Eat your way across Argyll on Taste of Place Trails
Wild About Argyll's Taste of Place Trails were developed to showcase the sensational produce and scenery on offer in Argyll & The Isles.
The Seafood Trail
Argyll’s Atlantic waters and sea lochs deliver bountiful fresh fish and shellfish. Nothing beats tucking into a fresh seafood platter while watching the fishing fleets land their catch in the harbour. Loch Melfort Hotel south of Oban, the Pierhouse Hotel at Appin, the Coll Hotel and Starfish Restaurant in Tarbert are just some of the great places to enjoy Argyll’s seafood served up with stunning coastal views. Argyll has a long tradition of fish smoking. The region is home to over 10 smokehouses, some with visitor centres where you can watch the process.
The Vegan Trail
Exciting new vegan trail, with a dedicated vegan B&B, Kingsreach in Kilmartin Glen, plus a plethora of vegan friendly establishments such as Catch a Carrot near Oban offering up great vegan food as key dishes on their menus. Cafés, hotels, restaurants and B&Bs across Argyll are constantly adding vegan food to give visitors an exciting choice and will offer great local produce and foraged ingredients.
The Spirits & Beer Trail
Argyll is famed for its single malt whiskies, with 15 distilleries dotting what’s known as the ‘whisky coast’ with 10 on Islay and Jura and two more planned. There’s nothing quite like sampling the product in the region’s historic distilleries and most offer guided tours ending with a dram. There are some cracking craft gin distilleries too. Visit Beinn an Tuirc Distillery on Kintyre to see how Kintyre Gin is made. Hand-crafted ales are produced all across the region, and Fyne Ales Brewery at the head of Loch Fyne is a great place to visit.
Coffee & Cake Trail
Coffee and cake should be part of any good holiday. Whether you’re on a long-distance cycling adventure or strolling around a fishing village, you’ll always be able to find great coffee and delicious home baking in Argyll. You can choose from many cafés including The Blairmore on Cowal or pick up your sweet delight from Cakes in a Call Box near Loch Awe. The area is undergoing a bit of a coffee renaissance, with no less than four specialty coffee roasters in the region supplying high-quality coffee to local cafés, restaurants and hotels. Tea is even being grown and blended in Argyll.
The Taste of Place Trails have been designed to offer visitors an immersive experience as part of their travels to and around the destination this year.
The Farm Produce Trail
Argyll’s hills and pastures provide some of the best meat and game in Scotland, including Kintyre, Cowal, Islay, Bute and Mull, where livestock feed on lush, herb-filled pastures. This prime, quality, slow-grown, local meat including saltmarsh lamb from Shellfield Farm features on menus throughout Argyll. The Argyll hills are also home to many thousands of deer, so venison is another local delicacy. Kintyre, Gigha and Mull are famed for their milk, which is crafted into delicious dairy products, including cheese and ice cream.
Iain Jurgensen, Chair of Argyll and the Isles Tourism Cooperative said:
"Argyll has built a strong reputation for top quality food and drink with its world class distilleries, seafood, and numerous award winning eateries featuring sensational local produce thanks to the consistent levels of rainfall and relatively mild, year-round temperatures.
With the ongoing high demand for the great outdoors, the Taste of Place Trails have been designed to offer visitors an immersive experience as part of their travels to and around the destination this year. To allow them to sample every single ingredient that goes into the dishes, and to be able to speak with the artisan producers who lovingly prepare it."
If your travels bring you to Argyll, Scotland, get in touch with us about our Oban walking tours. Looking for things to do in Oban for solos, couples, families, or groups? We can cater your tour to your pace and interests- we take walking in Oban to a whole new level with fun stories, inside views and the best sights that only a local can know. Find out more and book here.
