We decided this year to go back to Scotland, despite being nearly eaten alive by midges 2 years ago at Loch Lomond! This time we chose to visit the Kintyre peninsula, and took along our touring caravan, and booked ourselves into a caravan park for 2 weeks. We went to Muasdale caravan site in the village of Muasdale, about halfway down the west coast of the peninsula. Our pitch was right at the front, just a few feet away from a lovely sandy beach strewn with twigs, seaweed and rocks, what I like to call a nice, natural beach. We had the most glorious sunsets I`d ever seen, and beautiful views across to the islands of Gigha, Jura and Islay. The ferry to Gigha leaves from Tayinloan, about 3 or 4 miles down the road, and only takes 20 minutes, and is well worth the £5 or so foot passenger fare to visit this lovely little island.
There is a small village shop, which stocks a good selection of beers, wines and spirits as well as the usual groceries. He doesn`t take credit cards, but he DOES do electronic mobile phone top up, and also supplies calor gas for the caravanners and campers on the site.
We did most of our shopping in Campbeltown (The Wee Toon), at a rather small branch of TESCO, there`s also a branch of the Co-op, similar in size. Campbeltown does have the most shops in the area, but it is still not a very big place. There is an interesting harbour, where there is an RNLI shop, a must visit for us, and a Tourist information centre. Out in the loch, there is Davaar island, reached at low tide by a very rough causeway, and where there are some cave paintings done by a local artist over a hundred years ago, and there`s also a lighthouse.
We made a couple of visits to Tarbert, a very small town/village at the head of the peninsula. The first thing we discovered was that parking is free, in fact we didn`t have to pay once for parking anywhere during our 2 week stay in the area. There isn`t an awful lot in Tarbert, but it`s a pleasant little place, and has a great chippy, along with a few other eateries and pubs. We didn`t go up there, but on the top of the hill, overlooking the harbour, is Tarbert castle, or, to be more precise, what`s left of it!
Another day, we decided to drive around the coast of Kintyre, so we set off from Muasdale, drove nearly to Tarbert, cut across country on a narrow single track road to Claonaig, which is where the ferry from Arran comes in, then down the coast on a very narrow road, stopping for lunch just outside Carradale, then going down to see the gorgeous little harbour, then we carried on to Campbeltown, a much nicer approach this way, then back up the coast to Muasdale.
One dull, damp morning, we thought we`d visit a local "stately home", albeit rather small, Glenbarr Abbey, not an abbey at all though, but home to the local landed gentry, the McAllister clan. We were shown around by the owner, a rather posh, eccentric gentleman, but very nice. The tour took in just a couple of rooms in the house, and consisted mainly of a potted version of his family`s history, and a room full of dolls and teddy bears collected by his Scottish/American wife. We were there for about 45 minutes, it was amusing, but also interesting.
We decided that it would be criminal to visit Kintyre and not go to the Mull of Kintyre, so off we went. After leaving the main road not far from Southend, the route became very torturous, along a very steep and narrow track for about8 or 9 miles. On arriving at the end of the road, there is a small car park for about 6 vehicles, (by the way, don`t attempt the drive up there in a large vehicle such as a motor home), and from then on you have to go on foot down to the lighthouse, about a mile or so, and very steep. I took one look at where we had to go and chickened out after about 100 yards, and my husband went on alone. He didn`t get all the way to the lighthouse, but managed to get some film of the memorial cairn for the service personnel who were killed when their Chinook helicopter crashed into the Mull in 1994. The coast of Northern Ireland can be seen from there, as it`s only 12 miles away.
We spent quite a bit of time actually in Muasdale, it`s the first time I`ve been on holiday and not been in a rush to get ready to go out to other places, it`s so pretty and relaxing, with views out of this world. If anyone did want to go out for a drink or a meal, the nearest pubs are The McDonald Arms at Tayinloan, about 4 miles, or the Argyll Arms at Bellochantuay, about 5 miles the other way. The first at Tayinloan does really good reasonably priced meals, and we can heartily recommend it.
We went out of the area slightly to visit the village of Kilmartin, where there are some beautifully preserved old gravestones, a lovely little church, and lots of ancient cairns. Then we went on to Crinan, at the end of the Crinan canal, very quaint and pretty.
We also paid a visit to the small town of Lochgilphead, but were disappointed to find that the tide was out.
Altogether it was a really enjoyable holiday, and we can`t wait to go back next year, despite tjhe extremely long drive up there from Lincolnshire. We expected to take about 12 hours, but even with a couple of stops it took us 10 hours 40 minutes, which we were quite pleased about. Visit Kintyre, you won`t regret it!
The website for the caravan site is,
www.muasdaleholidays.com