Kintyre is a name immortalised by Paul McCartney, but beyond his lyrics about
the Mull little is known of the remote peninsula that is all too often
bypassed by visitors. A boat trip on Loch Lomond, oysters at Loch Fyne and a
snoop around Inverary Castle bring visitors within a couple of hours' drive
of Kintyre, but look at a touring map of Scotland, and the little symbols
signalling historic, scenic or cultural distractions get thin on the ground
in Kintyre - but that's its charm.
The isolated peninsula has more than 80 miles of rugged coastline where rocks,
topped with lounging seals give way to smooth crescents of pale sand,
deserted except for diving cormorants, gannets and shrieking gulls.
Kintyre dangles from the mainland to the west of Glasgow by an isthmus so
narrow that Kintyre has historically been regarded as an island. The
wonderfully-named Viking King Magnus Barelegs sailed around the peninsula
then dragged his longboats across the strip of adjoining land at Tarbert to
declare Kintyre an island and therefore under his control, together with the
other western isles.
The Kintyre peninsula has a spine of higher ground covered with dense dark
evergreen woods or, in contrast, tracts of weather-beaten low-lying heather
moorland dotted with lochs where the sluggish water is stained dark brown by
the peaty soil. The view from the spine, across the islands of Gigha, Arran
and Jura is stunning and from the southern tip of Kintyre you can see the
north coast of Ireland on a clear day, just 12 miles away. Between the coast
and higher land the scenery pans out to rolling green farmland or deciduous
woodland, which has an ethereal quality: red and white toadstools, fast
flowing brooks, soft mossy grass paths and rambling stone ruins slowly being
reclaimed by the luminous undergrowth. It's a land of fairy tales.
The new walk, the Kintyre Way was launched in August 2006, and tramps across
this diverse scenery as it criss-crosses the peninsula on an 87.5-mile route
from north to south (or south to north if you prefer). It is split into
seven sections, from which you can pick and mix your route requiring
anything from one to seven days to complete, although even the fittest
walkers would struggle to complete the entire walk in less than a
thigh-burning four days. What makes it a little easier is a luggage
portering service, which costs just £4 per bag and leaves you free to walk
with a day pack.
The walk is marked with easy-to-spot blue posts along its entire length, but a
map and compass are useful tools, as in a couple of places posts are spread
far enough apart to provoke ambiguity and mist and fog are common, plus of
course a compass round your neck means you look the part. I'd forgotten mine
and on advice from the tourist information centre in Tarbert went to Ian Y
MacIntyre to buy one. His extraordinary store, where it's still counter
service only, offered four types of compasses - more than the choice of
toothpastes - clearly we were in walking country.
With the exception of parts of sections 2 and 7 of the Kintyre Way, much of
the walk is on gravelled forest tracks infrequently used by forestry
vehicles, quiet minor roads or spongy grass tracks; so the going is not
tough. It's the topography and climate that are the challenge, as well as
sheer distance - two of the sections are over 16 miles long (see the
sections in detail, on page 3).
However, steep climbs are rewarded with sweeping views. At the start of the
walk, the route heads sharply up the hill away from the pretty fishing town
of Tarbert, where the peninsula joins the mainland, and the name translates
literally in Gaelic to isthmus. At the top of the hill are the ruins of
Tarbert Castle, which date to the 15th century, and was used by Robert the
Bruce. From this high point you can see the white yachts bobbing on West
Loch Tarbert and overshadowing the town, the monolithic brown-grey edifice
of Tarbert Church. Brightly coloured houses alternate along the shoreline,
including the pink Anchor Hotel, which was the base for my friend, Nicky and
I on our first night.
The pretty pub-with-rooms had the hallmarks of hospitality that we came to
expect from Kintyre - a warm welcome, chats with other guests over a drink
in the bar, and a hearty breakfast of porridge followed by scrambled eggs
and salmon smoked just down the road (although we also dabbled with smoked
haddock and poached eggs for one breakfast). Scottish cuisine and long walks
are a match made in heaven - how else could you justify cleaning up a table
groaning with a three-course breakfast?
Dramatic scenery, a thermos of tea and shortbread kept us going, plus the
thought of a hot meal at the end of the day - there's something about
sitting down to a meal after a day in the great outdoors, returning cold and
exhausted, that makes it taste so much better. It also tastes better because
so much of it is Scottish. Forget the tired analogy of Scottish cuisine
extending no further than deep-fried Mars Bars (although the merit of such a
sugar and fat-loaded snack did not escape us come mile 15 on day two…). The
food in Kintyre is locally-sourced, from scallops and seabass to venison and
blackberries.
Some of our foodie highlights were Angus beef with neeps and tatties at the
Balinakill Hotel Country House, a saffron-scented seafood casserole of king
prawns, langoustine, lobster, haddock, monkfish and smoked haddock at the
Carradale Hotel, and venison casserole in a rich gravy at Craigard House
Hotel.
Never was a meal more earned than at the end of day one, when we completed
sections 1 and 2, covering nearly 22 miles. The gruelling tramp across the
moorland near Achaglass Forest nearly finished us. We stomped through the
soggy thick grass, stumbling left and right like a pair of drunks as we
picked our way through the stubby tufts of grass, long surrendering our
walking boots to complete immersion in the peaty water. So when the markers
stopped at the edge of a river, and resumed on the other bank, with no
bridge in sight, we splashed through it and marched on. This was the most
difficult part of the walk for us, although we didn't have time to walk the
last section, described by the founders of Kintyre Way as the toughest.
Another rewarding stint, on Section 4, was the arduous but gratifying trek up
Deucheran Hill. Once the islands of Gigha, Islay and Jura disappear, you
enter the eerie surroundings of a wind farm. The evergreen forest was
shrouded in mist when we meandered through it on the forestry tracks. The
mist would roll over the treetops, and suddenly reveal the silhouette of a
quietly churning vast white turbine, just metres away, surrounded by dense
forest where the light quickly diminishes to pitch black under the low thick
conifer canopy. Like most of the Kintyre Way, the roads and tracks were
deserted and for hours we wouldn't pass a soul - I was glad to have Nicky
with me - the loneliness and spooky surroundings would play havoc with your
imagination.
After three days of walking, with blisters the size of 50 pence coins, and a
sobering but rewarding ache in our legs, we had completed 55 miles and vowed
to return to complete the last 22 or so miles. Nicky and I had last
travelled together ten years previously, as school leavers on a gap year
before university. It may be my memory hazing over, or perhaps a little too
many wee drams, but in our five months of travelling through Asia, Australia
and New Zealand, we saw nothing more spectacular than the scenery of Kintyre
- West Loch Tarbert was our Bay of Islands, Carradale Bay our Airlie Beach
and Lussa Loch our Lake Tekapo, and all within a five-hour trip from home -
with all that on your doorstep, who needs New Zealand.
The walk, in brief
Section 1
Where: Tarbert to Claonaig
Distance: 11.75 miles
Difficulty: Steep start but levels out and level gravel paths
most of the way
Highlights: the ruins of Tarbert Castle, the diminutive
Skipness store for a lunch or tea break, possible seal, otter and basking
shark sightings from the road between Skipness and Claonaig.
Section 2
Where: Claonaig to Clachan
Distance: 10 miles
Difficulty: A shorter section, but tough going, particularly
in wetter weather as there is no clear path and moorland is tufty and boggy.
Highlights: Loch Ciaran, a dark and still body of water at
the high point of the moorland, toadstools in Achaglass Forest, the soft
grassy path through Achaglass.
Section 3
Where: Clachan to Tayinloan
Distance: 8.75 miles
Difficulty: An easy flat coastal walk
Highlights: Seal sightings are common, views out to the Isle
of Gigha, walking into a warm hotel or pub after being buffeted by the
onshore winds.
Section 4
Where: Tayinloan to Carradale
Distance: 16.25 miles
Difficulty: Most of the walking is on level gravel tracks, so
it's more a stamina challenge than tough going, with some steeper sections
throughout.
Highlights: The eerie atmosphere of walking beneath the
turbines of the wind farm, the winding descent to Carradale alongside
rushing water, views of the Isle of Arran
Section 5
Where: Carradale to Campbeltown
Distance: 19 miles
Difficulty: The route follows either road or well-maintained
gravel tracks, but a steep hill is a punishing start to this longest section
of the walk, although the remaining two thirds are relatively flat.
Highlights: The empty crescent of pale sand in Carradale Bay,
ruins of Saddell Abbey, which almost sits on the beach in Saddell Bay, and
the elegant Saddell Castle next door, the picnic table midway along Lussa
Loch, with views over the huge body of water to ruins on the opposite bank.
Section 6
Where: Campbeltown to Machrihanish
Distance: 5.5 miles
Difficulty: A short stretch, entirely on roads that serves
primarily to link sections five and six, rather than offer a stunning walk
in its own right - a good section to skip if you're pressed for time.
Highlights: You can take a diversion and climb Benin
Ghuilean, a 362metre hill, which offers more great views of the peninsula
and islands, the deserted beach at Machrihanish, and if you're into golf,
the links course at Machrihanish.
Section 7
Where: Machrihanish to Dunaverty
Distance: 16.25 miles
Difficulty: The toughest section, where map and compass
skills are required, owing to the remote nature of the countryside and
frequent mist and fog patches. The walk gets easier as you progress, with
decent roads or tracks after Largiebaan.
Highlights: the remoteness of the tip of the Kintyre
peninsula, bird sightings in the nature reserve at Largiebaan, reaching the
end at Dunverty, and on a clear day views to the north coast of Ireland, 12
miles away.
Where to stay
Anchor Hotel
Harbour Street, Tarbert, Argyll, PA29 6UD, tel. 01880 820577,
www.lochfyne-scotland.co.uk
The cosy Anchor Hotel, overlooking the port is a perfect place to start. Comfy
beds, red and white gingham furnishings, good showers and a warm welcome
from host Carole. The hotel has six double rooms, seven twins and one family
room, all with either ensuite shower or bath. Most of the food is Scottish,
including the fish, beef, cheese, honey and oatcakes. From April to October
breakfast is served at the rather social hours of 8am to midday, and the
porridge with fresh cream and red berry compote and scrambled eggs with
smoked salmon comes highly recommended.
Rooms cost £25-£35 per person, including breakfast, a three-course meal
without wine costs around £20
Balinakill Country House
Clachan, Argyll, PA29 6XL, tel. 01880 740206, www.balinakill.com
Balinakill is an imposing listed mansion house dating to the 1920s, and it
appears little has changed since. The elegant furniture, taxidermy and
boarding school whiff of furniture polish and home cooking lend an
aristocratic feel, although hosts Angus and Sue couldn't be more laidback.
Walkers are relieved of wet boots and socks on entry and ushered to the
lounge for tea or beer. The hotel has ten ensuite bedrooms and you can state
a preference for a shower, bath or open fire. Food is mostly locally-sourced
and homemade, and the restaurant has recently been awarded an AA rosette.
Rooms start at £45 per person including breakfast, a three-course meal
without wine costs £28.95
Carradale Hotel
Argyll, PA28 6RY, tel. 01583 431223, www.carradalehotel.com
Proprietor Marcus Adams is a keen walker, and was one of a team who developed
the Kintyre Way, so is a great host to walkers. His hotel also abuts a golf
course, and there's a 20 per cent discount off green fees for hotel guests.
The hotel has seven double rooms and four twins, with some rooms overlooking
the bay, and others the garden and golf course. Food is again sourced on the
doorstep, including Carradale-landed scallops, langoustine and monkfish and
Argyll lamb. When the weather allows the garden and terrace are a nice spot
for a drink or meal, plus there's a lounge bar with a conservatory and
lively public bar with a log burning stove, pool table and darts board.
Dinner, bed and breakfast costs from £57 per person (B&B £38),
with the price decreasing per night for every night you stay
Craigard House Hotel
Low Askomill, Campbeltown, Argyll, PA28 6EP, tel. 01586 554242,
www.craigard-house.co.uk
Perched on the north banks of Campbeltown Loch amid the salubrious former
mansions of the town's whisky distillery owners, Craigard offers great views
and a warm welcome. The house, completed in 1882, has been back-breakingly
restored by proprietor Roger, after it acted as a maternity hospital from
1941 to 1973. The mother and baby register is on the hall table, and many of
the guests are people who were born, or who had children when Craigard was a
hospital. It has 13 bedrooms named after local villages and sights, all with
ensuite bathrooms. Bheinn Ghuilean, named after a local high point, has a
vast mahogany four poster bed and bay window overlooking the loch. Food is
hearty and the menu as an extensive selection of fish, meat and vegetarian
options - you should also book, as it's popular. In addition guests can take
Beanie, the resident dog, for a walk.
Rooms cost from £55 per night, and a three-course meal without wine costs
from £19
Need to know
The Kintyre Way has a great website (www.kintyreway.com), with interactive
maps, links to B&Bs and hotels and public transport and taxi services.
The Tayinloan taxi service, run by Brian Shepherd (tel. 07733 407, 01583
441336, email: tayinloantaxi@aol.com) charges £4 per bag per day to
transport luggage between hotels, regardless of the distance, and £6.50 per
passenger, or £8.50 if there are more than four of you. You should mention
that you're walking the Kintyre Way when booking. The taxi service will also
operate to Glasgow Airport from £135 and Edinburgh from £185.
For more information about what to do, where to stay, and what to see in
Kintyre, see the Kintyre information website (www.kintyre.org).
More long distance walks in Scotland
To order a free Scotland walking guide, including 54 routes, and to plan and
book a walking holiday in Scotland visit www.visitscotland.com/walking or
phone 0845 22 55 121. The website lists 20 long distance routes in Scotland
ranging from 26 miles (The West Island Way on Isle of Bute) to 212 miles
(The Southern upland way, from Portpatrick in Dumfries and Galloway to
Cocksburnspath in the Borders). Four specific routes have been designated by
the government as national long distance routes:
The Southern Upland Way
The Southern Upland Way is Scotland's longest walk. It stretches west to east
from Portpatrick's romantic seascapes over the Mull of Galloway to the
dramatic North Sea cliffs at Cocksburnspath. Tracking through some of
Scotland's most beautiful and varied scenery, it offers a challenge for
serious walkers, or can be dipped into by weekend visitors.
www.southernuplandway.com
West Highland Way
The West Highland Way links Milngavie, just outside Glasgow, to Fort William
in the Highlands; around 50,000 people walk parts of it every year. The West
Highland Way is a great outdoors experience and a satisfying personal
achievement. www.west-highland-way.co.uk
The Speyside Way
The route links the Moray coast with the edge of the Grampian Mountains,
generally following the valley of the River Spey. The Speyside Way is
managed by the Moray Council on behalf of the Access Authorities responsible
- Moray Council, Cairngorms National Park and the Highland Council.
www.speysideway.org
The Great Glen Way
The Great Glen Way is 73 miles/117km in length. It runs from Fort William, in
the west, to Inverness, in the east, with spectacular views and historical
and natural heritage along the way. The route can be walked in five or six
days, staying overnight in the various communities within the Glen, and
suits all levels of walker. www.greatglenway.com
