The Kintyre Way
The Kintyre Way was established in 2006 and runs for 140km along the length of the Kintyre peninsula from the picturesque village of Tarbert in the north to finish at Dunaverty near Southend.
The route passes through a variety of landscapes, taking in tiny fishing villages, extensive conifer forests, beaches and stretches of fine coastline and open hills and moors. The narrow peninsula means that the sea is never far away, and the superb views take in many islands including the dramatic mountains of Jura and Arran, fertile Islay and Gigha, and even Rathlin Island and the Northern Irish mainland in the later stages. There is a ferry service from Tarbert at the northern end of the route that links with Portavadie, enabling a link with the Cowal Way for those who want to extend the walk further.
| Stage descriptions | Length | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1: Tarbert to Skipness | 15.25km | 4 - 4.5 hours |
| Stage 2: Skipness to Clachan | 20km | 4.5 - 5 hours |
| Stage 3: Clachan to Tayinloan | 15km | 4 - 4.5 hours |
| Stage 4: Tayinloan to Carradale | 23.75km | 5 - 6 hours |
| Stage 5: Carradale to Campbeltown | 32km | 7.5 - 9 hours |
| Stage 6: Campbeltown to Machrihanish | 8.75km | 2 - 3 hours |
| Stage 7: Machrihanish to Dunaverty | 29km | 8 - 10 hours |
THE CHALLENGE
The Kintyre Way is well waymarked and provides fairly straightforward walking, albeit with some remote exposed stretches such as Claonaig to Clachan. The main exception to this is the final stage between Machrihanish and Dunaverty. This last part involves rugged hillwalking through a wild area, with steep ascents/descents, trickier navigation and some boggy conditions underfoot.
ACCOMMODATION AND SERVICES ALONG THE WAY
The Kintyre peninsula is fairly remove but accommodation is available at the end of all of the stages listed above.
There are bed and breakfast establishments in Tarbert (many), at Crossaig (offering walkers a pick-up and drop off near Skipness), Clachan, Tayinloan, Carradale (several), Campbeltown (many), Machrihanish, Amod Farm and at Southend.
Hotels are available in Tarbert, Clachan, Carradale, Campbeltown and Southend.
There are campsites at Muasdale 2km from Tarbert, and also at Tayinloan, Carradale, Machrihanish and Southend. It is possible to find a wildcamp spot by the shore between Skipness and Claonaig; please see the Outdoor Access website for information on responsible wild camping.
Finally, there are shops at Tarbert, a small store at the petrol station in Clachan, another small shop in Tayinloan, and also in Carradale and Southend. Campbeltown has a full range of supplies.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
There are Citylink buses from Glasgow which serve both Tarbert and Campbeltown.
Once on the Kintyre peninsula, all the stage start/end points can be reached by public transport, though some connections are infrequent and should be checked in advance. Claonaig near Skipness has an infrequent bus to Tarbert. Clachan and Taylinloan are both stops on buses which link Campbeltown and Tarbert, whilst Carradale, Southend and Machrihanish all have a service to Campbeltown.
Timetables for all the routes can be found on Traveline Scotland.
The following users have walked the Kintyre Way:
Paul Webster helenw rucsacs Jon Cossar stewartinnes3 hags n crags kaiserstein mamacgregor 1444 Billymaca LDPWalker zhickman Kenny Monaghan nicodemus31 comfy sox marcoamerika Paracaba
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User reports from the Kintyre Way
| Title | Author | Likes |
|---|---|---|
| Kintyre Way | zhickman | 1 |
| The Kintyre Way | LDPWalker | 0 |
| Kintyre Way | Billymaca | 0 |
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Walking can be dangerous and is done entirely at your own risk. Information is provided free of charge; it is each walkers' responsibility to check it and navigate using a map and compass.