There’s nothing like the feel of sand between your toes to confirm that you really have got away from it all. Set bare foot on one of Kintyre’s white, windswept beaches, and look out to sea, and you know that you really have escaped, for a while at least.

Alternately battered and blessed by the surrounding ocean, Kintyre possesses a rugged, sea-sculpted beauty. Its name may not feature in recognised lists of the world’s great coastal roads, with California’s Highway One or the Italian Amalfi coast, but a drive around the peninsula is every bit as dramatic as these celebrated routes, and all the more appealing for the lack of hype.

Between Tarbert and Bellochantuy, the waves are so close to the road that you can almost taste the spray, while closer to Campbeltown, a hill-top route gives a great view out to the islands beyond, and the windy road to pretty Carradale is a chance to appreciate the diverse local flora.

Tarbert, at the north tip of Kintyre, is a pretty fishing port with a striking church tower. Shops and cafes surround the harbour, which is also the starting point for those forgoing the vehicle option to walk or cycle the 103-mile Kintyre Way. Their first challenge is the walk up to the ivy-covered ruin of Tarbert Castle, a medieval stronghold which was to become an important site for Robert the Bruce.

At Tayinloan, the road south connects with the ferry to the Isle of Gigha.

Campbeltown boasts three working distilleries and views of the Stevenson lighthouse on the island of Davaar, which can be reached on foot at low tide. Once one of Scotland’s busiest ports, it is quieter today, but there is plenty of its history to uncover at the Campbeltown Heritage Centre in the ‘tartan kirk’ – named for its colourful brick patterns.

Another building of note is the Wee Picture House on the sea front, Scotland’s oldest continuously run cinema, and an art deco lover’s treat.

The palm trees that dot the town centre today may be suggestive of a Caribbean resort, but if you are on a quest to find unblemished white sand dunes, head for nearby Machrihanish, where the lovely beach is a favourite water sports destination, and you can enjoy a round of golf in a truly splendid setting at the original Machrihanish golf club, or the newer, yet passionately traditional, Machrihanish Dunes, where the shape of the course has been dictated by the lie of the land.

From here it is several zig-zagging miles, mostly single track, to the remote southern tip of the Mull of Kintyre, a site brimming with history, where on a clear day you can see all the way to the Antrim coast, and may even spot one of the porpoises that can be found swimming near the Isle of Sanda.

Getting there: To reach Kintyre, take the A83 south from Lochgilphead. Buses run from Campbeltown to Glasgow via Tarbert.

Focus on Tarbert Loch Fyne

A fishing village which encircles the scallop-shaped harbour at its heart, Tarbert should be a priority destination for anyone with a passion for seafood.

Here, you can watch prawns and crabs landed on the pier in the morning, then treat yourself to the same at a local restaurant at lunchtime, confident that what you order really is as fresh as it gets.

Tarbert’s harbour sits in the sheltered East Loch Tarbert, a sea loch on Loch Fyne, and today is defined by bustling shops, hotels, cafes and restaurants. It has been an important fishing port for centuries, especially as the base for hundreds of vessels during the herring boom in the early 20^th century.

Today, the pace may be more tranquil, with leisure boats as welcome as working vessels, but locals and visitors still celebrate the bounty of the sea, especially during the annual sea food festival each summer, which attracts celebrities, chefs and restaurateurs from around the world.

Historically, its sheltered situation ensured that Tarbert was seen as of strategic, as well as industrial value. Of significance to both Robert the Bruce and James IV, it was once protected by three castles, though the medieval Tarbert Castle, a ruin which dominates the settlement’s skyline, is the only one which remains a presence.

The recently restored, community-owned castle is open to the public during the day, and continues to dominate the skyline thanks to night-time floodlights, the community woodland behind it is a further site of interest for visitors.

Though several centuries younger than the castle, Tarbert’s little 18^th century church, with its striking tower, is another piece of local history worth exploring.

Tarbert’s role as a transport hub continues – it is the gateway to the lovely Kintyre peninsula, and the departure point for ferries to Portavadie, on Cowal. Ferries leave from nearby Kennacraig to Scotland’s whisky capital, Islay. The Portavadie ferry, the Lochinvar, is a hybrid electric ferry, and only the second of its kind in the world.