The Rain of Kintyre

Oban is a transit port to the isles and apart from the distillery, there is not a huge amount of things to do so we had planned for a drive south to the Kintyre Peninsula. While it might have been nice to have made it all the way to the tip...the Mull of Kintyre...the reality of driving in Scotland meant that we barely made it onto the peninsula.

The day was overcast with rain threatening when we set out...first stopping at McCaig's Tower that overlooks the town. From there we set off south and with the weather deteriorating, we eventually came to Tarbert (not to be confused with Tarbet from the previous day) on the shores of Loch Fyne. After a brief walk along the quayside, we walked up to the ruins of Tarbert Castle that overlooked the town. With the rain starting to fall, we returned to our car and continued south.

Inside McCaig's Tower

Looking down on Oban from McCaig's Tower

Tarbert docks

Tarbert

Tarbert Castle

We found our way to Claonaig where the Arran ferry comes in and then a little further on we came to Skipness. Here we went for a walk to visit the ruins of Skipness Castle, the earliest part of which dates from the 13th Century. We then walked further on to visit the nearby ruins of Skipness Chapel. While we were here it started to rain properly...a persistent heavy Scottish drizzle that soaks everything. By the time we made it back to the car we were soaked. As the afternoon was wearing on and it didn't look like that the rain would ease up any time soon, we decided to call it a day and headed back to Oban.

Skipness Castle

Skipness Chapel with the Isle of Arran in the background

Skipness Chapel