Our Arran Hiking Break was based in the beautiful village of Lochranza at the North end of the island. We had another fantastic group of people and lots of fun experiencing a wide variety of stunning hikes.
We stayed at the fantastic Lochranza hostel for the weekend, which gives great views over the bay and and of the castle.
Full details of the trip can be found by clicking on the link here.
Saturday was travel and arrivals day. We arranged a group pickup from Glasgow airport, which wisked everyone to the ferry port at Ardrossan. It was then a short one hour ferry ride to Brodick on the isle of Arran where we greeted everyone to the island. We had then arranged a further minibus transfer to the hostel at Lochranza.
Once at the hostel we then headed out for our first hike of the weekend, which was a short walk around the coast for a couple of hours. We then had tea and cake outside the hostel.
Sunday was a rather wet day to be honest. But we still had a great day out hiking up Glen Sannox to the saddle.
The saddle is the head wall of the Glen and seperates Glen Sannox from Glen Rosa. Its a steep climb up and the final section involves a rather interesting scramble.
Once over the saddle we hiked down the very scenic valley of Glen Rosa. However, the wind and rain was pretty constant until we reached the bottom of the Glen.
We had a great dinner in the pub and were then picked up by minibus to return to the hostel.
A few of us indulged in a bit of gentle stretching outside the hostel before we headed out to catch our bus ride for the start of the walk.
After Sunday’s deluge it was also a relief to get a bit of sunshine and a mostly fine day for our hike around the coast. We again got dropped off at Sannox, but this time headed over stepping stones to the beach. We then practiced a few star jumps.
The walk around the Cock of Arran is a great day out, with varied scenery and wonderful coastal views.
We arrived back in Lochranza at the end of our walk and headed straight to the whisky distillery. Not because we were in desperate need, but for a tour of the Arran distillery. It was a fascinating tour where we learned a lot of the history of whisky distillation on the island as well as about the process of whisky making itself.
Then it was back to the hostel for dinner and to sample some of our latest purchases from the distillery shop!
It was a more cloudy day for our hike up Goat Fell, but mostly dry. We again used the local bus service to drop us off at the pretty little coastal village of Corrie on the eastern coast, then headed up.
After a short shower, we were lucky enough to catch a faint, but full rainbow across the hills.
After a steep climb up we made it to the summit, for a celebratory group photo. The summit itself was unfortunately clouded in mist but it was a great achievement to have made it to the highest point on the island.
We had great views across the sea and over to Brodick thoughout our descent, before heading to the Corrie Hotel for a swift beer. Dinner was booked at the Stags Pavilion in Lochranza, where we had a double celebration for Yen’s birthday and our climb to the highest point on Arran.
It was a great meal and I can heartily recommend the Stags Pavilion for a group dinner.
Wednesday afternoon we had a ferry to catch, but there was still time for a morning hike to the standing stones at Machrie Moor. There are several stone circles to explore and the area is hugely atmospheric with great views to the mountains.
We then headed to the coast again for a scenic hike to the Kings Cave, before finishing at Blackwaterfoot.
And then it was off to the Ferry for the return trip to Ardrossan and then to Glasgow.
It was a great trip, with some fantastic hiking and a great group, who were lots of fun to be with.
