Summer trip to the west coast of Scotland.

Its a place that was on the bucket list but as yet we still hadn’t made it.

So a small matter of finding stuff to do and accommodation etc for the following week.

So the Bucket list

One of the Islands

Deep fried Mars Bar

Sail the £39.99 Aldi Kayak

Visit a stone circle

Accomodation

The best value was a Caravan

We got a hot tip about this site

https://www.ukcaravans4hire.com

We found an excellent sea View caravan on a quiet part of this park at a  very good price, it was spotless and complied with all the Covid regs.

https://www.haven.com/parks/scotland/craig-tara/

The parks big but this is good as it has quite and busy areas, it had most things you would need on site but has plant of local shops and Ayr is a short drive away, its also next to the sea and you can see Arran in the distance.

Day 2

We wanted to go to one of the Islands so settled on Arran as we had heard great things about it.

One of the locals told us its Scotland in miniture, here is some word from the web.

Everyone says it, but it’s true. Arran has a bit of everything: mountains, forests, beaches, glens. You can cycle round the island in a day, and there are beautiful golf courses if you like to take things a little more slowly. You can’t miss Goat Fell as you approach on the ferry to Arran – it’s the island’s biggest mountain, and one of the most popular walks, with spectacular views from the top.

The wildlife on Arran is abundant, so pack your binoculars for a chance to see seal colonies, otters, eagles, deer, basking sharks, porpoises, and over 100 species of birds. There’s plenty of history, too – head to Brodick Castle for a peak at the ancient seat of power, or Lochranza Castle, with its underground prison, ‘the pit’. After all that you might need a bit of sustenance – and Arran’s got that covered, too, with local cheese, beer and whisky.

Now words alone cant tell you how nice it is so here is a little video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiRTD20ti4w://

Its best to book on the ferry as it can get busy and can be cancelled if the weather is bad. You just queue up and drive on then get out of the car and sit on the deck or in the lounge, the dog has to have its own ticket ( its free) of it will have to stay in the car.

Now a word of advice this ferry is designed to sail in bad weather is was extremely windy when we went and it was as steady as a rock, the crew know what they are doing and will cancel if its dangerous. Get your self on the deck and blow the cobwebs away.

  Never been on a Ferry? This will give you an idea how easy it is

 

 

https://www.calmac.co.uk/article/1925/Arran

Now being a family of Cheesaholics even the dog, we had to go here

https://arranscheeseshop.co.uk

Its only small but has all you need, the Chilli Jam is fantastic, we bought several Cheeses ( Good job we had a cool box) the Chive one is really the best we have had.

No no trip to Arran should be without a Distillery trip.

We drove north to Lochranza

The area around Lochranza is home to a large population of red deer, and these can often be seen grazing on the golf course just park up near by and wait and you usually see them hiding in the long grass. The mountainous surroundings also make this an ideal location for golden eagles, while the shore of Loch Ranza is the place to look for the seals that are often on view, and the otters that can sometimes be seen.

https://www.arranwhisky.co

The bar of the Lochranza Hotel, to the north of the distillery, has one of the largest collections of Scotch whisky available by the measure in the country: over 350 different Scotch whiskies are available

http://www.lochranzahotel.co.uk

Off to find a Stone Circle

Machrie Moor.  Are the remains of  six closely grouped stone circles, the surrounding area has  chambered cairns, a standing stone and more hut circles. It has a small carpark just off the main road, but its a 20-30 minute walk to the main stones, it can be wet and muddy.

Deep fried Mars Bar

Well what can I say its fantastic.

This was recommended by several locals

https://www.bluelagoonfishandchips.co.uk

Day 3 Sea Trials of the £40 Kayak at the Village of Luss

The kids had a look for a place to launch our £39.99 Aldi Kayak, looked at the weather and decided Luss on Loch Lomond was the best place.

Luss became quite famous as a result of being featured in the Scottish TV drama series “Take the High Road” The village is very nice. It has a row of early 19th-century estate workers’ cottages that line the main street. The cottages run down from the centre of the village to the shore of Loch Lomond and Luss Pier. You can wander around the village and you will find small gift shops, tea rooms and restaurants. We headed to the lake, plan your parking as it gets busy.

The kids decided to paddle to Inchconnachan Island. Thanks to the kind family who lent us their pump as our £5 electric one was rubbish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now after a hard days paddling we wanted some food, one of the very helpful locals recommended this place

https://www.the-village-rest.co.uk

The food and service were first class and good value.

We even saw another Dandie!