Tarbet from Edinburgh

You take the train.

It's a bit far for a day trip though in my opinion, but your opinion might be different.

The name of the station is Arrochar & Tarbet. About 2 and a half hours from Edinburgh. 51 minutes to Glasgow, 15 minutes to stroll over 3 platforms and wait for your connecting train, and 1:23 on the train to your destination. Water on your left hand side after Glasgow,

Enjoy.

Be sure to check on your return trains. Not all connections are so straightforward.

You do know that there really isn't much at Tarbet except a hotel and a loch side park. The station itself is unstaffed and has no facilities.
There is rather more at Arrochar (which is on Loch Long), the other village which the station is pretty much equidistant from. Both villages are around a 15 minute walk from the station.
The main reason to go to Tarbet would be to take one of several cruises on Loch Lomond.

You can also get there by Scottish Citylink coach changing at Glasgow Buchanan Coach Station. That stops right outside the hotel and is actually more frequent than the train. Coaches to Oban, Fort William and Campbeltown all stop there.

The journey takes 3 hrs 8 minutes with departures from Edinburgh at 1000, 1030, 1100 and 1200 daily, returning at 1313, 1451, 1613 and 2011.

When I first read this, I thought the OP wanted to go to Tarbert on Harris. That would have been a VERY long day trip. 😊

Thank you all! We are going because our last name is Tarbet, and we want to see the “homeland,” lol.

Do you know of any private car companies that take the trip?

My first thought was Tarbert on Loch Fyne/Kintyre (which is another possible, if long, day trip from Glasgow/Edinburgh and is a very attractive village).

People on this forum highly recommend Rabbies.
Like most companies their normal tours only get as far up Loch Lomond as Luss (a few miles south, a nice village which is a bit of a tourist trap in the nicest way) but they also do bespoke tours, in anything from a car to a minibus.
Try contacting them and seeing what they can do.
Their normal day tour from Edinburgh to Loch Lomond includes the Kelpies, Loch Katrine and Stirling Castle and costs £48. A wonderful tour and combination for the price.
I would ask them if they can bespoke a version of that for you by extending up to Tarbet and giving you 30 minutes to an hour there- quite ample.

Thanks so much! This is great info.