Which mainland slipway does the Arran boat leave from in January? The answer used to be Tarbert, and half of CalMac's own website still says so — but the timetable it published for this winter runs from Claonaig, the same slipway as in July, with five sailings a day instead of nine.
Summer timetable 27 March to 18 October 2026 and winter timetable 19 October 2026 to 25 March 2027, first read on calmac.co.uk on 22 September 2026 and read again, unchanged, on 13 and 15 October 2026, when both were also checked day by day against CalMac's sailing data. CalMac — Claonaig–Lochranza summer and winter timetables (PDF) · 2026-10-15
So which slipway is it in winter? For years the answer was that the boat moved up Loch Fyne to Tarbert once the clocks changed, and CalMac's Lochranza port page still tells you so, in plain words, listing Tarbert as a connecting port for winter only. The timetable it published to cover 19 October 2026 until 25 March 2027 says something else entirely: it is headed Claonaig–Lochranza, its columns are Claonaig and Lochranza, and Tarbert is not mentioned anywhere in it. This page follows the timetable, because that is the document with dates on it — but the disagreement is real and it is worth knowing about before you drive up Kintyre in February. Tarbert does keep a CalMac crossing of its own, though not to Arran: the Loch Fyne boat to Portavadie leaves from its slip.
What does change with the season is volume. High summer gives nine round trips a day at roughly seventy-five-minute intervals from before nine in the morning, and eight once the evening pair stops in September. Winter gives five, with a three-hour gap in the middle of the day that has no summer equivalent, and a Sunday whose morning departures sit fifteen to thirty minutes later than the rest of the week.
This is Arran's back door, and CalMac says so itself, calling Claonaig–Lochranza an alternative to the main Ardrossan and Troon routes into Brodick. The comparison is not close: Brodick is bookable, takes an hour and twenty, and lands you in the island's main town. This one takes thirty minutes, cannot be booked, lands you at the far north end, and reaches the mainland at a slipway with a bus shelter and no shop.
A car with two people in it crosses for £21.25 one way — £13.25 for the vehicle and £4.00 each, because the vehicle price does not include the driver. Every return is priced at exactly two singles, so the round trip comes to £42.50 and the pair costs no less than the parts.
One band is worth measuring your vehicle against. A caravan between six and eight metres pays £19.90; a campervan of the same length pays £33.15. Both CalMac sources print it that way, so it is the structure and not a slip: a towed box costs less than a van you sleep in.
| Adult, 16 and over | £ 4 |
| Child, 5 to 15 | £ 2 |
| Infant, 0 to 4 | Free |
| Adult SPT concession | £ 2 |
| Adult SPT companion | £ 2 |
| Pedal cycle | Free |
| Car | £ 13.25 |
| Blue Badge car | £ 9.94 |
| Motorcycle | £ 6.65 |
| Blue Badge motorcycle | £ 4.99 |
| Baggage trailer up to 2.5 m | £ 6.65 |
| Trailer 2.5–6 m | £ 13.25 |
| Trailer 6–8 m | £ 19.90 |
| Caravan up to 6 m | £ 13.25 |
| Caravan 6–8 m | £ 19.90 |
| Campervan or motorhome up to 6 m | £ 13.25 |
| Campervan or motorhome 6–8 m | £ 33.15 |
| Campervan or motorhome 8–10 m | £ 39.75 |
| Campervan or motorhome 10–12 m | £ 46.40 |
| Minibus up to 6 m | £ 13.25 |
| Light goods vehicle up to 6 m | £ 17.25 |
| Livestock trailer | Free |
Last published fares: summer 2026, valid from 27 March 2026. On 15 October 2026 CalMac still showed no winter 2026/27 fares for this crossing, so check the fares tab before buying for travel from 19 October. CalMac — Claonaig/Tarbert–Lochranza fares (PDF) · 2026-10-15
Claonaig and Lochranza face each other across about ten kilometres of Kilbrannan Sound, which the ship covers in a flat thirty minutes — the same thirty minutes on every sailing in both published timetables, summer and winter alike. The sea part is the easy part. Getting to Claonaig means the length of Kintyre on single-track sections of the B8024 and B8001, which is why CalMac tells drivers coming from Ardrossan to allow over three hours before they even see the water. Scotland's crossings on this site mostly turn on the sea; this one turns on the road.
There is no terminal at Claonaig — CalMac calls it an unattended slipway, and what stands there is a bus shelter, a toilet including an accessible one, free Wi-Fi and a small number of parking spaces. You buy your ticket on board or online beforehand. The approach is part single track with passing places, on the B8024 and the B8001, and CalMac warns that the drive from Ardrossan can take over three hours. Kennacraig, on the other shore of Kintyre, is where the Islay ships load, and it has everything Claonaig lacks: a ticket office, a waiting room and staff.
Stock up before you commit to it. The nearest petrol station is 23 miles away at Lochgilphead and the nearest shop is 10 miles back at Tarbert. A West Coast Motors bus to Lochgilphead stops ten metres from the slipway, which is the whole of the public transport provision on this side.
Lochranza is unattended too, but better provided for: a waiting area, free Wi-Fi, toilets across the road and car parking 200 metres from the slipway, both supplied by the local authority rather than by CalMac. There is a takeaway near the ramp, and fuel means driving 15 miles down the island to Brodick.
Lochranza Castle stands a few hundred metres away on its spit into the loch — from outside a sixteenth-century L-plan tower house, but Historic Environment Scotland points out that it was redeveloped from a much rarer hall-house of the 1200s.
CalMac runs this as turn up and go. Booking online still asks you to name a date, but any departure inside that timetable period will honour the ticket, first come first served. Arrive without one and staff may still be able to carry you. CalMac works its half-hourly hop to Bute at Colintraive on the same arrangement.
The route page and both timetables put check-in at 10 minutes before departure for vehicles and foot passengers. CalMac's own Lochranza port page says to arrive 20 minutes before. Four sources against one, but they are all the same operator, so give yourself the twenty.
Turn-up-and-go tickets and ten-journey books alike expire with the timetable period they were sold under, and neither can be amended nor refunded. Buy in October with a November trip in mind and you have bought the wrong thing.
The nearest fuel to the Kintyre slipway is 23 miles away at Lochgilphead and the nearest shop 10 miles back at Tarbert. On the Arran side it is 15 miles to Brodick. There is nothing to buy at either ramp.
CalMac marks the 08:50 out of Claonaig and the 14:30 off Lochranza in summer, and the 11:50 and 11:15 in winter, as sailings where passenger numbers may be restricted. Foot passengers on those departures should not assume a space.
When Ardrossan–Brodick or Troon–Brodick is disrupted, CalMac accepts a valid ticket for the affected service on this crossing. If you hold a reservation rather than an open ticket, you have to amend the booking before you travel.
Catriona herself is worth a look. She is a 2015 hull from the Ferguson yard at Port Glasgow — 499 gross tons, 43.5 metres, drawing only 1.73 metres — and her diesel-electric machinery runs alongside lithium-ion batteries, which CalMac says cuts her fuel and carbon dioxide by at least a fifth. The name is borrowed from the Robert Louis Stevenson novel. Pets are welcome and there is a low-threshold way into the inner lounge. CalMac does not publish how many cars or people she takes.
Arran's main routes have been reshuffled this autumn: Ardrossan harbour closed for upgrade works from 7 September to 8 October 2026, and with Ardrossan–Brodick sailing again CalMac keeps MV Alfred on a Troon–Brodick service until 18 January. It still names this route as the other way onto the island, and its own advice is that the northern crossing suits people in their own vehicle, because foot passengers arriving at Claonaig have almost no onward transport to work with.
Not according to the winter timetable. CalMac's published sheet, covering 19 October 2026 until 25 March 2027, runs Claonaig–Lochranza and never mentions Tarbert. Its Lochranza port page still describes a reduced winter service from Tarbert on Loch Fyne, so the operator contradicts itself; no Tarbert–Lochranza departure time is published anywhere on the site.
Because the 19:00 from Claonaig and the 18:25 from Lochranza carry a footnote withdrawing them after 6 September. They are printed on the summer sheet but have not run since 6 September; the last departures now are 17:40 and 17:05 until the winter timetable starts.
No. This is one of CalMac's turn-up-and-go routes. The online form wants a preferred date, but the ticket is good for any sailing inside its timetable period and boarding is first come, first served. What you cannot do is carry that ticket across the seasonal boundary, or get a refund on it.
Twenty minutes, to be safe. The route page and both timetable sheets say check-in closes ten minutes before departure for vehicles and foot passengers alike, but CalMac's Lochranza port page asks for twenty. Since the two are not reconciled, use the longer figure.
£21.25 one way and £42.50 for the return, because the £13.25 vehicle fare excludes the driver and every return is exactly twice the single. A Blue Badge holder's car is £9.94, and a motorcycle £6.65.
The sea crossing is: thirty minutes against an hour and twenty. The journey rarely is. CalMac warns that driving to Claonaig from Ardrossan can take over three hours, on roads that go to single track with passing places, so the northern route wins on time only if you are already in Argyll.
Barely, and CalMac says as much — it describes the route as better suited to people travelling in their own vehicle because of the limited connections at Claonaig. There is one bus to Lochgilphead from ten metres away, a toilet and a shelter. Foot passengers cross free with a bicycle, which is the most practical way to use it on foot.
A valid Ardrossan–Brodick or Troon–Brodick ticket for the affected service is accepted on this crossing. A reservation, as opposed to an open ticket, must be amended before you travel.