Rothesay, Isle Of Bute

3 miles / 5 km

A short walk with some excellent views and scenery, including Serpentine Road, the most unique road in the British Isles. The walk crosses Canada Hill.

Moderate Hard

This walk is a walk in two halves. The first one and a half miles is steep up and down. The final half is flat along the seaside back to Rothesay harbour. Bring plenty of soft drinks. The surface is good tarmac all the way.



Train from Glasgow Central Station/Paisley/Port Glasgow 2 times an hour to Wemyss Bay. Alternative take the Mcgills 901/906 bus from Glasgow/Braehead. The bus covers this distance two times slower than the train and is not recommended.
The Wemyss Bay - Rothesay ferry 1 time an hour. But check out the ferry timetable before leaving.

The walk starts from the Rothesay ferry terminal. Cross the town square and head up the High Street and Rothesay Castle. Look to the left at the next road to the left, Castle Street. The view that you will get is...


This climb is steep, I make no bones about that. The city planners in San Francisco, USA copied this road in 1925'ish and named it Lombard Street. It is famous from various movies and TV series. The original is the one this walk is climbing up.
You can choose the stairs or you can choose to zig-zag yourself up the road. Beware of the car traffic. I have tried both methods and I am not sure which method is the easiest. The reward for climbing the hill is like this...


The Serpentine Road still continues as a serpentine road for some more bends. The climb is still steep. At the first crossroad, just at the camping site huts, take the road to the left and then, after 30 yards/meters, the road to the right. The walk is still on the Serpentine Road and one piece of serpentines is still remaining before the road become more flat and the climbing comes to an end at the golf course just after the 90 degrees left turn.




The walk is now descending down the hill. First gently and then in a pretty vertical descent. At the beginning of Crichton Road, there is an unmarked walking path going down to the right. Use that walking path. The tarmac path into a steep descent in two zig-zag turns down Wellpart Road to the main road and the seafront.



Turn to the left and follow the sea promenade the 1.5 miles/2 km back to Rothesay and the ferry port again.




Ferry back to Wemyss Bay again and the train or bus back to Glasgow/Paisley/Port Glasgow again 2 times an hour (the train) or 4 - times an hour (the bus).
Please note that the bus is bypassing Paisley by going to Braehead instead.

Enjoy the walk !!