Explore

Explore the Wild West Coast

Airds Estate is the ideal gateway to the Scottish wilderness. It is nestled in a calm, private bay, the cottages just metres from a pretty shallow beach perfect for paddling and picnics. There is nothing between you and the view, or beyond the sound of the oystercatchers crossing the water, yet you are just a 5 minute walk from picturesque Port Appin with its excellent shop, award-winning restaurant, local craft and coffee shop, and ferry to nearby Lismore island. It is the perfect base for exploring the area, secluded yet within reach of everything you need, and all in under a 2.5 hour drive from Glasgow.

Surrounded by the wildlife and wilderness of Argyll’s West Coast, Airds Estate is the perfect retreat from your busy everyday life, and an ideal springboard for exploring the region. There is something for everyone, from cosy days spent in the cottage, to afternoons on the beach, picnics and barbecues, coastal walks and kayaking.

 

Things to Do

Idyllic Days in Airds Bay

Spend time in Airds Bay exploring the rock pools and coastal caves, clambering along the craggy cliffs, picnics and barbecues on the beach, wading right out at high tide in the shallow water, or swimming beyond.

Spend Time In Port Appin

Just a 5 minute walk away, picturesque Port Appin has an excellent shop, award-winning restaurant and a charming local craft and coffee shop. Join a local Wild Swimming adventure, kayak to the local seal colony, go climbing, horse-riding or cycle the Caledonia Way. Or just nurse a cold drink, or coffee, watching the watch the boats come and go from the Pierhouse. If you’ve got children with you, take them crabbing off the pier. The crabs love smokey bacon!

Visit the Isle of Lismore

Take the ferry over to Lismore, hire bikes and enjoy the 9-mile one-track road along the island, rarely meeting a car as you do. Stop at the café half-way for a warming lunch or a piece of cake.

Go Further Afield

Go further afield and walk through majestic Glencoe with its its stunning scenery, history, popular walks and skiing. Head up to Fort William to enjoy the outward bound offerings in the “Outdoor Capital of the UK”, home to Ben Nevis. Or drive the 19 miles to Oban, the ‘Seafood Capital of Scotland’ and ‘Gateway to the Isles’ from where you can catch ferries to many of the west coast islands. Pick up an ice cream at Highland Fold and oysters for dinner on your way home at Barcaldine.

Take to the Seas

Go for a day-long adventure at sea with on a day charter with Coastal Connection. They can take you to see the puffins at Staffa, to the sandy beaches of Coll, or across to the beautiful small isles.

Enjoy the Wildlife

Look out for oyster-catchers, sea eagles circling off the point, the proud heron standing on the old dock. Enjoy the wildflowers throughout the year: snowdrops in winter, bluebells and daffodils in spring, rhodedendron, foxgloves, wild orchids, thrift, wild blueberries and purple heather in summer, and blackberries and chanterelle mushrooms in autumn.
About & History

Airds Estate

I do not know a place where all the elements, often incongruous ones, of mountains, lakes, wood, rocks, castles, sea, shipping, and cultivation are so strangely intermixed, where they are so wildly picturesque, and where they produce a greater variety of the most singular and unexpected scenes. – Dr Maculloch, Gazeteer of Scotland, 1882

Airds House is a beautiful Georgian house built in 1738 in the style of Robert Adam. It was built for Donald Campbell of Airds, the 4th Baron or Ardnamurchan and Airds whose family crest is carved into the pediment on the house’s facade. Hearsay suggests it was built as a hunting lodge. It was designed to look impressive when viewed from the sea, which would have been the primary access at the time it was built. Its next owner, Robert MacFie, was duly delighted by the house when he passed on his yacht, La Belle Anglaise, in 1851. He instantly fell in love with it and bought it a month later for £26,000. He lived a long, happy life at Airds where he died in 1899. The estate was sold in 1909 then again in 1945. The grandparents of the current owners bought the house in 1956.

The 1980s advert for our holiday cottages