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the Isle of Arran.

Lochranza Castle · Isle of Arran
Isle of Arran

Lochranza Castle.

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Isle of Arran  11° · Mostly cloudy
Isle of Arran

Where to go, eat and stay on Arran.

There's a reason Arran is called Scotland in miniature. An hour on the ferry brings you to an island with granite mountains in the north, green farmland and sandy bays in the south, and one road that loops right round the coast between them.

Castles, standing stones and sea cavesPlaces to visitSeafood, bakeries and a beach barFood and drinkShops, studios and makersShops and makersThe distilleriesWhiskyDays we have driven, stop by stopDays out
The guide

Our guide to Arran.

All of Arran, part by part: what is where, how to get round, and where to eat and stay. Photographed by us.

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From our guideNear BrodickBrodick Castle, Garden and Country ParkBrodickIsle of Arran Heritage MuseumLochranzaLochranza CastleNear BlackwaterfootKing's CaveBlackwaterfootDrumadoon PointMachrieMachrie Moor Stone Circles

The history of Arran.

People have lived on Arran for well over 5,000 years, and they left their mark all over it.

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Days outA morningSaddell Abbey and the walk down to Saddell BayNo car neededA morningEas Mòr and lunch at the Forest of the FallsBy carA morningA walk up to Coire Fhionn Lochan from ThundergayBy carA morningGlen Rosa walk to the Blue Pool on ArranBy carA morningA walk round the Doon and Drumadoon PointBy carA morningA walk to Hutton's Unconformity at LochranzaBy car

New days out on Arran.

Ready-made days, the newest first, each with its drive times, its stops and somewhere to eat.

See every day out on Arran
Did you know5 minutes ago

Brodick has the only island country park in Britain, and it runs from the seashore to the mountain top.

The castle is the ancient seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, standing where it does because the position over the Firth of Clyde made it a fortress worth holding; the building you see now was fashioned in 1844. The grounds around it run from the shore up to the summit, taking in formal gardens, woodland, waterfalls, bathing pools and ponds where red squirrels live, and there is nothing else like it on any island in the country.

See Brodick Castle, Garden and Country Park · Isle of Arran
Newly discovered17 minutes agoIsle of ArranLagg DistilleryAttractionIsle of ArranForest of the Falls CaféCafeIsle of ArranGlenashdale FallsAttractionIsle of ArranSaddell Bay and CastleAttractionIsle of ArranSaddell AbbeyAttractionIsle of ArranBeinn an Tuirc DistillersAttraction

Some good places to go, newly added to the site.

The newest places on our pages on Arran.

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In Issue 13The magazine

Mad as a March Hare

In the rich farmlands and rolling hills of east Scotland there once lived a young woman named Hester, and her husband Angus.

Read it in Issue 13
From the magazine30 minutes agoThe printed copy of Issue 11Issue 11Autumn / Winter 2025–26

Eas Mor, a valley in the south of the Isle of Arran, was a desert 250 million years ago, and 15,000 years ago its waterfall spanned the whole horseshoe of the valley.

It is hard to picture now. Today the valley is a fairytale woodland threaded with trails, carvings and sculptures, known to walkers as Eas Mor Ecology. Among the trees stands a wooden library, where visitors pin poems and notes to the walls. It makes a lovely, gentle outing in the south of the island, and a quiet reminder of how much Arran's landscape has changed, from desert sands to a great waterfall to the leafy woods there now.

See Eas Mor Waterfall · Isle of Arran
From the JournalThe journal43 minutes ago

Brodick Castle: A Fortress of Power on the Isle of Arran

Brodick Castle rises behind Arran’s shore, framed by forest and watched over by Goat Fell. Once a strategic prize for kings and warlords, it later became a symbol of Victorian ambition. This is the story of a place shaped by power, survival,...

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Did you know56 minutes ago

Whisky-making on Arran went underground after the Scottish Parliament taxed the spirit in the 1640s, partly to pay the army.

Arran was making whisky long before Lochranza distillery was built. In the 1640s the Scottish Parliament, keen to profit from the young industry and to pay its army, put heavy taxes on every sale of the spirit. Over the centuries that followed, making it in secret became the norm, and the island's distillers hid their whisky from the excisemen, the tax officers, in all sorts of ingenious ways. Then the Excise Act of the 1800s, and a turn towards quantity over quality, saw Arran's distilleries, legal and illicit, drop away one by one, until the island had none.

See Lochranza Distillery · Isle of Arran
New at Lochranza Distillery1 hour ago

Arran Distillery has two new single malts out, including the last of its Signature Series.

Sherry Serenade is a nine-year-old from three kinds of sherry cask, and Barley Batch 002 is a ten-year-old from bourbon barrels.

See Lochranza Distillery · Isle of Arran
WildlifeOn Thursday

A golden eagle was seen near Brodick.

Most of Britain's golden eagles live in Scotland, over the hills and glens of the Highlands and islands. It is one of 5 reported round here this week. The nearest of our places to it is Dougarie Estate, 4 miles away.

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Did you know1 hour ago

You can tell who the lords of Lochranza were afraid of by which way the front door faces.

The MacSweens, who probably built the first castle here in the late 1200s, put their main door high up in the seaward wall, reached by a wooden stair or ladder. Everything that could threaten them came up this loch. Three hundred years later, when one of the Montgomerie earls of Eglinton rebuilt the place as a tower house, the entrance was moved: it now faced the land, and it sat at ground level. The sea had stopped being the thing to watch.

See Lochranza Castle · Isle of Arran
Distillery of the day2 hours ago

Beinn an Tuirc Distillers.

A small, family-run distillery on the Torrisdale Castle Estate in Kintyre, making Kintyre Gin with spring water and its own hydro power, with tours, a gin school and a cafe.

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