Claddie is a holiday cottage in Kilfinan, Argyll And Bute, Scotland. Me and my family have been there twice and loved it. It’s really not touristy, which is perfect for the proper Scottish experience. There is no wifi and minimal phone reception making it a perfect technology getaway too.
When I last went, there was 7 of us and 3 cars, all heading up there, all the way from my hometown. As you can see below, its not a quick journey! but I love long journeys, this one gives you lots of different landscapes to look at, and cool places to stop off at on the way. It also involves a ferry from Greenock to Dunoon.

That white cottage below, is Claddie, and yes, it has a whole bay to itself. No tourists, nothing. You might get the occasional passer by, but thats rare. It is so peaceful, just being there makes you feel so much better, you breathe in the fresh air, admire the natural scenery and spot the occasional boat going past.

We all know Scotland is well known for raining every day. And I must admit I have spent many family holidays camping in Scotland in the rain, BUT not all the time. On my first trip to Claddie, back in 2009, the weather wasn’t great for the first week, but in true British style we made the most of it. Rain is not a bad thing!

There is a river right next to the cottage, and it runs down to the sea, twisting and turning a few corners before eventually heading out to sea to the right side of the bay. One of my best memories involves a lot of rain – It had rained pretty heavily the day before, and when we woke up the next morning, the river was full of water, so me and my two brothers put on our wetsuits and we walked the little path next to the cottage, to the wire bridge going across the river. We took our body boards and got to the middle of the river then jumped in, and let the flowing water carry us down stream. We loved it so much, the water was fast enough to be awesome fun but not strong enough to pull us out to sea.

We did find though, on our last family holiday to Scotland, we had been really lucky with the weather. We went to Claddie in August 2015 and it was bright sunshine all week – we sat outside in shorts and tshirts, sunbathing, or took turns on the 3 kayaks we brought with us, to explore the loch and do some fishing.
The fishing is awesome, once you find a shoal of mackerel you can pretty much guarantee at least 8 fish (but usually a lot more.. like 4 fish on one rod!) but even without fishing, its to cool to just sit out on the kayak looking around you and exploring the coastline.

The above sunroom is my mums favourite room. You can pretty much guarantee to find her here, knitting, sewing or reading a book whilst the rest of us are out exploring or kayaking. It’s also a pretty good spot to keep an eye on us out in the bay!

Sometimes I think people forget how important family holidays really are. It’s memories that are never forgotten, and Claddie has provided many of those. Whether its walking up the hills, searching the rocks for crabs, looking in rock pools, watching the sunset over the bay, fishing from kayaks, the list goes on. I used to be jealous that some of my friends would be going to a resort in Spain, but now I can’t thank my parents enough for taking us on way better holidays.

One of the things I love about Scotland is how under instagrammed it is, unlike Thailand or Spain, where you will find a new photo put up every minute. If you want a holiday that is different, and somewhere i’m pretty sure your friends haven’t been, then head to Scotland. (Especially Claddie but thats me being biased!).
I hope to head back to Scotland once i’m back in England, to explore it further, and show you what an awesome place it really is.

Have you been on a holiday to Scotland? or even to Claddie itself? Let me know in the comments box below!