  I was so impressed with my seared sea bass I couldn't even hold a conversation.  I just concentrated on this delicious meal. At one point my husband asked if I was ok!

View of the bay from our table at Victoria's

Absolute best dinner I have had in ages!

What probably was a fantastic Victorian hotel in its day - Victoria's 

The Bute Discovery Centre was just across the street as was a putting green and a promenade.  There is also a sign indicating the Scottish border between the Highlands and the Lowlands, called the Boundary Fault.  So I got Alan to stand in the Lowlands, while I stood in the Highlands.  It is the little things that make me happy!

Alan in the Lowlands

Me in the Highlands

We did consider going to the cinema since it was just next to this promenade in the Bute Discovery Centre, but it had been a long day and we were ready to call it quits!  

“Traveling is almost like talking with men of other centuries.” – René Descartes