Pubs

[Stuart Dodson]

Our group of 10 is walking the Way at the end of May with minibus support. We will be staying at Drymen, Calllander, Lochearnhead, Aberfeldy twice, but not Pitlochry as we are taking advantage of the shortish last day and moving on to Stirling.  Any 'not to miss' pubs and eateries on our trek? We are staying in various hotels which may be fine anyway. Any real ale available? Thanks in advance.

[Stuart Dodson]

On our enjoyable walk we found decent drinking with some real ale in the following establishments: 

Drymen: The Clachan and in our hotel The Winnock.  Food and drink in the hotel and The Clachan was fine.
Callander: We ate and drank very well at the Waverley restaurant.
Lochearnhead: At the Lochearnhead Hotel we were well catered for meals and drinks.
Aberfeldy: We had two nights in Weem near Aberfeldy, one in the fine hostel and one the hotel, the hostel change was due to some room refurbishment in the hotel. We ate breakfast in the hotel both days and had one evening meal. Beer and service was average in the hotel and a stag night groups noise badly affected some of our group. The kayak and rafting nearby Weem may wlll attract young revellers. The second night we went the Black Watch pub in Aberfeldy who looked after us very well good food and drink.
Stirling: we started our way back to Lincolnshire with a stop at the Golden Liion in Stirling.The hotel has a fine position.  Ask for rooms at the back as the nearby street has late night revellers and boom box chav autos till early morning and this was a Monday night! We ate at The Indian Village restaurant who treated us royally.

Clearly tastes vary and service can change, but I do hope this helps other walkers.

[Jacquetta]

Hello Stuart

That's a really interesting list, and I'm sure that others (like me) who enjoy real ale and walking will follow in your footsteps.  Sorry you didn't get any replies before you left, but thanks for answering your own quesiton in such a helpful way.

Interesting that you ended up at the Golden Lion as it's the place where our local Rotary Stirling Rotary Club meets, so you'd often find me there at a Friday lunchtime.  Club members did the Arran Coastal Way last year, and we are walking the West Highland Way on Sunday 5 July.  Please get in touch if you are interested.