Blogs from Isle of Arran, Buteshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

When preparing for this trip I was relying heavily on a book called 'The Advanced Backpacker' by Chris Townsend. He has a section devoted to what an experienced backpacker friend of his calls 'the shake down'. He says that even the most experienced backpacker/hiker goes through a period of self-doubt at the outset of a long hike. 'For a hike of a few weeks, it can last days; for a hike of a few months, it can last weeks.' He warns that more than half of hikers give up on long-distance hike plans in the first few weeks. Me, being the fool that I am, have set off to do this massive undertaking without any real experience. So I've tried to include in my planning time for gradual immersion into long-distance hiking. My time as a ... read more

I was able to visit the most beautiful place in the UK again very recently... just returned from a stay on Arran. I can highly recommend the meals at the Kinloch Hotel in Blackwaterfoot - scrummy! Also the Indian Restaurant in Lamlash is great too... and the Lagg Hotel is good also. Pity the Castle at Brodick is so expensive but there you go... That's the National Trust for you. Items in their shop were over and above the asking price elsewhere too; the Arran cheeses were nearly half as much again there, as they were in the other shops on the island. The peacefulness of Arran has to be seen to be believed - the feeling of being well away from the rat race certainly hits you. The only time there is much traffic on ... read more