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Balloch

Whichever way you choose, Balloch, at the southern end of Loch Lomond is a visitor option.

Loch Lomond Sea Life Centre, Explore an underwater world and take a journey from the Loch
Lomond shores to the ocean depths through seven themed zones, including the Tropical Ocean
Tunnel. Get up close to over 1500 creatures, including Scotland’s only Giant Green Sea Turtle, the
largest collection of sharks in Scotland and a playful family of otters.

Loch Lomond Bird of Prey Centre. See 35 birds of prey and owls, representing over twenty seven
species. Birds of all sizes, the Little Owl, Kestrels, Buzzards, Hawks, Falcons and Eagles,
including “Orla”, the Golden Eagle.

Loch Katrine

Loch Katrine (from the gaelic for “highland thief or robber”) is a freshwater loch at the southern end
of the Trossachs National Park. One of the loveliest lakes in the highlands, it was made famous by
Sir Walter Scott’s poem, The Lady of the Lake. The major attraction is the steamship Sir Walter
Scott, which, with several other vessels, offers a variety of cruises on the lake. The area has a lot
of other attractions from hiking and biking to climbing and bird watching. More on Loch Katrine . . .

Glasgow

Known traditionally as a gritty, hard-scrabble working class city, Glasgow has done much to shed
that image in recent decades.

Slum areas like the infamous Gorbals were dangerous places where drunkenness and crime were
the ruling cultures. Street gangs, such as the notorious Glasgow Razor Gangs, terrorised the
locals.

Eventually the well-intentioned authorities bulldozed the old, crowded row houses and built tower
blocks of apartments which in many ways were worse. Social dysfunction was rife on these badly
designed, poorly constructed “estates”. Over recent years many have been demolished and
replaced with a higher standard mix of market-driven and social housing.

In his autobiography, Working Class Boy, Australian hard-rocker Jimmy Barnes tells of life in the
Cowcaddens Rd area, near the centre of the city, where things weren’t too much different. With
unemployment hitting as high as 33%, drunkenness and the violence it breeds were
commonplace.

For all that, Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, is also “renowned for its culture, style and the
friendliness of its people. It has a blend of internationally-acclaimed museums and galleries,
stunning architecture, vibrant nightlife, some of Britain’s best shopping and a diverse array of
restaurants and bars.

“Vibrant and energetic, Glasgow enjoys a year-round buzz with an arts scene that regularly
produces cutting-edge productions and attracts high-profile exhibitions that led to the city being
crowned European City of Culture in 1990.

“Glasgow was also the UK’s City of Architecture and Design in 1999 and its architecture is an
attraction in itself. The city centre has countless impressive Victorian structures and then there are
the unique masterpieces of one of the city’s most celebrated sons, the legendary architect and
“designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.