Tarbert, Loch Fyne and Kintyre
Tarbert sits on a narrow isthmus with three separate ferry piers nearby, a single coach road down Kintyre to Campbeltown, and Kennacraig a few miles south as the real gateway to Islay and Jura.
- Researched
- 29 September 2026
- Reviewed
- not yet
- Ways of moving
- 9, 15 sources
- Not confirmed
- 6
- Fares seen
- 2026
9 ways of moving, each with its rule
We confirmed nine ways of moving to, from or around Tarbert: four by water, two by road, two hired or on demand and one by air, from 15 sources. One of them runs only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be. One needs a phone call or a message before you turn up.
The fares were seen in 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. Seven fares carry no year, because they could not be confirmed and the field says so. We rate 5 of the 9 high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 29 September 2026, and ends with six things we could not confirm.
By water
Tarbert (Loch Fyne) to Portavadie
Tarbert east pier to Portavadie on the Cowal peninsula
The east pier is about half a mile from Tarbert village centre, walkable but most travellers drive on with a car. This is CalMac route 007
- When
- Hourly, daily 8AM-6PM
- Takes
- 25 minutes
- Fare 2026
- Return £23.20 per car, £7.60 per adult including driver, £3.80 per child aged 5-15, valid until end of March 2027
SeasonYear-round. BookingTurn up and go, no advance booking required for cars or foot passengers on this route. Run byCaledonian MacBrayne (CalMac).
Kennacraig to Islay (Port Ellen / Port Askaig)
Kennacraig ferry terminal, about 6 miles south of Tarbert village on the A83, to Port Ellen or Port Askaig on Islay
Kennacraig has no village of its own, only the terminal building, and is a different place from Tarbert itself - people who mean to catch this ferry sometimes get out at Tarbert by mistake. Citylink coaches from Glasgow stop here and connect with sailings
- When
- 2-3 sailings daily each way April to October, one or two daily November to March; timetable is amended during the annual Islay Feis
- Takes
- 2 hours
- Fare 2026
- Return £90.80 per car, £18 per adult including driver, £9 per child, valid until end of March 2027
SeasonYear-round, reduced winter schedule November to March; Port Askaig sailings continue on to Colonsay and Oban once or twice a week. BookingBooking ahead recommended; caravans and motorhomes must book, they are not permitted in the unbooked stand-by queue. Run byCaledonian MacBrayne (CalMac).
Claonaig to Lochranza (Isle of Arran), moving to Tarbert in winter
Claonaig, about 10 miles south of Tarbert on the B8001, to Lochranza on Arran; in winter the sailing runs instead from Tarbert east pier direct to Lochranza
Claonaig pier is on the east side of Kintyre, reached by the B-road that branches off near Kennacraig and runs over the moor via Skipness. No village at the pier itself
- When
- April-October: daily, every 75 minutes. November-March: one sailing a day, and it runs from Tarbert instead of Claonaig
- Takes
- 30 minutes from Claonaig; 90 minutes from Tarbert in winter
- Fare
- No current fare figure confirmed for this route; ask CalMac or check the live fare finder before travelling
SeasonClaonaig sailings April-October only; Claonaig is too exposed for winter operation so the route consolidates to one daily Tarbert-Lochranza crossing November-March. BookingTurn up and go; not one of the caravan/motorhome pre-booking-only ports. Run byCaledonian MacBrayne (CalMac).
Kintyre Express, Campbeltown to Ballycastle (Northern Ireland)
Campbeltown harbour to Ballycastle, County Antrim
Foot passengers only, no vehicles carried on this crossing; departs from Campbeltown harbour, about 37 miles south of Tarbert by road
- When
- April, May and September: Friday to Monday. June-August: daily. Departs Campbeltown 7:30AM, returns 4:30PM, so a day trip to Ballycastle is possible
- Takes
- 90 minutes
- Fare
- Not confirmed; the operator's own site carries no fare table, book through kintyreexpress.com
SeasonApril to September only, on the days above. BookingBook ahead through the operator's website. Run byKintyre Express.
By road
Citylink coach 926, Glasgow to Tarbert and Campbeltown
Glasgow Buchanan Street via Dumbarton, Tarbet (Loch Lomond), Arrochar, Inveraray, Lochgilphead, Tarbert, Kennacraig, Tayinloan and Muasdale to Campbeltown
Stops in Tarbert village on the main road; the same coach continues south past Kennacraig ferry terminal and Tayinloan (for the Gigha ferry) to Campbeltown
- When
- 4 or 5 times daily to Campbeltown, one bus a day routed via Glasgow Airport
- Takes
- About 3 hours Glasgow to Tarbert; a further hour on to Campbeltown
- Fare
- No current fare figure confirmed; Citylink's own booking site returned a block on direct fetch, check citylink.co.uk before travelling
SeasonYear-round. BookingBooking recommended, this route connects with several ferries. Run byScottish Citylink.
West Coast Motors bus 448, Lochgilphead to Skipness via Tarbert
Lochgilphead to Tarbert town and east pier, Kennacraig ferry pier, Claonaig ferry pier and Skipness castle
Local stops through Tarbert village; useful for reaching Kennacraig or Claonaig piers without a car
- When
- Three times a day, Monday to Saturday
- Takes
- Not confirmed from the source used here
- Fare
- Not confirmed; West Coast Motors' own timetable page returned a 403 on direct fetch, ask the driver or check westcoastmotors.co.uk
SeasonNot stated to differ seasonally in the source used. BookingNone, pay the driver. Run byWest Coast Motors.
Hired, booked and on demand
Tarbert Cars, village taxi
Tarbert village and connections to the surrounding piers and Kennacraig
Phone ahead; useful for reaching Kennacraig, Claonaig or Campbeltown airport when no bus runs
- When
- On demand
- Takes
- Varies by destination
- Fare
- Not confirmed
SeasonYear-round. BookingPhone or use tarbertcars.com. Run byTarbert Cars, +44 7930 884851.
Car hire at Campbeltown airport
Campbeltown, about 37 miles south of Tarbert by the A83
Two firms serve the airport and town: Kintyre Hire and Campbeltown Motor Company. Pre-booking is essential, there is no walk-up desk at the tiny terminal
- When
- By reservation
- Takes
- n/a
- Fare
- Not confirmed
SeasonYear-round. BookingPre-booking essential. Run byKintyre Hire (+44 1586 554480); Campbeltown Motor Company (+44 1586 552030).
By air
Loganair, Glasgow to Campbeltown
Glasgow (GLA) to Campbeltown Airport (CAL), about 37 miles south of Tarbert
Campbeltown Airport has a tiny terminal; check-in an hour before departure is plenty. No bus service reaches the airport itself, use a taxi or pre-booked hire car
- When
- Two flights Monday to Friday, one on Sunday
- Takes
- 45 minutes
- Fare
- Not confirmed
SeasonYear-round. BookingBook through Loganair. Run byLoganair.
What we could not find out
6 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.
- 01
The brief asks about a Campbeltown to Ardrossan summer ferry. Wikivoyage's Campbeltown article states plainly: 'The Calmac ferry from Ardrossan was axed in 2025.' That service no longer runs and is not listed in this file; treat the brief's mention of it as out of date.
- 02
CalMac operates an unauthenticated GraphQL API at apim.calmac.co.uk/graphql confirmed working during this research: `routes(where:{name:{contains:"..."}})` returns routeCode, textCode, name and a live status field, and `routes(where:{routeCode:{eq:"..."}}){vessels{name}}` returns the assigned vessel. Introspection is disabled. At the time of checking (2026-09-29) route 007 Tarbert-Portavadie showed live status DISRUPTIONS and route 004 Claonaig-Lochranza showed BE_AWARE - both are day-of-travel signals, not a permanent condition, and should be re-checked rather than trusted as static. A working portPairSailings query (for individual departure times) was not found; the argument and field names guessed from the docs entry (originPortName, destinationPortName, departureTime, arrivalTime, vesselName) were all rejected by the schema, so docs/13-api-inventory.md's description of that query's exact field names looks stale and should be re-verified against the live schema rather than assumed.
- 03
West Coast Motors (westcoastmotors.co.uk) and Scottish Citylink (citylink.co.uk) both returned HTTP 403 to a direct fetch with a browser user agent over both HTTP/2 and HTTP/1.1 during this research, so no fare could be confirmed for bus 448 or coach 926 beyond what Wikivoyage states about frequency and route. Neither operator appears in docs/13-api-inventory.md; worth adding if a future pass finds a working data endpoint for either.
- 04
calmac.co.uk's own route-timetable and route pages returned HTTP 404 for the URL patterns tried (/route-timetable/034, /routes/tarbert-loch-fyne-portavadie); the working access point found was the GraphQL API above, not the marketing site.
- 05
No current fare could be confirmed for the Claonaig-Lochranza crossing, the West Coast Motors bus 448, the Kintyre Express ferry, car hire at Campbeltown, or Citylink coach 926 - ask the operator or check their booking pages directly.
- 06
Duration for West Coast Motors bus 448 (Lochgilphead to Skipness) was not stated in the Wikivoyage source used and could not be confirmed elsewhere in this pass.
What the planner can route today
The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Tarbert is this.
- Y
- Scheduled flightsGlasgow (GLA), 61 km
- Y
- Trains and coachesTransitous carries 3 timetable feeds for this country, 2 with real-time
- Y
- FerriesPortavadie, 0 km, Caledonian MacBrayne; sailings estimated
- Y
- Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
- N
- Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
- N
- Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere
Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known.