After our beautiful walk on Kerrera we were disappointed to wake up the next day and find the weather had reverted to a more normal grey drizzle. Nevertheless, we decided to stick to our plan of driving home from Oban the long way round in order to visit Kilmartin Glen.

First, we stopped at Arduaine Garden, started in 1898 by James Arthur Campbell and now part of the National Trust for Scotland.

Arduaine Garden

Arduaine Garden

Arduaine Garden

Fortified with coffee, we headed for our next stop at Carnassarie Castle, dating from the 1560s. There were good views over Kilmartin Glen from the top, even if it was a little damp and misty – we certainly didn’t envy the people excavating an adjacent mound. That looked a cold job.

Carnasserie Castle

Carnasserie Castle

Carnasserie Castle

Into Kilmartin itself, and we visited the small museum, the church and its associated graveyard before having lunch in the hotel.

Kilmichael Cross

Kilmartin Church

Churchyard

Churchyard

Churchyard

Churchyard

Kilmartin Hotel

After lunch, we set out to explore the glen further. Kilmartin Glen has one of the most important concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in Scotland, including standing stones, a henge monument, numerous cists, and a ‘linear cemetery’ comprising five burial cairns. The gallery below is just a selection.

Glebe Cairn

Nether Largie Cairns

Cist

Chambered cairn

Standing stones

Standing stones

Standing stones

Temple Wood

Temple Wood

Finally, at the southern end of the glen we climbed to the remains of the fortress of Dunadd, a royal centre of Dàl Riata, the first kingdom of the Scots, more than 1300 years ago. The inauguration stone has a footprint (allegedly created by the hero Ossian) into which the new king placed his foot, thus betrothing himself to the land. These days, it’s a replica but we gave it a go anyway.

Inauguration stone

Inauguration stone

Inauguration stone

View of Kilmartin Glen

After that, it was time to head for home at the end of a lovely weekend.