Scotland’s West Coast paradise that’s a quiet alternative to Skye

“I doubt you’ve been asked this question before,” said my Glaswegian husband to the owner of the shop by the harbour in Tarbert, “but do you sell beach towels?” To our astonishment, the answer was yes. Good news for me, since I was about to go for a dip in the sublime waters of Loch Fyne. And good news for everyone else who visits the Kintyre peninsula that snakes down the west coast of Scotland: because while it might not always be hot and sunny here, it is often enough for the shops to stock beach towels. And if you’re lucky enough for your trip to coincide with blue and sun-filled skies, as we were in June, then you’re pretty much in tourist-free paradise. Kintyre’s long, white beaches – both on its rugged and windy Atlantic side (ideal for surfers), and on the calmer sea-loch side (optimal for swimmers) – were ours alone, great swathes of sand, shell and water with hardly another human in sight, such as Tarbert, Saddell Bay and the vast Westport Beach. We drove to Kintyre via two ferries – Gourock near Port Glasgow to Dunoon, and then across the Cowal Peninsula to the second ferry from Portavadie to Tarbert. Even though we were still on the mainland, it felt like a trip to one of Scotland’s glorious west coast islands. The harbour in Tarbert (Photo: Ashley Cooper/Getty) But with one noticeable difference. Unlike Skye – a 200-mile schlep up the coast and one of Scotland’s most popular tourist destinations – Kintyre is uncrowded, with equally beautiful scenery and amazing seafood restaurants. These include the Red Herring in Tarbert and its new sister restaurant in Campbeltown, as well as the seasonal Skipness Seafood Cabin – we loved eating local oysters and langoustines at a table in a field here, overlooking the loch. There’s a real island mentality in Kintyre, too. Glasgow, 60 miles east as the crow flies, is a four-hour drive over a mountain called the Rest and Be Thankful. And just like Skye, in Kintyre there’s water in every direction, with only a mile or so of land between Tarbert and West Tarbert keeping the peninsula attached to the mainland. At its widest, Kintyre is no more than 10 miles across (though it stretches south for around 30 miles). Being here feels like being in on a delicious Scottish secret – we met English folk, other Scots too, who’ve been coming here for years, and want to keep it to themselves. The away-from-it-all feel is what attracted Paul and Linda McCartney here in the 1970s. They lived on their farm near Campbeltown in relative obscurity. Their 1977 video for “Mull of Kintyre” featured the Campbeltown Pipe Band marching up and down the beach at Saddell, a delightful spot now sporting an Antony Gormley sculpture. Paul and Linda McCartney with the Cambelton Pipe Band during the filming of the video for the Wings song ‘Mull of Kintyre’ in 1977 (Photo: Keystone/Getty) Kintyre, like so much of Scotland, is awash with castles – at least 10, depending on whether you include those built in the 19th century. Some, like Tarbert, which sits on a hill above the town and has glorious views out over the loch, are ruins; Robert the Bruce stayed here, as he did in another now-ruined castle, Dunaverty, off the southern tip of the peninsula. We stayed on the estate of Torrisdale Castle, built in 1815, owned and run by the delightful Emma Macalister Hall and her husband Niall. It’s been in his family for more than 150 years and now includes a gin distillery as well as self-catering lets. It sits in a scenic valley outside the village of Carradale. We stayed in a newly-built wooden bothy (from £110 per night), designed to use every inch of space on a hillside, a 10-minute walk from the castle. Waking to the birdsong and views of the loch was one of my happiest moments this year, while enjoying the view of Beinn an Tuirc (“wild boar mountain”), the highest point on the peninsula and the distillery’s namesake. Grey seals are common on the Mull of Kintyre (Photo: FotoGablitz/Getty) There’s plenty of wildlife too: we saw sika deer, recognisable by their white fluffy tails, and otters and seals; the ace, a pair of golden eagles, eluded us, though apparently they’d been spotted a few days earlier. Half an hour south, Campbeltown – AKA “the wee toon” – was once the whisky capital of the world, with 33 distilleries, but most closed after the world wars and prohibition in the US. Today only three remain – Springbank, Glen Scotia and Glengyle, all offering tours. Campbeltown might feel a long way from Hollywood, but its cinema – “the wee pictures” – was one of the first in Scotland and is an Art Nouveau gem. On Main Street, Fetcha Chocolates provided its vegan creations for the 2024 Oscars goodie bags. Walkers are spoilt for choice in Kintyre: there’s an adventurous three-hour route from Campbeltown to Davaar Island, accessible only at low tide, where you can see a 19th-century crucifixion painting in a cave, made by a local art teacher. We chose to amble the final part of the Kintyre Way, a 100-mile path from Tarbert down to Machrihanish, home to one of Kintyre’s five golf courses that is said to have the most scenic opening shot in the world. Carradale Bay is one of Kintyre’s empty beaches (Photo: Dave Collins/Getty) We’d been warned to duck if we heard the word “fore” as we crossed the beach; at this point, our amble quickly segued to a canter. We decided against sitting on the beach after my husband noticed golf balls lying in the sand. On our way home to Glasgow, there was time to overnight at another castle, Stonefield, now a hotel (doubles from £130) with a glass dining room extending out over magnificent views across Loch Fyne, on the eastern side of the Kintyre peninsula. This hotel is old school Scotland: cullen skink on the menu, four poster beds, and heavily panelled public rooms with grand windows giving out onto breathtaking views of one of the world’s most stunning, and uncrowded, corners. “Don’t tell them about it,” said one of my friends. But it’s impossible not to.