Day 4: Isle of Arran to Isle of Islay

We had another long day of travelling ahead of us today, involving two ferries and a drive of around three hours in between. We woke up in the hotel on the Isle of Arran, where it was still lovely and sunny.

After making the most of the hotel breakfast, we just had time for a quick stroll to enjoy the views for a final time before setting off across the island to Brodick.

We were booked on a ferry from Brodick back to Ardrossan at 11am.

As the ferry pulled out of Brodick, we had some great views back towards the Isle of Arran.

We arrived in Ardrossan around midday. From there, we had a drive of 120 miles towards the ferry terminal of Kennacraig on the Kintyre peninsula. Our first stop was not a very exciting one - an Asda superstore on the outskirts of Dumbarton. When I booked the cottage on the Isle of Islay, I got a message from the owner telling me that it would be advisable to stock up on food on the mainland, because there were reports of queues for groceries in the island's shops  Dumbarton was more or less on our way anyway, so it made sense to stop off there and stock up on some essentials for the next few days.

After we'd done the shopping the journey became a bit more scenic, with the route initially taking us along the shore of Loch Lomond. 

We stopped at a small village called Luss, where there is a good car park and beautiful views of the loch.

We had a short stroll by the waterside.

Loch Lomond was a wonderful shade of blue today.

It wasn't completely peaceful though, as there were some people out on speedboats  

It was still a lovely place to visit though  

And the village of Luss itself is really pretty too.

We could have stayed for longer, but we had to press on because we needed to be in Kennacraig for our second ferry by 17.30.

We still had around 75 miles to cover, so we got back in the car and began driving towards the small town of Inveraray.

We stayed here during our very first Scotland roadtrip in 2010.

Today it was just a convenient place for us to stop and get some lunch  

After lunch we were back in the car to cover the final 40 miles to Kennacraig. We arrived just on time to check in for the ferry and soon we were on our way to the Isle of Islay.

There were some great views of the Kintyre peninsula as the ferry pulled out.

The journey to the Isle of Islay took 2 hours 20 minutes.

The sea was still pretty calm, so it was a pleasant crossing.

Eventually we saw the town of Port Ellen appearing on the horizon.

It's quite a big town by Islay standards, although it doesn't look huge.

We're staying in a cottage I booked via Airbnb, around a 45-minute drive from Port Ellen.  We've got a conservatory with amazing sea views!

There's also a good-sized kitchen...

...and a cozy living room

It's in a fantastic location.

And as we were unloading the car, I caught sight of a seal in the water just outside the house  

I think this is going to be a fun place to stay, even if the weather isn't quite as good as it was on Arran