Balmaha - Loch Lomond and keeping kids busy

[victoryinthekitchen]

Meeting some friends for a long w'end in self-catering near Balmaha, 3 kids age 10 -13, any suggestions for eating out / interesting things to do locally please?

Lots and lots of good walks in the area, Go Ape at Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, boat trips on Loch Lomond. My DCs love Dumbarton Castle (we get in free with English Heritage membership). We also like mooching around Balloch Castle country park on the shores of Loch Lomond. Lots of places to eat in Balloch.

One of the groundsmen at Balloch Castle has spent the last year carving fairy houses from tree trunks all round the park. Great for younger children, but even the older ones enjoy finding them all, it makes a walk a bit more interesting. There's a google map you can use to find them.

Balmaha has the Oak Tree Inn which is great for food. There are some good walks from Balmaha, and you can get maps from the visitor centre in the main car park. Up and over Craigie Fort and down to Millarrochy Bay is a nice short walk. There's a little wooden ferry which will take you over to the uninhabited island of Inchcailloch which is great for a day exploring, take a picnic.

Loch Lomond Shores is good for mooching about and having an ice cream. There's an aerial assault course there too, and the Bird of Prey Centre which is good for older kids. Drymen is nice for lunch, there are a few hotels and pubs there. The RSPB Centre at Gartocharn might also be worth a look.

Stirling Castle wouldn't be too far away, and is a much better (but much more expensive) day out than Dumbarton Castle.

thanks very much, these all sound ideal :)

Stirling Castle is great if you want a day out with lots of displays, museums and stuff going on. Dumbarton is more of a couple of hours scrambling about in the ruins, my DCs (11 and 13) far prefer that type of castle, we go to Dumbarton every year but they didn't enjoy Stirling.

There's no cafe at Dumbarton Castle, which is a shame. If you do go there, there's a small but very cheap and good value cafe in the Maritime Museum, which is five mins walk from the castle.

Go down to Ross Priory too, it's right on the water's edge and is lovely. If you go in the evening you might see loads of bunnies playing.