Not just a Paul McArtney song but actually an entire peninsula on the west coast of Scotland. Just a few hours west of Glasgow, the Mull of Kintyre is a beautiful, natural, windswept destination where you’ll probably experience all four seasons in one day. In close proximity to both the Isle of Arran & Jura, Islay & Gigha, there’s plenty to do here.

Is the Isle of Mull, the same as the Mull of Kintyre?

No! Although they look close on the map, Scotland’s roads are slow to drive and they’re actually 5 hours apart.

The Mull of Kintyre is a peninsula sandwiched between the Isle of Arran and the wee Isle of Gigha (pronounced Gee-Ya). It’s very remote and has an island-like mentality in parts with a welcoming, slow pace of life & plenty to do.

How To Get To The Mull Of Kintyre

In the winter you’ll need to drive around via Dumbarton & Inveraray although in the summer there’s a ferry from Ardrossan to Campbeltown. Ardrossan is 1hr west of Glasgow & ferries are provided by Calmac.

Places To Stay On Kintyre

We stayed in Tayinloan which is just opposite the Island of Gigha & found it was handy for accessing both the north and south of the peninsula.

Click on the map to zoom in and see what Stay22 has to offer.

Things To Do On Kintyre

You’ll need a car to access all of these places as this part of Scotland is remote.

North-Western Peninsula

• Seal Point
• Ballochroy Standing Stones
• Cruach Mhic Gougain
• Point Sands Beach
• A’Chleit Church

South-West Peninsula

• Westport Beach
• Machrihanish Dunes (see photo at top of page). Parking:55°27’31.3″N 5°42’07.9″W
• Machrihanish Bay Beach
• Machrihanish Seabird / Wildlife Observatory
• Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse

The Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse was the second lighthouse commissioned in Scotland, designed and built by Thomas Smith and completed in 1788. It’s 240 feet above the sea and at the time of building, there was no road over the rough moorland above it.  In 1817 the lighthouse keeper was granted an extra £5.00 a year in order to provide for a horse, necessary to carry supplies 7 miles from the storehouse to the lighthouse.  The lighthouse was rebuilt in the 1820s & was converted to electrical power in 1976, automated in 1996 and is now monitored from Edinburgh.

The former keeper’s cottages are now run as holiday cottages by the National Trust for Scotland but I can’t find any information about this. If you visit, you’ll need to climb over the padlocked gate. They’re happy to receive visitors so long as you don’t leave any mess.

Southern Tip

• St Columba’s Chapel, Footprints and Holy Well
• Dunaverty Rock
• Brunerican Bay
• Wilder Ways Horse Trekking (We visited just after Covid restrictions were lifted in Scotland so couldn’t go horse riding but had planned to)

East Of The Peninsula

• Davaar Island
• Davaar Lighthouse

Davaar is a tidal island which becomes accessible one hour before low tide. It takes roughly 20-30 minutes to walk over there on the spit way.

The tidal flats between the mainland and the island are full of mussels. You can actually stay on this island in some of the cottages. 

Read more about walking to Davaar Island here.

Campletown

• Jock’s Adventure Playpark
• Linda McCartney Memorial Garden
• Campbeltown Heritage Centre
• Springbank Distillery
• Campbeltown Picture House (pretty cheap and we were the only people in the picture house!)
• Campbeltown Harbour
• Campbeltown Museum

Saddell

• Saddell Castle
• Saddell Bay & Statue
• Mull of Kintyre Cottage
• Saddell Abbey

Torrisdale & Carradale

• Torrisdale Bay Beach
• Carradale Bay Beach
• Carradale Point Fort
• Deer Hill (Cnoc nan Gabhar)

Skipness

• Skipness Castle
• Skipness Smokehouse
• Skipness Seafood Cabin
• Kilbrannan Chapel
• Skipness Bay

Day Trips

• Isle of Gigha (we visited in a day)
• Isle of Arran (this is an ultimate guide to all of Scotland’s islands)
• Isle of Islay
• Isle of Jura

Map Of Places

This is a map you can use and download of all the places mentioned in this blog.

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