Isle of Bute and Mount Stuart House-Scottish Isles and Glens

- October 31, 2024

Mount Stuart House

Our group's first real adventure will be to the Isle of Bute for a visit to the Mount Stuart House

After fueling up at the buffet breakfast in our hotel we board the coach and our excellent coach driver Jim takes us from Glasgow to Wemyss Bay where we'll catch a ferry to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. We'll be crossing the Firth of Clyde to get to Rothesay.

It's a cloudy, misty day but the Clyde River wasn't too choppy for our crossing.

We make a photo stop at Ettrick Bay.

Then we drive up to the Mount Stuart House for our self-guided tour and some lunch.

From Wiki: Mount Stuart House is a country house built in the Gothic Revival style and the ancestral home of the Marquesses of Bute. It was designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson for the 3rd Marquess in the late 1870s, replacing an earlier house by Alexander McGill, which burnt down in 1877.

We opt to grab lunch first then tour the house while the others are eating-good plan!

The ceilings and stained glass windows are stunning.

After we visit the house, Jay and I walk around some of the estate's gardens and trails.

We slowly make our way down to the bay and travel along most of the Shore Walk before our time runs out.

Our time at Mount Stuart House is winding down and we head back up to the grand house.

But wait, what is this tiny door near the house entrance for...according to our guide Graham "behind there is a metal ladder giving access to the carriage entrance roof for maintenance."

Back in Rothesay, we have a little time to walk around before our ferry departs.