There’s more to Arran than Insta sights

The less heard of the place, the better, says Brodick-based writer Emily Rose Mawson, because when we explore Arran without social media-fed agenda, we discover the best places. They don’t come with hashtags or honeypot status, but they’re no less beautiful – and are perhaps even that bit more special. Here are five to inspire your next trip.

When I moved to Arran three years ago, all I wanted to do was share its scenery. The island is, after all, an incredible sort of other world in the middle of the Firth of Clyde. “I can’t believe this is my walk after the school run,” I’d punch into my phone, as my eyes tried to gobble up whichever sun-bathed glen I was lucky enough to be exploring. Another day it would be “the view from the top”, as I shared and showed off North Arran’s jagged mountains that climb higher than anywhere for miles around. “It’s raining, but still so beautiful on the beach,” I’d post, from white pebbles edged by a turquoise sea, and always naming the place.

Until one day, I realised the potential problem with this: that when we name-share these special places online, and they get shared again, and again, we risk unwittingly damaging what it is that makes them unique.

Some of these places become so well known that they gain “honeypot” status. The concept is nothing new, of course. These uncontrollably popular locations in stunning countryside have existed since the Victorians developed tourism. The thing is, all of Arran is beautiful, and we don’t all need to go to the same places to find truly special scenery. 

Speaking of special qualities, as Belgian-Icelandic landscape photographer Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove writes (SOURCE - https://jvn.photo/why-i-dont-share-some-photo-locations-you-shouldnt-either/), if you have to do the work to find and get to a specific spot, the chances are you will appreciate it more. “Additionally, you will likely show more respect to preserving it as you found it,” he continues.

And respect is the least we can show Arran in return for what it gives us: landscapes that offer that increasingly rare sense of being the only person for miles around, for example, and places and sights that give you a sense of awe. Here are five unnamed Arran sights to inspire your next adventure – so the discovering is up to you!

The glens not taken

The north of Arran is carved open by glens, some deep and broad, others hanging, that rise to the highest, moulded granite mountains for miles around.

These valleys were formed during the last Ice Age when glaciers flowed downhill, scooping out the landscape as they went, and there are many – but just one or two attract the most visitors.  

The others promise almost unspoiled solitude, the kind where you can see nobody on the path ahead, and nobody behind.

Look up to spot spiky tors and pinnacles, knife-edge ridges and cloud-bathed corries (bowl-shaped hollows formed when snow builds up in a depression) and inhale scents of heather, bracken and luscious grassy freshness. Soak up this stillness then share the feeling this gives you.

Incredible paths

Arran has a highly Instagrammable network of paths thanks to the Arran Access Trust, and they let us reach otherwise inaccessible places – the kind that will thrill your friends and followers.

Some skirt headlands, leading you between sea and sky; others look like natural staircases to high lochans. There are narrow paths and wide paths, paths along boardwalk and paths that battle for space with bracken in summer, when on rainy days the leaves cling to your thighs like a refreshing wet flannel. 

I often wonder how much more work the Arran Access Trust could do if we all shared its name instead?  

Epic rocks

Arran became a Unesco Geopark in 2025, and its geological reputation precedes it, but you don’t need an interest in rocks to appreciate the russet sandstone, layered like millefeuille; black basalt, thrust up through the Earth’s crust as the European and North American continents moved apart; and marine limestone, shaped like the waves.

After revelling in all these stony textures, find a big round boulder, with a view. Sit on it and be, and listen to Arran – at least for as long as the midges will let you!

This, according to one study (SOURCE: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6970969/) can positively impact mental wellbeing in as little as 10 minutes. And that’s a benefit worth sharing.

Cold water therapy

Wild swimming has become a social media phenomenon, with posts of natural watery wonders on the Isle of Skye and in Glen Coe racking up hundreds of thousands of views.

But as Glencoe National Nature Reserve NTS recently posted on Facebook, (SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/100064837324959/posts/1204151458422754/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v ) “Who fancies swimming with broken glass, soiled underwear, human waste, intimate wipes, catheter inserters, sanitary pads, nappies, raw chicken packaging and an assortment of other littering treats for company?”

Sadly, that’s the reality when too many people head to the same spot. Instead, look for low-key natural pools as you walk. Each of Arran’s burns has them – all phenomenal, some are sun-bathed spots in wooded clearings, others are deep, waterfall-fed lagoons in high hanging valleys.

Nature’s wildlife hides

When you’re tuned into Arran’s scenery, the last thing you’ll be thinking about is spotting wildlife. And this is precisely when you’re most likely to get the best wildlife photo opportunities.

In fact, when we are present, we can become, so to speak, invisible, according to the spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle (SOURCE: https://www.oprah.com/own-podcasts/essential-teachings-special-addiction-to-thinking).

To achieve this, he says we must focus on the in- and outflow of our breath – just don’t forget to keep your eyes wide open for potential sightings of otters and seals playing in the shallows, golden eagles gliding on eddies, and the rest of Scotland’s ‘Big Five’ that live on the island.

Top tip

Next time you’re visiting Arran, stop periodically, close your eyes and run through this checklist:

What can I hear?

What can I feel?

What can I smell?

What can I taste?

Then open your eyes again and see what your gaze falls on: it might be the most beautiful sight you’ve seen all day.