Isle of Arran
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The Scots are a proud race and when you travel through the length and breadth of the country you will find out why. Instead of writing about all the features of Scotland, I will talk in specific about a popular tourist destination. The Isle of Arran.
There are many small islands on the western coast of Scotland. The Isle of Arran is one of the larger islands. Its reputation is based on the fact that it is considered a miniature Scotland.
The tourism season runs all year long, but the best times for a trip are from end of April to October.
What is so special about this place?
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Arran is a miniature Scotland with Highlands and Lowlands similar to those found on the Scottish mainland. The weather is pleasant and there are a wide variety of beaches for those who love water. Those who love trekking will love the plentiful opportunities they get here.
My trip
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We, a gang of five guys set out from our base - Edinburgh on the M8 motorway towards the harbour town of Ardrossan on a rental Peugeut 307. The total distance from Edinburgh to Ardrossan is just over 100 miles. It is very difficult to get lost, so you can enjoy the ride peering at the lovely landscape that rolls in front of you(roads A737 and B780)
You can reach Ardrossan via train also. There are regular trains from Glasgow Central to Ardrossan Harbour.
At Ardrossan Harbour however, you need to take a ferry. There is no other means of transportation to the island(except another ferry from Claonaig). We were slapped with a hefty(yeah we are a bunch of scrooges:D) bill of £ 112 to get a saver return ticket for the car and the five of us.
People who want to save money might look at the option of renting a car from the island rather than from the mainland itself. Of course the number of rental cars available on the island is limited. so take care to book in advance. Doing this would have reduced our ferrry bill by half. But again we could not book rental cars on the island(what with it being a long weekend and all).
There are also regular Stagecoach buses which run along the main roads in the island. You take an all day ticket(£2.5) and hop on and off when you want. There is also a quaint Post bus which is used by the postal department. You can sometimes travel in those buses also.
It is also a good idea to reserve your seats on the ferry in advance, or you will have to wait in the queue hoping to get through.
The ferry journey itself is pleasant and takes about an hour. You should park your car and can either lounge around in the lower decks, grab some food from the decent cafe/eatery or go and make a general fool of yourself on the top decks. The seas are quite gentle so chances of seasickness are also limited.
The island
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The ferry lands at Brodick which is the largest town and has one-fifth of the entire population(1000 out of 5000). This is also where you will find the largest stores(Co-op). Stock as much as you want. Prices are the same here as on the mainland, so you dont need to lug anything extra on the ferry.
From thereon, you can travel on your car along the ring road that runs by the entire coast of the island. If you are the adventurous sort, you could even hire bikes or motorbikes to go at your own pace.
There are lot of small villages on the island, each of which have their own areas of interest. But if you are hoping to see some man-made grandeur(aka’doing the usual touristy thing’), then you will be sadly disappointed. There are a few castles on the island - the Brodick castle(£10 to enter) and the Lochranza castle(which is free) are the main tourist attractions, but these are rather small(or ruined) to interest anyone but first timers. More fun lies in exploring each town/village separately. You have the Kings Caves(where Robert Bruce is supposed to have hidden) or the Druids Stones. Walk to these places and soak the ambience. There are numerous art workshops which are usually on the edge of a trail. Have a peek in some of those.
There are a total of FORTYFOUR walks in Arran. And take my word, each of them will take your breath away. Nature’s grandeur is laid in front of our eyes to devour. Awesome is the only word.
We stayed at a place called Catacol Bay Hotel. The food we had here was splendid. The hosts are friendly and the rooms were great and at £27.5 per person, it was a steal. This town is rather far from Brodick but it makes up for that in its serenity. The view from our hotel(a B&B actually) was of the seas crashing onto the shore rocks and whipping up a frenzy. There is also a long walk from Catacol which leads you through many lochs(lakes).
Moving on from Catacol, we travelling along the coast stopping every few yards to take photographs. This trip will surely please the shutterbugs amongst you. I have been to quite a few places, but no one has been as eye-catching as Arran, ensure that you take a completely clean memory card with LOADS of space to store all your pictures and videos.
Pirnmill which is after Catacol had some of the best beaches we had seen.
Next on the route is the Machrie Moor. This place has many pre-historic stones arranged in a circle. This is presumed to be an ancient graveyard. To get to this place, you will have to walk for a 1.5 miles through the most gorgeous of nature vistas( I am running out of adjectives). Plenty of lamb gambol about as you pass through them to the Moor. There are also some HUGE pillars standing by themselves amidst the silence of the lambs. Who put them there and what was their function is a mystery.
The next place we touched was BlackWaterFoot. This has a small harbour and has a grocery store where we bought some much needed supplies. The prices here were again pretty much the same as on the mainland. This was a shock to us who were used to people inflating the cost of food stuff at tourist places. Cheers to the people of BlackWaterFoot.
And off we went through Kildonan which has a famous trek known as Goat Fell. Since we were thoroughly slaughtered by then, we skipped this trek and moved on to Brodick where we chilled out at the local souvenir shops before taking our ferry back.
So finally
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All in all, it was a great two days spent. I know people who spend weeks together at Arran. They take their camping equipment with them and stay in their tents, trekking through all the walks in Arran.
This would be a great way to see Arran too. Also, try to get accommodation at the youth hostel at Lochranza. This would save you some dough.
Carry sensible shoes for all the trekking, unlike yours sincerely who ended up sliding through the grassy slopes. Luckily the only thing hurt was my ego.
If you are out to doing just the regular tourist thingy of rushing from one monument to another, then Arran is not the place for you. If you however enjoy nature, then take some time out to go to this lovely place where time seems to have stood still.
So happy camping.