Riding the Calmac ferries in Scotland

May 10

May 10 Riding the Calmac ferries in Scotland

I was excited and slightly apprehensive before setting off on my trip to explore several of the isles of Scotland. While planning a recent trip, I realized the area that I really wanted to explore were the isles off the west coast. That meant that we would need to take ferries. Initially, I wasn't sure how easy this would be and I was also aware that things can go wrong, like mechanical issues or bad weather. This was clear after a previous experience with a broken ferry in Valdez, AK. that forced an eight hour.

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So, I planned a trip up the west coast of Scotland on and off Arran, Mull, and Skye. Calmac or Caledonian MacBrayne has an extensive ferry system, that is quite affordable, even with a car. They have a very handy ticket option called the "hopscotch" with 32 different hopscotching options that bundles together certain routes to make buying your ticket easier. The website is easy to use and they have up to date status for each route. Some of the routes are bookable in advance and some of the less popular routes have an open ticket so you can arrive and board the next available ferry.

We planned to be on the 6:00pm ferry from Ardrossan to Brodick on Arran. And it may not have been the best plan, but we expected to land in Glasgow by 12:30 pm, pickup the rental car and drive one hour to the ferry terminal. This plan almost went completely wrong due to a flight cancellation, but after being rebooked to Edinburgh and making a new rental car reservation, we were back on track and had plenty of time to catch the ferry.

It was beautiful sunny Saturday evening when we drove onto the ferry to Arran. This ferry was the largest that we were on and it was definitely full. The water was calm and it was a great start to our trip. Leaving the north end of Arran at the Lochranza to Claonaig crossing, was a completely opposite experience, where we were one of maybe 5 cars on a much smaller ferry.

Overall our experience with Calmac was fabulous. Every ferry was prompt and on time and as a bonus, they have a great free public wi-fi system on the ferries. I am ready to plan my next ferry trip!