Home Report Tarbert

Tarbert has a lot going on for a town of its size. It is surrounded by fantastic, rugged hills and a natural harbour. It is a popular tourist base which for many visitors acts as the gateway to the beautiful peninsula of Kintyre. It is famous for its fresh seafood and hosts a dedicated seafood festival every year in July which draws in thousands of visitors. In recent years it has become an increasingly popular destination for the yachting fraternity in the UK. This culminates in May during the heats for the Scottish Series – yachting races – which are staged in Loch Fyne. This yacht race is the second biggest in Britain and is surpassed only by the Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight. At its peak, the village is swelled by visiting yachtsmen and their yachts.

Tarbert also hosts an annual amusement fair at the end of July. Begun in the early 1800s, Tarbert Fair was originally a place where farmers and crofters would barter cattle, wool, and other goods. Today, however, the Fair is all about entertainment, with a suite of fairground rides, arcades, and food outlets that stretch along the harbour.

For tourists with more of an outdoor persuasion, the village is one of the start/finish points of the Kintyre Way, one of Scotland’s Great Trails. Also worth noting is the attraction of historians of all levels visiting to see Robert the Bruce’s castle ruins that sit above the town.

People and tourists typically reach Tarbert using the A83 road runs which runs to Campbeltown. The village is served by a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry service, which as mentioned earlier connects Tarbert with Portavadie in the Cowal peninsula during the summer and Lochranza on Arran in winter.

In terms of local education today, the town is served by Tarbert Academy which caters to pupils from ages 3-18. The Primary serves the village and the surrounding community, and the Secondary serves the communities of South Knapdale and North Kintyre.