Places to visit
on Arran.

It’s 20:59 on Arran.

Isle of Arran

Goat Fell, Machrie Moor and King's Cave.

Arran fits a remarkable amount into one small island. In the north, granite peaks rise above Brodick, from the cone of Goat Fell to the jagged comb of Cìr Mhòr at the head of Glen Rosa. Out west, six stone circles stand on Machrie Moor, and sea caves carved with deer and crosses line the shore near Blackwaterfoot. There are castles at Brodick and Lochranza, waterfalls in the southern woods, and the rocks at Lochranza where James Hutton saw how old the earth must be. Book the ferry to Brodick well ahead in summer if you are taking a car.

Place of the day20 hours ago

Arran Coastal Way with Thistle Trekking.

A guided walk round the whole of Arran on the 65-mile Arran Coastal Way, led by a mountain leader, with rooms, baggage and a support vehicle arranged.

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From our archive20 hours ago

Isle of ArranThe Library in the Woods

Isle of ArranLochranza Distillery

Isle of ArranArran's Cheese Shop

Isle of ArranIsle of Arran Heritage Museum

Isle of ArranARRAN Sense of Scotland

Isle of ArranBlackwater Bakehouse

Arran this autumn, in our photographs.

Six places on Arran, each as we found it.

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Did you know20 hours ago

In Lamlash on Arran, the COAST Discovery Centre tells the story of the Lamlash Bay No Take Zone, the first community-led marine reserve of its kind in Scotland.

COAST, the Community of Arran Seabed Trust, championed the reserve, which was set up in 2008 and covers 2.67 sq km of sea and seabed. Inside it, lobsters and scallops are bigger, more fertile and more plentiful than outside. The centre, in the Old Pavilion, opens seven days, 10am to 4pm, with a big marine tank, shore scrambles and tank-feeding sessions. Snorkel tasters run in summer, at £40, for ages 8 and up who can swim 50m unaided.

See COAST Discovery Centre · Isle of Arran

From our guide19 hours ago

Silver Sands.

Silver Sands, also called Kildonan Beach, is a long curve of pale, clean sand on Arran's south coast. A path winds down from the clifftop through gorse and trees, over a little wooden footbridge, to the shore. Out to sea lies the low green island of Pladda with its white lighthouse, and on clear days the great dome of Ailsa Craig rises beyond it. Rock pools run out into the water at the western end, where seals are sometimes seen. Stay on into the evening to watch Pladda's light begin to flash.

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From the magazine19 hours ago

Issue 11Autumn / Winter 2025–26

When the Landmark Trust took on Saddell Castle, on Saddell Bay in Kintyre, large trees were growing out of its parapets.

The tower was built in 1508 for the Bishop of Argyll and held by the Campbells for almost 400 years, and only its outer walls and two fireplaces survive from the original building. The Landmark Trust, a charity that rescues historic buildings and lets them as holiday homes, has reopened it after a year of renovation. From the battlemented wall walk round the roof, you can see across the Kilbrannan Sound to the Isle of Arran. Down on the long white shore, you could hum Mull of Kintyre to yourself: this is the beach where Paul McCartney filmed its music video.

See Saddell Bay and Castle · Isle of Arran

From Issue 11 of Hidden Scotland magazineIssue 1119 hours ago

The Best of the Isle of Arran

Our guide to the Isle of Arran, from Goatfell, Glen Rosa and the King's Cave to Brodick and Lochranza castles, its distilleries, beaches and places to eat and stay.

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Did you know18 hours ago

King's Cave, on Arran, was called Fingal's Cave until Walter Scott tied it to Robert the Bruce.

Before Victorian times the cave on the west coast of Arran was known as Fingal's Cave. The story that Bruce sheltered there was made popular by Sir Walter Scott in 1828.

See King's Cave · Isle of Arran

New at Lochranza Distillery18 hours 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

From our guide18 hours ago

Kildonan Castle.

An ivy-covered tower on the slope above the shore is all that is left of Kildonan Castle. It was built in the 13th century by the MacDonald Lords of the Isles, and in 1558 it was sacked and burned in an English raid and never rebuilt. The castle and the village both take their name from St Donan, an Irish missionary of the 7th century. The ruin is free to visit, but it is fragile, so admire it from the ground. The view runs out over the sea to Pladda and, on a clear day, Ailsa Craig.

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Did you know17 hours 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.