The Isle of Arran is a fifty-five minute ferry journey from Ardrossan harbour on the mainland Ayrshire coast. There are five regular daily sailings Monday to Saturday (but only four on Sundays) and the ferry can carry coaches as well as minibuses and cars (vehicles should be booked in advance with Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd, The Ferry Terminal, Gourock PA19 1QP). Foot passenger tickets can be bought at the harbour terminal before boarding. Ardrossan harbour is served by a rail-link to Glasgow Central Station (the journey time is just over an hour).

The ferry arrives at Brodick on the east coast of Arran where there is also a bus station. The local bus routes regularly serve all of the villages closest to the exercise areas in this book such as Corrie, Sannox, Lochranza, Catacol, Pirnmill, Machrie and Blackwaterfoot. Details of where to stay on Arran and a bus time-table can be obtained from the tourist information centre located at the Brodick ferry terminal (Isle of Arran Tourist Board, Tourist Information Office, Brodick, Isle of Arran KA27 8AU). At the time of going to press there were three main bus routes on the island: one around the north of the island, one around the south and one over the String road in the centre. These are supplemented by the post bus (which can carry some passengers).

Figure (i) shows the simplified geology of Arran and the location of each field exercise area with its proximity to the nearest village and bus route.