Overview

Brodick Castle is one of the main attractions on the Isle of Arran and we wanted to visit during our stay. The major downside is that it is built into a hill and getting between most areas of the estate involves some steep climbs. To make this worse, most of the paths are gravel and slippery under wheels. I used my mountain trike, which helped but this made access into the castle more difficult.

Transport & Parking

We arrived by motorhome and a lady at the entry kiosk told us to just park in the normal car park. We were a bit surprised as normally we park in coach parking (which is generally also good for wheelchair access), so we forgot to mention that I'm a wheelchair user and parked where we were told. There is accessible parking at the top near the castle but we wouldn't have got the motorhome in there anyway.

Access

I'm normally pretty good at getting around difficult sites, but I found this one tiring and challenging. The path up from the car park was very steep and the gravel was loose, making it difficult to keep traction. It's one of the few times that hubby has had to help push me a bit. The castle itself is actually pretty good for access except that you have to go in through the shop, which has quite a narrow door. A member of staff came out to help us but realised I wasn't going to fit through and took us a different way (more about her later). Once inside the castle, getting around was easy, even with a big off-road wheelchair. The gardens are partially accessible but again, hilly and all gravel. We explored some of the gardens but I was exhausted by mid-afternoon so we decided to call it a day.

Toilets

I used the accessible toilet in the rangers area, which was the only one I could see a signpost for. It was up another hill... not particularly steep but by then, I was really tired and it took me a while to climb it. When I finally got there, it was an accessible room... big enough to get in and move around but I wouldn't describe the toilet as accessible. There were no rails and I found it very difficult to transfer. The sink was very low but the hand dryer was high up. The design was very poorly thought out.

Staff

I wish I'd asked the lady for her name. A member of staff in the shop came out when she realised we couldn't get in. Before taking us an alternative route, she measured how wide my chair was and went to check that her plan would work. She then escorted us the whole way, making sure I was okay en route. She left us to explore the castle and told us who to tell when we were finished. She told this other person who we were and what to do when we were ready. Later, we met the same lady in the gardens. I think she was on her lunch break. She stopped to talk us through different routes around the grounds and told us about an easier way back to the car park that would avoid the steep hill. If it hadn't been for this lovely lady, we would probably have given up on the whole day. As it was, we were able to see most of it and enjoy what we could. She made an inaccessible venue accessible to us by her positive and helpful attitude!

Photos