The South End of Bute – A Lighthouse and St Blane's Chapel
About 5 miles on foot.
The West Island Way begins at Kilchattan Bay, at the southern end of Bute, with a circuit of 8 km round the island's rocky tip.
It passes a small lighthouse and the lonely bay of Glencallum, with Arran across the water, and comes back inland by the ruined church of St Blane's, where there has been a holy place since the 500s. It's the roughest stretch of the Way, so it suits walkers with boots and three hours to give it.
- Time
- Three to three and a half hours: a circuit of 8 km (5 miles), rough and rocky on the shore.
- The path
- A narrow, rocky shore path, then grass and farm tracks that are hilly and muddy in places. Not for wheelchairs or pushchairs.
- Where to start
- The parking area at the very end of the road through Kilchattan Bay, beside the turning place for buses.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 11.30am. No ferry to Bute on 25 December or 1 January. Wind can stop the boat: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel.
- Dogs
- On a lead: sheep and cattle.
- Children
- The shore path is narrow and rocky, and the circuit is long for small children.
- Toilets
- Public toilets in Kilchattan Bay village.
- Before you set out
- The shore path is narrow and rocky, the most rugged part of the West Island Way, and the inland return is muddy in places. No ferry to Bute on 25 December or 1 January. Wind can stop the boat: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel.
The walk
Drive to the very end of the road through Kilchattan Bay, where there's a parking area beside the turning place for buses. A carved sandstone pillar there marks the start of the West Island Way, and this walk is its first stage, a circuit of 8 km, or five miles. The Way's own site gives no time for it, and a walker's guide to the same circuit allows three to three and a half hours. It sets out along the shore on a narrow, rocky path, the most rugged part of the whole Way. As the lighthouse of Rubh' an Eun comes into view, so does the north end of Arran, with Holy Isle beside it. Glencallum Bay lies just beyond, where a few stones are all that's left of an old inn.
The way back is inland, hilly and muddy in places, by St Blane's Chapel in its sheltered hollow. St Catan founded a monastery here in the 500s, and the nave and part of the chancel of the ruined church date from the 1200s. Look in the churchyard for the hogback gravestone, from the time when Bute belonged to the Norse. Sheep and cattle graze this end of the island, so keep dogs on a lead. Wear boots, and take care on the shore path with children. There are public toilets in the village.
From November to January, set off by 11.30am. Bute is reached on CalMac's car ferry from Wemyss Bay to Rothesay, a crossing of 35 minutes with a boat about every hour. No sailing can be booked: buy a ticket online before you travel, and be in the car lane 20 minutes before the boat. On the winter timetable, from 19 October 2026 to 25 March 2027, the last boat back leaves Rothesay at 7pm every day, and on Wednesdays there are fewer boats in the afternoon. Until 18 October the summer timetable applies, so read the times on CalMac's Wemyss Bay to Rothesay page. Wind can stop the boat: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel.
If it rains
There's no shelter anywhere on the circuit, and the rocky shore path is slippery when wet. On a wet day drive round to the road end below St Blane's instead and walk up the signposted track to the chapel.
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, 13 miles away. Sleeps 18.
Then Glenstriven House, 14 miles away. next free Sun 25 Oct to Tue 27 Oct.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Jim Hunter via Google