"What do you mean no WiFi" "Dadddddddd!!" Happy New Year from 'Craggy' Island

It's not all palm trees and cocktails, I believe travel should take be adventurous and as my family found out… you don't have to board a plane to do this.

So this year the Buckle Bus headed for the Isle of Bute to see in the New Year, an 8-hour journey saw us arrive at Wemyss bay, approximately 30 miles west of Glasgow. Here we boarded the Caledonian Macbride ferry to the Isle of Bute, our home for the next 3 days. The ferry crossing takes just over half an hour and the return cost for the 6 of us including the car was £43.

We arrived at our cottage within 10 minutes of leaving the ferry, it was late and extremely dark and imagine my 14-year-old daughter's reaction when she found out there was no 3G/WiFi or phone signal! I think she developed a twitch within the hour...

So the sun doesn't rise until 9ish and we were all blown away by the view once we opened the curtains and looked out across our garden, now we didn't have long to appreciate the scenery as it gets dark around 3.30pm too. So off we headed for a walk and ice cream at the famous Zavaroni's café.

We saw New Year in with our little party on Craggy Island and the following day we were blessed with bright blue skies and fresh air, so off we went to Scalpsie bay, seal spotting. The children were not disappointed, it’s only a small colony on Bute but we managed to see 6 basking on the rocks and taking the odd dip.

For lunch we headed to the lovely Kingarth Hotel, I would recommend the Scallops and Black Pudding as a starter.

If you're thinking of a UK break, get in touch, we work with a variety of suppliers that offer everything from Spa retreats, Log Cabins, and country cottages.

Happy New Year and let's make 2017 one to remember!!