Skipness – A Castle, a Chapel and Arran across the Water
About 2.5 miles on foot.
At the end of a single road on the east side of Kintyre, a great walled castle stands in a field by the sea with the mountains of Arran across the sound.
A roofless chapel sits on the shore below it, and a pebble beach runs out to Skipness Point. It makes an easy round of about 4 km, with a seafood cabin by the car park in season.
- Time
- About an hour and a half: the castle, the chapel, the pebble beach to Skipness Point and back by Campbell's Glen, about 4 km. A stroll, slow on the pebbles.
- The path
- Grass, a track, a pebble beach and woodland paths.
- Where to start
- Skipness Castle car park, just off the B8001 beyond the church; no charge.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 2pm. The Seafood Cabin runs to 30 October, Sunday to Friday; the castle tower is opened in summer only.
- Dogs
- Welcome under close control, with care near livestock.
- Children
- A castle and a beach; the pebbles are slow for small legs.
- Before you set out
- The castle tower is opened in summer only. Skipness Seafood Cabin: Sunday to Friday 11am to 4.30pm from 1 September to 30 October, closed Saturdays; check its website after that.
The walk
Skipness is at the end of the B8001, on the east side of Kintyre, and the castle car park is just off the road beyond the church, with no charge. From the information board a gateway leads to the castle. The round most people make from here takes in the castle, the chapel by the shore, the pebble beach out to Skipness Point and the woods of Campbell's Glen on the way back. It's about 4 km and an hour and a half by Walkhighlands' measure, on tracks, pebbles and woodland paths. The castle was begun in the early 1200s by the MacSweens and enlarged around 1300 into the big walled block you see, with rare cross-shaped arrow slits in its west range.
The grounds are open all year without charge, and the tower itself is opened in summer only. Kilbrannan Chapel, down by the shore, is a roofless thirteenth-century church dedicated to St Brendan, with carved medieval grave slabs kept under wooden covers. All the way along, Arran fills the view across the Kilbrannan Sound. The Skipness Seafood Cabin, by the car park, serves fresh local seafood. Its autumn hours are Sunday to Friday, 11am to 4.30pm, until 30 October, and it's closed on Saturdays.
After that date, check its website before counting on lunch there, and bring a flask. Dogs are welcome under close control, with care near livestock. The beach is pebbly and slow going, so wear boots. From November to January set off by 2pm.
If it rains
It's all in the open, and Arran disappears in low cloud. On a wet day see the castle and the chapel, which are a few minutes from the car, and leave the beach for a better one.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is The Hollies, 10 miles away. Sleeps 18.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Michelle Gardener via Google