For a landmass that measures less than 20 miles by 10 miles, it’s somewhat audacious to claim the moniker, “Scotland in miniature”. But together with Arran’s other taglines (“the jewel in Scotland’s crown” and “Get busy, relaxing”) it’s fairly apposite.

The island’s northern region mirrors the coarse upland scenery of Highland Scotland, with its forested hillsides, peat-stained brooks and rocky outcrops, while the south is typically lowland, with softer topography and farmland. Quite where Scotland’s cosmopolitan urban landscape comes in is a mystery. Brodick, Blackwaterfoot, Whiting Bay and Lamlash, are the largest of the island’s 14 settlements, but they’re hardly city break material.

But then arts, nightlife and culture are not what people come to Arran for. Like most of Scotland’s islands its appeal is its relative isolation. Although it’s only about six hours from London, including the flight to Glasgow, hour or so drive to Ardrossan ferry terminal and one hour crossing, it feels a world away from motorways, shopping malls and frenetic city life.

But Arran does not have the twee statistics of Scotland’s other islands, like sheep outnumbering people or weekly postal collections: “Our policemen aren’t also the postie and the carpenter as well, like you get on other islands, says Calum McNicol, director of Arran Adventures. “We’ve got 5,000 people here and not all of them are well behaved.”

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That said, many islanders told me they didn’t lock their cars at night and their children make their own way to school.

Most visitors arrive into the ferry terminal at Brodick, and from there, a good way to get your bearings is to tour around the island, which takes about two and a half hours by car, up to eight hours on a bicycle or a few days on foot.

The A841 and A840 hug the coastline and take you from upland to lowland scenery with every rock formation inbetween. Arran’s geology brings enthusiasts and geography field trip groups by the bucket load, but for the rest of us it provides the island’s dramatic backdrop of glens, waterways, glacial erratics and mountains, including Goatfell.

The island’s highest point, at 2,866 feet (874m), Goatfell is a challenging, but rewarding hike of about five hours. The easiest route starts at the car park below Brodick Castle, which dates from the 13th century and is worth a visit to get an insight into the island’s history. Around the castle are three well signposted tracks that offer attractive walks of up to three hours through woodland and rhododendrons, and around which we had an exhilarating two-hour mountain bike ride one morning.

The gravel path up to Goatfell leaves the woodland for moorland and glacial scenery, and gives way to a final hour or so of clambering to reach the top. From the summit I’m told you can see the moors of the Kintyre peninsula, the wind farms around Ardrossan, the rugged coastline of Northern Ireland, and some even claim you can see the peaks of the Lake District. I say this because on the day we walked Goatfell, an eerie mist had shrouded the east of the island and we struggled to see our feet, let alone another country.

Nobody would admit it on Arran, but I imagine that weather is the cause of some island animosity, much like England’s north/south divide. The geography means that the Gulf Stream that picks up water as it passes over the Atlantic, cools as it blows over Arran’s hillsides and dumps its water on the eastern shores – average rainfall on the east coast is about 225cm, compared to the west coast’s 170cm, where the residents bask in the shade of palm trees (seriously – there are palm trees growing naturally on the island).

It’s not just the geography that makes Arran a mini-Scotland – it has some classic Scottish history too – Viking invasions led by Magnus Barelegs in the eleventh century, mysterious stone circles and clan battlegrounds, which is gently recounted with the help of displays and artefacts in the Arran Heritage Museum in Brodick – worth a visit on a rainy day.

While tourism is the main source of income for Arran, cottage industries thrive there, supported by Arran residents who show a Franco tendency for fierce loyalty to local produce.

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