The Kintyre Way is a waymarked footpath through the

Kintyre Peninsula Kintyre (, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately north of Kintyre is ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, west of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It runs between

Machrihanish Machrihanish (, ) is a village in Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland. It is a short distance north of the tip of the Mull of Kintyre, which faces out towards Northern Ireland and the Atlantic. Machrihanish bay The main sandy beach ...

near the southern end of the peninsula's west coast, and Tarbert at the northern end of Kintyre where the peninsula is linked to

Knapdale Knapdale (, ) forms a rural district of Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands, adjoining Kintyre to the south, and divided from the rest of Argyll to the north by the Crinan Canal. It includes two parishes, North Knapdale and South Knapdale. ...

, via

Campbeltown Campbeltown (; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre Peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port. The 2018 populatio ...

. The way is long, and is fully waymarked. Additionally there are distance markers at intervals along the route. The route is primarily intended for walkers, but most sections can also be cycled. The Kintyre Way is designated as one of

Scotland's Great Trails Scotland's Great Trails are long-distance "people-powered" trails in Scotland, analogous to the National Trails of England and Wales or the Grande Randonnée paths of France. The designated routes are primarily intended for walkers, but may have ...

NatureScot NatureScot () is an Scottish public bodies#Executive NDPBs, executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for Scotland’s natural heritage, especially its nature, natural, genetics, genetic and scenic diversity. ...

. It can be linked to another one of the Great Trails via Tarbert, where there is a

Caledonian MacBrayne Caledonian MacBrayne (), in short form CalMac, is the trade name of CalMac Ferries Ltd, the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries to the west coast of Scotland, serving ports on the mainland and 22 of the major islands. It is a subsid ...

ferry service to

Portavadie Portavadie () is a village on the shores of Loch Fyne on the coast of the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, West of Scotland. The Portavadie complex was built in 1975 by the then Scottish Office for the purpose of constructing concrete pl ...

, which is the start/finish point of the

Cowal Way The Loch Lomond and Cowal Way is a waymarked footpath in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, which runs between Portavadie and Inveruglas. It was formerly known as the Cowal Way, a reference to the Cowal peninsula, but was renamed in December 2018 to re ...

. As of 2018, it was estimated that between one and two thousand people completed the entire route each year. The Kintyre Way

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

has been held annually along parts of the route since 2007. Originally held over a course between Tarbert and

, a shorter route from Tayinloan to Campbeltown was later introduced. Due to the relative popularity of the two routes, the longer course is no longer run. The 2016 edition of the race featured in an episode of

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

The Adventure Show ''The Adventure Show'' is a sport programme produced by Adventure Show Productions for BBC Sport Scotland, formerly broadcast on BBC Two Scotland and since 2019 on BBC Scotland. It is hosted by Dougie Vipond. In the show's original format, Vi ...

.BBC Scotland. ''The Adventure Show''. 2017-208 series, episode 1. Aired 2017-06-17
/ref> For 2019 the route of the race will be changed again, utilising a section between Tayinloan and Tarbert.

References

External links

Route description from WalkHighlands
{{Long-distance footpaths in the United Kingdom Footpaths in Argyll and Bute Kintyre Scotland's Great Trails