Carradales is ideally located to explore this stunning part of the Kintyre Peninsula popular with walkers, nature lovers, golfers, game shooting, water sports enthusiasts and those looking to relax and enjoy the breath-taking and tranquil scenery. The Caledonia Way, National Route 78 of the National Cycle Network, runs from Campbeltown to Inverness via Carradale, and follows Kintyre and the Great Glen, iconic features on any map of Scotland. It offers a variety of cycling, from challenging on-road hills to lengthy sections of traffic-free path through the spectacular scenery of the west coast of Scotland.

Carradale lies a little over half-way down the east coast of the Kintyre peninsula at a point where the Kilbrannan Sound is less than three miles wide. The village offers a gentle pace and a quiet charm that amply reflects that, one of a number of reasons why you shouldn’t overlook this less travelled east coast of the peninsula.

In the village of Carradale you will find a shop and post office, tea room, two hotels, hair salon - www.hairds.co.uk, a golf club, and the residential focus of the village. Continuing east brings you to a steep descent that emerges beside Carradale’s harbour. Piles of nets, floats, ropes, lobster pots and assorted baskets tumble along the quay side and fishing boats jostle for position on their moorings. This is very much a working harbour.

The village also boasts a 9-hole golf course with stunning panoramas across the Kilbrannan Sound to Arran, Ailsa Craig and on a good day to Ayrshire, our nine hole golf course has something for every ability – and presents enough of a challenge for even the most experienced players. 30 minutes away is the award winning Machrihanish Dunes Golf Resort. The 7,082 yard, 18-hole links course flows effortlessly to, from and along the sea and salmon and trout can be fished on the Carradale River during the summer months. North of Carradale this coast feels increasingly remote, save for the wonderfully named little village of Grogport and the slipway at Claonaig, linked by ferry to Lochranza on Arran.

Locations to visit

Isle of Gigha – take the ferry from Tayinloan

Isle of Arran – take the ferry from Skipness

Isle of Jura – take the ferry from Kennacraig

Isle of Islay – take the ferry from Kennacraig – Port Askaig

Ballycastle, Co Antrim – Ballycastle is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The town is located on the north-easternmost coastal tip of the island of Ireland at the northern mainland limit of the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Take the Kintyre Express from Campbeltown. So close! (Starts 30th March to 30th September)

The Kintyre 66 (K66)

The Kintyre 66 (K66) is an exciting new route that will help you discover one of Scotland’s most scenic regions, and what so inspired Sir Paul McCartney

The Kintyre 66 follows a 66 mile loop around Kintyre on the A83 and B842 public roads, with 6 spurs allowing you to venture even further. Take the Atlantic road south with stunning views to Islay and Jura, and then up the edge of the Kilbrannan Sound overlooking Arran, or why not travel in the other direction, taking time to enjoy all the area has to offer—the choice is yours!

The K66 helps to highlight 6 areas in Kintyre with information on Southend & Machrihanish, Campbeltown, East Kintyre, West Kintyre, Gigha and Tarbert.

Ballochroy Standing Stones, Carn Moor, By Tarbert, Kintyre, PA29 6XW

Ballochroy is considered the most spectacular set of megalithic monuments that cluster around south Argyll. It consists of three vertical stones, side by side, aligned with various land features. Alexander Thom, known for his work on Stonehenge, maintained that the great length between the stones and the features of distant landscape lent precision to pinpointing the midsummer and winter solstices for ancient observers. The flat face of the central stone indicates the mountain of Cora Bheinn, on the island of Jura, which is 19 miles away. The shortest stone also faces across the alignment, and points to Beinn a’ Chaolais, the southernmost of the three Paps of Jura.

GRIP – Antony Gormley Sculpture

GRIP is a sculpture created for Saddell Bay by artist Antony Gormley as part of the LAND installation to mark the Landmark Trust’s 50th anniversary. The abstract human form gazes out over the Kilbrannan Sound to Arran from the rocks below Saddell Castle.

Originally commissioned for just 12 months, the cast-iron sculpture will remain indefinitely thanks to an anonymous private donor.