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Glen and Loch Etive
The dot on the map is a bit indicative because Loch Etive is over 30 km long and Glen Etive lies to its north. The River Etive actually starts east of Glen Coe, passing the Kingshouse Hotel over the A82. Loch Etive flows into the Firth of Lorn at Connel in the south. So I would have had to use a very looooong dot to cover things. But you get an idea. Don't you?
First things first. How to pronoune Etive?
No, it is not with the stress on the second syllable. There are even videos online of enthusiasts talking about Glen Eteeeeeve.
So just to get this clear: the stress is on the first E (as in bed, stress, leg, a short "e"). It's pronounced E-tiv.
Feel free to roll your eyes next time you hear someone pronounce it differently. Now you know better.
There are a few ways to explore this absolutely stunning glen and loch.
Let's just take a north to south direction.
Firstly, there's the walk through the Lairig Gartain. That's the glen between Buachaille Etive Mor and Buachaille Etive Beag. Yep, that conical Munro when you near Glen Coe, that's big brother. Conveniently, there's a car park at the start of the Lairig Gartain. Inconveniently, it's usually rather crowded.
The sign on the left dates back to 2010. They've upgraded it to name the glen you're walking through. Five miles is the distance to walk all the way to Glen Etive, but you needn't go all that far (unless you have a car at the other end). Enjoy gaining some height as you are sided by the two Buachailles, which equal four Munros. If you're lucky, you will hear deer rutting and you can try to spot them on the mountain sides.
Once you reach the highest point, you will be rewarded by this majestic view: Glen Etive with the River Etive meandering through it. Trust me, it's a sight you will want to return to.
Mind, that beauty spot is very VERY windy.
You may enjoy your picnic there, but you will need to dress a bit warmer. Some hot tea will be appreciated as well (chocolate too).
If you're really adventurous (or able to convince your partner), you can also seek to get a view from a bit higher. Park your car a bit further along the A82 in Glen Coe and climb Buachaille Etive Beag. This impressive mountain - like 
its bigger brother - consists of two Munros. Obviously, you need to take the southern one: Stobh Dubh (which just so happens to be the easier one). If you're lucky (meaning, if the clouds don't block your view), you get to enjoy this panorama.
You have to admit, you can really capture the majestic beauty of nature, right?
After you're done gazing at Glen Etive from a distance, you can also drive through the glen. As you're approaching Glen Coe from the south, there's a sign for Glen Etive on the left, not so long after you passed the Glencoe Mountain car park (and ski lift, etc). Mind, this is a popular place for campers, so depending on when you take the road trip down to the head of Loch Etive at Gualachulain, you may be confronted with loads of cars and camper vans on the way. You may find your best view spoiled by tents of all colours as well (our fancy dot on a perfect picture was bright blue).
As you make your way southwards, it's worth parking your car at the car park closest to Dalness. The "tiny" building on the picture is the Dalness Estate, and the not so tiny lump of rock behind it is Stob na Bròige, southern Munro of Buachaille Etive Mor.
Drive a bit further and you get to see both Buachailles.
That gap in the middle, that's the vantage point where you stood enjoying your tea (and chocolate) and the fresh gust of air.
At the very end of the road, where the River Etive flows into Loch Etive, there's a car park, one too small for the numerous visitors. But there you go.
This is the fantastic view you get looking north east into Glen Etive. (I could have had an even better panorama, but it also included one very flashy blue tent.)
South you are looking at the head of Loch Etive. As said, it can be very, very crowded there so don't let the stillness of the picture fool you. You will not be alone there. If you are really unlucky, you will have some irritating bugger flying a drone, much to the annoyance of everybody else. Each their own thing, right?
As you can see from the picture, there is another way to explore Loch Etive: by boat.
As we are rather avid walkers, we decided to explore Loch Etive on foot again. We drove along the A85 towards the west and drove up the small road at Bridge of Awe, towards the Inverawe Smokehouses. Just before you arrive at the Smokehouses, you can take a right towards a car park. Walk out of the woods (although, when we were there, they had just done some serious felling), until you start skirting the shores of Loch Etive.
This is the view towards the west.
Below is the direction you're walking in: a north-easterly one.
The good thing about this walk is that you decide all by your grown-up self just how far you want to go, keeping in mind that you have to walk the same distance on your return. It won't go much faster when you go back as it's up and down the entire time. We "walked" some two hours, including numerous stops to take photographs and one lunch break. Our return journey was only half an hour shorter.
As you can see, we could have picked worse days to take this walk. Not a cloud in the sky. Thirteen degrees felt like twenty. It was a good thing we could take cover in the shade occasionally.
Now we took a lot of pictures, because as you may notice, it is stunningly beautiful.
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We decided to end our walk at this point. As you can see, it was not going to get any better until we passed Inverliver Bay (the stretch of water on the right), which would probably have added another hour. Remember that Loch Etive itself measures over 30 km. You can walk as far as you want.
So, whatever angle you want to take, from a walk in the Lairig Gartain, a view from Stob Dubh, a trip through Glen Etive or a walk from the south, Glen and Loch Etive offer some truly amazing scenery.
