You may struggle with playgrounds because they're all outdoors and this Autumn has been wet and chilly here in the West. VERY different from England this year - snow will fall even in lower Perthshire tonight.
Bute is beautiful, but it is isolated and there is only one 'town', Rothesay, which has mostly pubs. That is why most take holiday there in summer in order to fish and enjoy the sand beaches.
The coach tour is great, though.
I think the Waverley Ferry is still running it's wroth a trip on that!
Benmore Botanical Gardens has an excellent cafe and is good for wee ones running about. It's popular with locals with young children as well as holiday makers and offers plenty of walks and guided tours.
Bring all waterproof gear - the wet weather will not let up this week at all and the gales have been strong yesterday and today.
The Oystercatcher in Otter Ferry is not a cafe as such, a pub and a restaurant, but family friendly, as well as The Bay Cottage Tea Room in Strachur, Creggans Inn outside Strachur is nice, too.
Most activities here are outdoors, people just go out in it, so if you come well-prepared for all weathers, you'll be okay.
Not too many cafes here as such, mostly pubs with restaurants.
It is a wild sort of beauty that does not suit some, as it is rugged and isolated in many spots and often cold and wet and windy, but we find it to our liking!
A car is a must, IMO.
The distances are not geographically that far, but there are only A roads and public transport is not available everywhere.
There is now, however, a direct coach from Dunoon to Glasgow. It is run by McGills here and well worth it because otherwise, it means you have to take a ferry, then a train and the two are only synced up in the mornign so you could find yourself waiting in poor weather for one or the other.