Loch Lomond with children

[Alifemoreordinary123]

We’re looking at breaking from our all inclusive routine to take a couple of shorter breaks in the UK this year. We’re not that adventurous as a family (hence the AI) but I want to broaden our horizons a little.

I would LOVE to go to the Alps (for the air, beauty, outdoors) but, in the interest of avoiding flights, long travel days, £££££ and to keep the money in the UK, I’m wondering about Loch Lomond.

We’re looking for some luxury (possibly Cameron House) and somewhere to swim, paddleboard, boat, maybe bike ride - and a few pretty villages, walks, castles etc. My husband is not adventurous and likes the amenity of a town or village with coffee!

Might we be able to make this work? Children are 8 & 5.

Loch Lomond is incredible, so beautiful. Inversnaid bunk house was brilliant 7 years ago. Assume you will drive, should be v doable

@Bufftailed thank you, yes we’ll be driving up from mid England. Brill, will look that up, thank you!

Loch Lomond shores ticks your boxes - you can hire pedalos, paddleboards, get a boat around the islands, shop, eat, play mini golf, go to the sea life centre, go on the mini train, go on some fairground rides, go to the sunday farmers market, the bird of prey centre, go up the tower for the view, there's a dinosaur themed restaurant, you can see the old paddle steamer and its walkable from cameron house if you stay there (but its a very expensive hotel imo). there's also Luss as a pretty village - you can do the fairy trail.

Check out the lodges at Rowardennan. You can paddle board from next to the pub. Back down the road at Balmaha you can take the ferry across to Luss.

It’s lovely-and there are some fantastic walks-some super easy and gentle. Be prepared for the midges though!

Following. This is exactly what we are planning for next summer. I usually book our holidays based on Mumsnet recommendations, but some of the Loch Lomond ones mentioned have very mixed reviews 😬

The midges can be bad.
Loch Lomond itself can be much more dangerous than people expect and there are surprisingly frequent fatalities there, so be sensible and understand the risks.
I enjoyed the stay I had in Cameron House but it was a while ago.

I spent a long day there in 2023. Luckily the weather was warm! (it was June). I can imagine you'd find plenty to do to keep you occupied for a few days.

I liked the Lodge On The Loch at Luss. Havent been in a while though.

there were paddle boards and activities on the beach outside. Not sure if connected or a separate thing. They used to have tiny 2 people saunas in the bedrooms.

echoing the PP who says Loch Lomond can be dangerous. There are hidden depths. One minute you can be paddling in a shallow area, then you literally go off a cliff into a deep bit. The temperature can also be a shock.
Lots of deaths in the loch over summer period so wear life jackets at all times.

I'd say you'd be perfect day trippers for the Lake District.

Thank you so much for this 😊. @ParmaVioletTea i think you’ve hit the nail on the head there! Loch Lomond sounds amazing, but the midges would be really tricky for us (one super sensitive member of family). I think we might look in the lakes and maybe consider LL before midge season. Thank you so much.

The lakes can be just as bad for midges to be honest.

You can also go on a boat to the island of Inchcailloch which is one of Loch Lomond’s islands. Walk the length of the island and you’ll find a stunning beach. We had it to ourselves when we did it. You get the boat near the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs visitor centre in Balhama, which is also where the walk starts if you wanted to walk up Conic Hill. There’s a great cafe for ice cream and the visitor centre often has activities on for the children too.

There's a heap of things to do in the Lake District - I walk there a lot as I live very near - never found the midges an issue compared with Scotland.

You can do easy walks for non-walkers that still give you a sense of the place, and depending on where you stay, there are lots of interesting museums & art galleries for the drizzling days. The Pencil Museum, for example, is surprisingly interesting. As is the main Keswick Museum. The steam gondola on Coniston Water is fun, as is Ruskin's house; the steam train from Newby Bridge to Lakeside also great fun, and then you can pick up a big boat that goes up Windermere. Wray Castle is a flat walk on the western shore of Windermere.

But try to use public transport - the buses are very good in the summer. The place clogs up with awful day trippers' cars, and people park in very inconsiderate ways. Also, driving in the Lake DIstrict isn't really the best way to see it - the top of a fdouble decker bus is far better, and more environmentally friendly.

It’s sounds daft to say it but I’ve done Switzerland on the cheap. Flight to Geneva, train to the Valais, pick an alpine village to the left or right with a cheap out of season ski lodge, get a bus or cable car from the train to the village.

Crans Montana, Grimmenz, Riederalp, the zermatt valley are trips we’ve done. Stunning.

Can’t beat the place in my view. Stunning, lush, green.

Aberfoyle is a great day out. Spend time in Queen Elizabeth Forest Park. If you go to the visitor centre early you can get some backpacks for the kids with insects and plants to find and some magnifying glass for the ponds.

There is a red squirrel hide which we loved.

Theres also a steepish fairy trail off Aberfoyle and some really cute cafes and gift shops.

Loch Lomond is nice, but not much to do for children and quite commercialised now with various shops on site. Far too cold for swimming in the sea or rivers even at this time of year, Scottish weather is not very reliable either. You will need wetsuits if this is the case.

personally I would rather go abroad and have the nice warm weather.

Can't stand warm weather. Im looking at another heatwave this week and am dreading it. My family, daughters included, love our trips to Scotland, especially to Loch Lomond.

I love the cold weather too. Just not sure if Scotland is the right place for OP if she’s expecting water suitable for swimming in a cozzie in!

My children were swimming in the sea here today.

Let’s be real though, it’s not that comfortable swimming in the sea here for long amounts of time (in the sometimes crappy weather) unless you’re used to it or happy to wear a wetsuit. I dont know if this family are local but if the kids are used to swimming abroad in the sea on their holidays it’s completely different in Scotland. The weather is also quite unpredictable.

It’s the midges that make a Scottish holiday truly intolerable for me. What’s the point of long summer evenings when you can’t sit out and enjoy it?

With an unadventurous husband and young kids, there are many other places worth considering too.

I like the East coast. The east neuk in fife is lovely. Or East Lothian. North Berwick, Dunbar etc. Foxlake has lots of water based activities if you prefer structured. Or even further north into Angus or Aberdeenshire.

Not the same issue with midges and if you want some other outdoor but not adventurous there are lots of nice farm parks, Scottish deer centre etc.

Alternatively the other way Dumfries and Galloway is lovely and has lots of places for watersports.

Your kids are still quite young and although there's Loch Lomond shores, it's a bit too shopping centre for me and then perhaps not enough if you are more of the pottering type.

With a five year old they are often too young for paddle boarding so I'd check the age/height restrictions on things you hope to do.

I totally skipped over the ages. 5 and 8 may be too young to do much watersport wise. The water is also very very cold for kids that young that are used to an abroad all inclusive. Scotland has loads of scenic walks and you can get great tours but a lot would be a bit too much walking in one day for an 8 and 5 year old.

There aren’t many child friendly activities for kids that age around that area apart from maybe playgrounds in the parks unless you wish to drive them out to soft play or go to the cinema.

if you are wanting to stay in the Scotland I’d suggest centreparks In the borders but with the amount you’d end up spending (and the weather can’t always be relied on here) you’d be worth your while just going abroad- centerparks can be quite pricey too especially during school hols.

if I am brutally honest, East Lothian (v close to where I live) and a package holiday abroad can’t be compared really although there is an artificial ski slope in Midlothian that offer junior ski lessons. Not quite the same thing as the alps though I’m afraid!