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Notebook of a pair of Walloons travelling from Brussels South with Ryanair : ARRAN ISLAND.

The Isle of Arran is yet another beautiful place that can be reached easily from Belgium Charleroi airport - or for that matter from any Ryan Air city - via the Glasgow Prestwick airport.

Train-ferry itinerary

One arrives on Arran by train and ferry in a rather short time and in a very relaxed way : the train stops inside the Prestwick (Glasgow) airport. You take it (direction Glasgow) until  the connecting point (Kilwinning). There you just have to cross the platform to catch another train whose terminal station in Ardrossan is at the foot of the ferry to Arran. Tickets are sold on the train, with a 50% discount for airline passengers ! We suggest you keep your boarding pass, as proof than you are a true air traveller.- and save it for whenever you will buy your return ticket to Brodick

This a view of Ardrossan Harbour, with the train station at the center left of the picture; in its plain center the quay where the ferry departs from.

Other sites dealing with Arran

Train Schedules

Other pictures of Arran

Ferry Schedules

This is a view of Brodick bay taken en route from the Brodick Castle towards the top summit of the island, named the Goatfell.

The ferry is a large, fast and confortable vessel.  In about 50 minutes it brings you into Brodick, the main city on the island.

You can reach the Goatfell without being a mountain climber : some hours of hill walking can lead you up there.

Brodick is ideally located on Arran, within an easy reach of all attraction points. Several hotels are within walking distance of the pier where the ferry moores. We would recommend you to elect one of these for your sojourn in Brodick, for instance the McLaren. We stayed there more than once and got  there good service for quite a reasonable price.

Another nice walk is the Glenn Rosa : this valley begins a few bus stops from Brodick

As it lies within walking distance from the ferry, and from coach stops that can lead you all around the island, staying at McLaren enables you to forget about renting a car on the island. And if the public transportation system would not go where you want to visit, just ask Billy McLaren for being driven by the hotel bus !