Loch Awe (Pass of Brander)

The ruins of Kilchurn Castle occupy a picturesque spot on a small peninsula at the northern end of Loch Awe. It was built by Colin Campbell of Glenorchy ca. 1440. Originally the castle consisted of a tower and keep, but in 1693 the first Earl of Breadalbane reinforced the site with a curtain wall. In 1745 Hanoverian troops were billeted here.

In the Visitor Centre at Cruachan dam it is possible to watch the turbines that lie at the end of a long tunnel. These generators convert the water that flows from the reservoir 1,200ft/364.5m above into electricity.

The restored Edwardian steamer "Lady Rowena" takes holiday makers for cruises on Loch Awe, one of Scotland's largest and most attractive lakes. It leaves from the pier in the village of Lochawe and then heads south beneath wooded hillsides and past several islands including Priest's Isle, formerly a priests' colony, and Inishail, once the site of a Cistercian monastery.