6 Incredible Highlights from the Isle of Arran

Geological marvels, superb sourdough, exhilarating hillwalking, and more moments from this "Scotland in Miniature"

Rocks are one of the huge highlights of Arran.

A Scottish Island bike tour has long been on my wish list, having read numerous accounts island hopping by ferry, exploring the islands on two wheels. I’ve done a bit of bike touring in the past - most notably my 1000ish miles in France where I learned to love the slow pace, freedom, and challenge of a long distance bike tour. Cycle touring fell off the radar for a while, mostly due to the acquisition of my sweet hill dog, Lucky, who rightfully prefers to explore on foot. But recently cycle touring become a fresh new prospect now that Mark has a touring bike of his own (and we’ve found a lovely dog sitter in our area!).

Rain falling on the ferry to Arran. (Mark admittedly looks terrified.)

For clarification, I’m not talking about “bikepacking” - the current hipster trend in cycling where gear is lashed to the frame of the bike, requiring a super minimal approach.

Source: Milestone Rides

Lightweight has rarely been my way because I love to create an experience at camp as much as I enjoy the journey. And so last week we loaded up our bikes), dropped off Lucky with the sitter for his own vacation, and headed to the ferry port at Claonaig.

The trip was not remotely long enough - three full days and two nights - but it was enough to give us a taster of this amazing island and plenty of reasons to return. Here’s our top six highlights:

The Geology of Arran

Arran is often called “Scotland in miniature”, not just for its scenery but for its varied geology where you can almost “walk through time”. The island is intersected by the Highland Boundary Fault, making it an excellent place to observe the variety of “Highland” and “Lowland” geology that Scotland is famous for. Among many things its famous for its “unconformities”, the visible junction of older metamorphic rock with newer sedimentary rock, first discovered by James Hutton in the 1780s.

Spotted on our coastal ride. Red Permian sandstone (“the Corrie sandstone”) formed as large sand dunes, similar to what is found in the Sahara today. They formed about 270 million years ago. When Arran was south of the equator as part of a much larger land mass.

The Arran Heritage Museum has a room devoted to Arran geology where you can get a taste of the story. A giant myriapod trail, footprints in Triassic sandstone, epic granite plutons, igneous dykes… there’s so much to see.

We only had time on our short visit for a tiny sample of Arran’s geological wonders, and left with a thirst to learn more and a plan to return with the van so we can explore more of these sites on foot!

Read more: The Isle of Arran: Scotland’s geological story all in one place