The Cowal peninsula

[PippinsOfPogleWood]

We're considering moving to the area, having looked at a few houses there before Christmas - Strachur and Kames are a couple of places we've viewed houses. I'd really appreciate some brutally honest opinions on living there please, particularly on how wet it really is, but also friendliness, infrastructure, midges etc! Children are both adults and left home now, so schools aren't a worry. We can work from home, so we don't need to take that into concern either. TIA

Am assuming you've checked the broadband availability for the villages you're looking at/don't need broadband? There are a couple of pockets in Cowal I think that still don't have superfast rolled out (and non-superfast tends to be rotten in rural areas!).

Don't know the area that well but there are quite a lot of second home owners so worth bearing in mind if that bothers you. Ferry service via Dunoon is decent but a bit more expensive than driving and obviously the Rest and Be Thankful is an ongoing issue... Midges don't tend to be too bad, you do get them but not the way you do further up the west coast. Where are you based just now? It is fairly wet but not ridiculous, you probably would notice a difference though if you moved from somewhere like Fife.

Midge wise I would say they can be pretty bad on the Cowan peninsula. It’s more sheltered being sea lochs. Strachur a bit worse than Kames: It can be pretty wet too, like most of the west of Scotland. Have you looked further west at the Kintyre peninsula? A bit further of a drive from Glasgow, if that bothers you, but a bit drier, fewer midges and stunning scenery.

Thank you both, that's all really useful. We don't need super fast broadband so that makes things a bit easier. It's interesting how the midges vary from one area to another so much - am guessing that's to do with wind?

The rest and be thankful is a pain isn't it, the convoy system is so slow. It is a route we'd be travelling regularly to visit family so it's a consideration sadly, but not a deal breaker.

Will take another look at Kintyre. Family are in the central belt so it would add on a fair bit of time, but being drier, and fewer midges sounds attractive. We haven't been down the peninsula, so will make that our next trip. Thanks again

Midges can’t fly in wind any higher than around 6mph so yes, the most sheltered spots get hit worst!

Tarbert on Kintyre is a lovely village - about 2 and a half hours from Glasgow so not much further than Kames.