Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.
The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.
Historic Scotland says parking is available but names no car park and publishes no charge or free statement, so the status is recorded as unknown. The Newton Road car park lies on the lane that crosses the green to the castle, and cars also stop on the lane itself; a second small car park sits by the main road to the west.
Driving pin: the Newton Road car park, 147 m south of Historic Scotland's own pin. The castle is off the coastal road at the north of Arran; buses from Brodick stop in the village and the CalMac ferry from Claonaig (summer) or Tarbert (winter) lands at Lochranza. Historic Scotland gives journey planners only.
Lochranza Castle stands alone on a narrow grassy peninsula reaching into Loch Ranza at the northern tip of Arran, with hills rising on every side. It looks like a classic L-plan tower house of the 1500s, but analysis in the 1950s showed it began as a rare hall-house of about 1300, two storeys under battlements with the lord's lodging upstairs over storage below and a main door high in the east wall. Its builder was probably Dougall MacSween, Lord of Knapdale, who raised another hall-house across the Kilbrannan Sound at Skipness. In the later 1500s a Montgomerie earl of Eglinton rebuilt it as a tower house, moving the entrance to ground level facing the land. The castle is free but closes for the winter, when it can still be admired from the green outside. Reviewers call it a highlight of Arran for its views and reflections on calm days.
1 April to 30 September daily 9.30am to 5.30pm, last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed 1 October to 31 March. No works or masonry notice on 20 October 2026. The castle stands on an open green by the road, so the exterior is seen in winter; a February 2026 visitor walked up to it but could not go inside.
A roofless tower house with internal stairs, reached across the grass; no facilities, toilets or access guide published, though reviewers note plenty of seating around the green.
Photo: Lochranza Castle on its grassy peninsula beside Loch Ranza under a clear sky, with the hills of north Arran behind. Matt McFadzean, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lochranza_Castle_-_geograph.org.uk_-_4705547.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dog access not confirmed
A long-distance coastal circuit of Arran through twelve villages, with 'Brodick Castle, Lochranza Castle and Lochranza Distillery' among its highlights; reached by CalMac ferry, with a good island bus service for linear sections. Free.
