Cairndow

Five minutes off the A83 and you're standing beside Loch Fyne, watching fishing boats bob against a backdrop of rolling hills. Cairndow sits at the head of Scotland's longest sea loch, where the water narrows to almost riverlike proportions and the mountains close in on three sides.

This isn't a place that shouts for attention. The village itself is barely more than a cluster of buildings along the lochside road, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in position. Those peaks rising behind - Meall Dubh and Creag Tharsuinn among them - offer proper hill walking for anyone with decent boots and a morning to spare. The views from Tom a'Bhiorain on a clear day stretch right down the loch to the Kintyre peninsula.

History buffs will find plenty to poke about in too. The Euan MacColl Monument and various dun sites like Pennymore Point tell stories of ancient settlements, while Queen Victoria's Monument marks royal connections to these parts. Just up the road, Auchindrain Historic Township gives you a proper look at how Highland folk lived before the clearances changed everything.

Getting here couldn't be simpler - the A83 runs right through, connecting Glasgow to the ferry ports further west. It's that accessibility that makes Cairndow work so well as a base. You're close enough to Inveraray for a proper town when you need supplies, but far enough into the hills to feel like you've escaped.

Staying at one of the local parks puts you right in the thick of it. Loch-side pitches mean you can have your morning coffee watching the water, then be up on Cruach nan Capull or exploring the archaeological remains at An Cormer before lunch. Not bad for a place most folk drive straight through.