Loch Lomond Shores

Loch Lomond is one of me and my boyfriends special places.
Worth a visit if you’re in the area. its a purpose built in shops area with a small jenners and several gift shops and coffee shops. Lovely decked area overlooking Loch Lomond with activities for children and walking areas around the bay.

Loch Lomond is one of my fave places in Scotland and the shores is a great addition. I have been here quite a few times as there is always something going on from farmers markets to festive fun.
There is plenty of parking available at the front entrance with large overspill car parks.
Jenners is the main retail outlet here and although you do pay slightly more for items than say in city centre stores for the same products it’s still a lovely place to shop.
There are loads of other retail outlets with one of my favourites being misty glen that have some beautiful and unique gifts.
Plenty of options for eating and drinking although I was so sad to see the recent closure of the Dug Café.

My parents, the boyfriend and I went to the Loch Lomand Food and Drink Festival that was on last weekend. What a beautiful day to show the parents Loch Lomand and even better that there was a food and drink fest on to boot.
There were loads of tents set up in the sun, selling all sorts of local and not so local goodies. Both my parents and my boyfriend and I bought a bit of fruit from the local farmers who were set up, we bought some scones for a wee snack later, my dad bought some smoked fish, my boyfriend bought some Stornoway black pudding and we were able to sample loads of things including mac and cheese, cheeses, spicy ginger beer, etc. My boyfriend and I also considered buying some English made solid wood outdoor furniture for our patio, but decided to wait because we’d rather have Scottish made products if we can.
We didn’t stay long, just to walk back and forth a few times to buy those things before we headed to Luss, but before we did leave, we all bought smoked sausages that were for sale– so delicious
We really enjoyed our day out here.

A shopping complex set on the banks of beautiful Loch Lomond. Easily accessible with good transport connections and ample free parking. Here you will find a mix of stores such as Jenners House of Fraser store, Catherine Kinloch shoes, Loch Lomond jewellers and many more. After a day shopping, you can relax in one of the restaurants such as the Kilted Skirlie or cafes such as Dog friendly DUG café. Weather permitting you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Loch from their balcony area, certainly worth a look.
Also set within the complex is Loch Lomond Sea Life Centre. To keep the kids amused you have a the choice of trampolines, amusements, activity play area and seasonal hire if bikes, canoes, motor boats. During the summer months you can always take a mini day cruise on the lock from the newly built jetty. In wet days you kids can enjoy the indoor kids soft play area.
The shore also hosts exhibitions, armed markets and other events which you will find on their website.

Worth a visit if you’re in the area. its a purpose built in shops area with a small jenners and several gift shops and coffee shops. Lovely decked area overlooking Loch Lomond with activities for children and walking areas around the bay. Local boats provide daily sails around loch. Beautiful on a sunny day.

Review for Thorntons Café.
Loch Lomond shores is generally quite expensive as it is aimed at tourists, so eating and shopping is on the pricey side.
Me and my partner decided to try out one of the cafes for lunch, and settled for Thorntons café. The café is quite spacious with plenty of seating area. They have a wide selection of cakes and plenty of choices on the food menu.
I ordered a baked potato and tea, which was a meal deal at £5.95 and an empire biscuit. My partner had a tuna panini with a rocky road and a can of coke. The total came to around £11. Excellent food and we were both stuffed!
Staff are very friendly too, will definitely come here again the next time i’m in Loch Lomond Shores :)

If you’re the sort of person who comes to one of Scotland’s most famous places for a shopping centre, then this place is most certainly for you. Unfortunately, I doubt anyone falls into this category.
Loch Lomond Shores, located literally where the name states, is a collection of cafes/​shops/​visitor centres/​souvenir stores, and an aquarium, and was the first place I came to the other day at Loch Lomond. The only reason I came into the retail park is because there was a continental market on, with a collection of Spanish tapas stalls, provencale potatoes, Italian pastries, exotic burgers (elk, zebra etc) and polish bratwurst vendors. It was lovely to see all the Europeans talking about their love of food and their culture, and oh my was it tasty!
This place is a decent starting place if you’re wanting to do a lot more in the national park, but if you intend on going walking or climbing, this place would probably be a pointless addition to the journey.

It’s a somewhat strange phenomenon, bot on me and E-Bot’s recent jaunt out Loch Lomond way, I found that once you get as far as Dumbarton, everything looks and feels like a relic from the late 80s and early 90s. this encompasses everything from the entire town of Balloch, to the hotels dotting the shoreline, to the Loch Lomond Shores complex. This is particularly odd, as The Shores didn’t open till 2002.
I thought I was imagining this peculiar timewarp, perhaps down to the fact I used to visit the area with my folks during the actual 90s when I was a lad, but E also agreed. It’s not a bad thing though, and despite feeling a bit old fashioned we had a great day wandering round here. The Sea Life Centre is fascinating, the huge Jenners is good for a browse even if it lacks the atmosphere of it’s Edinburgh counterpart, and it’s just a pleasant, scenic and bustling place to while away a few hours.
Unbelievably overpriced pedalos (12 bucks an hour), plus a lack of decent places to eat are all that keeps it from getting the 5.

Loch Lomond Shores is a small shopping complex mainly aimed at tourists so you will find an overload of tartan and shortbread on offer here. There’s a few stores including;
–Jenners
–Catherine Kinloch
–Misty Glen
–Edinburgh Woollen Mill
–Thorntons
–Julien Graves
…So it’s not the kind of place you could go on a shopping spree but it caters for tourists and is a pleasant place to browse.
In addition to the shopping centre there’s also a Sea Life Centre and if you’re looking for some activities then you can hop on the loch for a spot of canoeing or paddle boating.
Like Gavin, I find it a little odd that there’s a complete lack of place to eat apart from a small café attached onto Jenners and a restaurant with the worst looking menu I’ve ever seen.

On a sunny day in August, this place is a great remedy to a spare day. A days cycling took me here along a stretch of cycle path from Glasgow city centre to Loch Lomond along the awesomely scenic canal.
The location is phenomenal, with gorgeous scenery, in a beautifully preserved town with all the usual touristy stuff going on. On the Lomond Shores there are many market stalls, people playing in the water on boats, and nice smells and music in the air. A perfect day out for the family, walking, lunch, cycling, boating, sampling local produce. Well maybe not local but there are paella stalls were a man with a huge huge wok cooks up a meal for 50, from which you can buy. Exciting as this idea may be, the paella did not taste as good as it smelt. Fresh Strawberries and cream solved the prior disappointment. And when you are done with all that take a browse in the shopping mall, its not like your ordinary city centre assortment.
The Shores are a great excuse to get a bit of exercise in and jump on the cycle path for the day. Don’t forget your camera!

I visited Loch Lomond shores for the first time last Autumn when I took part in the annual zipslide for Macmillan Cancer Trust. I had heard lots about how lovely it was so I was keen to find out for myself.
Although the shopping precinct is situated on the banks of the loch it is not the most scenic area from which to view it, although it is the most handy, being only a ten minute walk from Balloch Train Station. The shops, including Jenners and Loch Lomond jewelers, are aimed at tourists and are the prices reflect this. However there are plenty of events held in the precinct including a fortnightly farmer’s market.
I agree with the previous viewer in that I would be disappointed if a tourist took a trip to Loch Lomond National Park and only visited the shores. Instead I would recommend Ross Priory for stunning architecture and surroundings in a more secluded environment.

Ugh, I clearly made an error in planning to launch my exploration of Loch Lomond from this site. It’s a tourist-​choked amusement park. Besides restaurants and an aquarium (to which I’ll give a pass), they have paddleboats and a «retail crescent.» They do offer some legitimate services for exploring the park, such as kayak and mountain-​bike rentals.
On the upside, the park service has a large visitor center here which serves as a gateway to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. What I really wanted to do was hike around the vicinity above the lake, since I didn’t have time enough in my day to climb Ben Lomond. I got plenty of pamphlets and then got the hell out to drive up the west side of the lake towards Luss.