Now that I’m living on the west coast of Scotland it means that I can explore this part of the world and further afield without having to worry about extortionate ferry and plane prices. I just have to hop in my car and drive to explore some of the most stunning scenery in the UK. With this in mind last weekend my boyfriend and I hopped in the car and took a ferry over to the Isle of Arran.
Arran is a small island forty minutes north of Ayr and to the west of Glasgow. The car ferry takes just under one hour and the views from the deck over to Arran and to the Scottish mainland are superb.
The ferry sails into Brodick, the main town on Arran, and it is a short drive into the centre of the town itself. We had our lunch at a ‘Little Rock’ café which overlooks Brodick bay. I had the most delicious smoked salmon salad and my boyfriend had the classic chicken Caesar salad. Both our lunches cost £14.00 (including coffee’s) which in my opinion is pretty reasonable!
After lunch we visited Brodick Castle, a National Trust for Scotland property and former home of the Dukes of Hamilton. We walked around the gardens as the castle is closed for renovation until next year- but the gardens didn’t disappoint with stunning views over to Brodick town!
We then made our way to the small village of Corrie on the north-east coast of Arran to stay in The Corrie Hotel. A Victorian hotel and bar that has stunning views to the mainland. Unfortunately, our room didn’t have a sea view-but that’s what you get for booking a room last minute on a bank holiday weekend!
We were starting to get hungry again and decided to scout out somewhere nice for dinner and we weren’t disappointed in our choice of restaurant at the Auchrannie Hotel. We chose to eat in eighteen69 a Scottish tapas restaurant that is attached to the main hotel. We ordered breads, moules frites, Cullen skink, vension sliders, beetroot and Arran cheese salad and mac n cheese made with local Arran cheese.
With this we had some beer followed by coffee’s and a dreamy orange flavoured panacotta that was to die for. Our meal came to £50.00 which is very reasonable for a four star hotel with the amount of food that we ate! After this we came home and vegged out from all the food we ate and planned our adventure for tomorrow….