Arran Coastal Way: 8 stages and when to book
A full circuit of the Isle of Arran, the island they call Scotland in miniature: granite mountains in the north, farmland and long beaches in the south, seals on the rocks and the sea beside you nearly all the way. It starts and ends at the ferry in Brodick, an hour from the mainland. The trail is waymarked and stays low, a village with a shop comes most days, and a bus goes round the island. And this is Scotland: the Outdoor Access Code lets you pitch a small tent on most open ground for a night, if you leave no trace. Two days cross boulder fields, and three places wait on the tide.
Start and finish: Brodick.
The 8 stages
| Day | Stage | Distance | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brodick → Sannox | 12.8 km | 368 m |
| 2 | Sannox → Lochranza | 15.6 km | 254 m |
| 3 | Lochranza → Imachar | 15 km | 192 m |
| 4 | Imachar → Blackwaterfoot | 16.3 km | 219 m |
| 5 | Blackwaterfoot → Lagg | 11.1 km | 292 m |
| 6 | Lagg → Whiting Bay | 17.6 km | 583 m |
| 7 | Whiting Bay → Lamlash | 9.5 km | 276 m |
| 8 | Lamlash → Brodick | 9.2 km | 312 m |
The line is OpenStreetMap’s, compared stage by stage with the tracks the Arran Access Trust publishes. On 18.9 km it was moved onto the trust’s main route; 250 m of that has no mapped path and is drawn straight. Walking times are our estimates, and the ascent comes from a terrain model that reads high on a shore under cliffs. Nobody has walked this line for the app.
Book these first
With a tent you book nothing. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code allows lightweight camping on most open ground: a small tent, a small group, two or three nights at most in one place, well away from buildings and roads, never in an enclosed field of crops or farm animals.
- Beds at the small stage ends: the map shows one hotel at Sannox and one at Lagg, and nothing at Imachar
- Campsite pitches in July and August. Seal Shore in Kildonan says small backpacking tents need no booking
This app names no wild pitch. Nobody walked the line for it, and a pitch that looks fine on a map can be a fenced field or someone’s garden. Look for open ground above the shore, out of sight of houses.
Lochranza Caravan and Campsite, at the end of day 2: open from 27 March to 25 October in 2026, by its own site. It has pitches for tents.
When to go
Walkable all year, because it stays low and snow rarely lies at sea level. The best months are April and May: the driest of the year at the nearest Met Office station, with long days and before the midges. June to September is midge season. From November to February the days are short, it rains on seventeen to twenty days a month, storms stop the ferry, and the only campsite found open is the one at Kildonan: winter with a tent is for experienced walkers only.
- JanuaryThe wettest month, and the darkest but one
- FebruaryStill winter, the days stretching
- MarchCold nights, light until evening
- AprilDry by Arran’s measure, and no midges
- MayThe best month: driest, sunniest, sixteen hours of light
- JuneThe longest days, the first midges
- JulyWarmest, wetter again, midges at their worst
- AugustWarm, wet and busy
- SeptemberQuieter, the midges fading
- OctoberAs wet as winter, still mild
- NovemberShort days, rain most days
- DecemberThe darkest month
Arran Coastal Way in Treksup
Arran Coastal Way is a paid route in Treksup: its full plan, with every stage, water, where to sleep and dated trail conditions, comes with the paid tier. 7 routes are open in full for free.
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Page updated 13 October 2026.