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Home , Bunessan, Craignure, Fishnish, Glengorm Castle, Isle of Mull, Uisken

, & w w w . w o r l d e r i n g a r o u n d . c o m Table of content: 1. How to get to Isle of Mull 2. Where to stay in Isle of Mull 3. What to see in Isle of Mull 3.1. Nature 3.2. Towns, culture and castles 3.3. Isle of Iona 3.4. Isle of Staffa 3.5. Beaches 3.6. Isle of

How to get to Isle of Mull?

The best way to get to Isle of Mull is by the ferry. The Scottish ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne (or Calmac) has car ferry services on the three routes. The most popular one is from (which is also worth a visit) to on the east coast of Mull. You can also travel from to or from to Tobermory - the biggest town on the island. The services from Oban are the most frequent, but if you are planning to take your car, especially in the summer, better book your ticket in advance. Check the availability here. The ferry ride is spectacular on its own, so you will enjoy it with no doubts!

Where to stay in Isle of Mull?

Isle of Mull has a wide range of accommodation from local B&Bs, hotels, hostels, airbnb, and campsites. For hotels try:

Budget: Arle Lodge - Aros, Near Tobermory - homely feel lodge with stunning views, great value for money. SYHA Youth Hostel, Tobermory - located in city center of Tobermory, this is one of those colorfully painted buildings!

Mid range Isle Of Mull Hotel and Spa, Craignure - with indoor swimming pool and hot tub, this hotel should more fall under luxury stay, but with their great prices and frequent offers, it's still mid range (you can easily get a private room for two for £78).

Upper , Tobermory - want to stay in the castle? Now you can! What else do you need to feel like a princess and a prince? Ardoran House, Isle of Iona - located on the tiny island with hot tub and the private beach is a great place to escape and celebrate.

A good option are the cottages, located in rural areas and made in the traditional Scottish style, mainly in Oban. Check the best rates and availability here.

For the wild camping, the best are places close to the numerous stunning beaches, that also provide great views. We tried the Knockvologan bay and Bay (less wild one but with toilets and running water).

There is also a very nice and picturesque campsite on Fidden Farm.

Oban

If you decide to take the first route to Isle of Mull, I highly recommend stopping in Oban. The main gateway to is a pretty harbor town with amazing seafood restaurants on every corner. Its name means “the little bay” in Gaelic, and it couldn’t be more accurate. The main center of this picturesque town lies by the blue waters of the harbor. However, some of the streets can be quite steep as they climb the hills located quite above the sea level. The effort of the walk is well worth it, as the views are stunning. If you like camping, you can try spacious and green Oban Caravan & Camping park, that also has great views and clean toilets.

What to see in Mull?

Nature If you like walking, Mull will keep you busy. You can climb a – , from where you have wonderful views of the whole island and around. There is also a variety of other hill, forest and beach walks that you can do on the island. For more information head to Walkhighlands. The island is also perfect for cyclists – with little traffic and great views, it’s worth to put some effort into cycling up and down the hilly landscape. Alternatively, if you've ever dreamed of riding a horse through the endless beach, now you can try. With pony trekking schools in the Isle of Mull, they can cater all horse riding abilities.

w w w . w o r l d e r i n g a r o u n d . c o m Towns, culture and castles Isle of Mull’s main town, Tobermory, is a charming place. Colourful buildings located in the sea front, create beautiful reflections in the harbor waters.Family-run restaurants serve great food and local businesses can be found around every corner. Go to the traditional local Scottish pub, try some seafood and visit the art gallery. Tobermory also has its own distillery, which is one of the oldest ones in . If you are planning the tour - book it in advance. As everywhere in Scotland, there are also castles in Isle of Mull. The ruined castle of Moy near Lochbuie and renovated ancient opened to the public.

Two gems on the Mull’s crown - Isle of Iona and Staffa

Isle of Iona

Located on the west of Mull and easily accessible by the 15 minutes ferry, lies the tiny Isle of Iona. Home to the beautiful bays with turquoise waters (would you believe it’s Scotland?) and the famous ancient Abbey is well worth visiting. Being one of the most valued Scotland’s sacred and historic sites, as well as being a quiet and remote place, it will make you feel like you escaped to the end of the world.

Isle of Staffa

Paradise for geologists (hey, it’s me!), but not only, the volcanic island with the famous Fingal’s Cave is a must see. Hexagonal basalt columns are all around the island and make the Fingal’s cave to be naturally shaped in the cathedral-like structure. You can hear the water bashing on the basaltic rocks and the sea birds screaming above your head. In the summer months, you can also spot there the cutest tiny birds – puffins.

Trips to Iona and Staffa depart from the town of on the west coast of Isle of Mull. For the Staffa tour, I would highly recommend booking a trip with a tour operator – Staffa tours. I think they are the only ones anyway ;) The sailing takes 45 minutes with birds and sea wildlife possible to be seen on the way. Then you will have time to explore the island, which is very small. Puffins can be seen on the grassy plateau on the top, however, it’s a hit or miss. We just managed to see them on the water, as it was already late summer. The geology and landscape is stunning and it feels like out of this world.

If you want to visit the three islands in one trip from , there are three day or four days organized trips ready for you. Otherwise, if you have more time for planning, go and explore yourself!

Beaches

Being an island, Mull has the miles of a beautiful coastline ready to be explored. There are multiple wonderful beaches worth visiting, hidden in small bays with small single track roads leading to them. Some of the best ones are:

• Kilvickeon Beach - South West Mull Nice sandy beach, split into two by a small island creating two bays. You can find more beautiful bays in other parts of the coast in this area. The beach is located close to the . There’s a car park nearby, from where you can take a short walk down.

• Knockvologan - South West Mull That’s where we wild camped on our first night, in one of the quiet bays with a private beach. White sand on each of the bays with blue water is really beautiful. To get there, park at the Knockvologan farm (there’s a sign for the car park in between chicken and sheep – so cute!) and go down the track to reach the beach.

• Beach – South West Mull Wide beach, easily accessible by car, located just beyond Bunessan. The parking area is directly by the sand. It’s popular with families, but still very nice for relaxing.

• - South West Mull The long stretch of white sand with some sand dunes. Located close to Uisken, with parking in Ardalanish's Weavers and a short walk to the beach.

• Fionnphort Beach - Lying just next to the small ferry terminal, where the boats to Isle of Iona and Isle of Staffa depart from. It has nice views over to Iona and colourful flags hanging in the nearby car park.

w w w . w o r l d e r i n g a r o u n d . c o m • Duart Beach - South East Mull Located close to the Duart castle, it’s a small sandy cove that can be reached by walking behind the tearoom. It’s less spectacular than others but still has nice views and the castle behind.

• Calgary Beach – North Mull Calgary Beach in the Calgary Bay in the north west is the most popular and famous of the Isle of Mull beaches. No wonder why, as it has a wide stretch of white sand with blue waters and beautiful dunes leading to the Machair grasslands. It’s a popular (wild/free) camping spot with public toilet facilities (although they were not in the best state when we were there last time). If you are looking for an empty location, you won’t find it there, as many families come to camp for few days, but it’s still nice to visit.

• Langamull - North Mull Beautiful, secluded beach with a sandy bay, sheltered from the breeze. You need to walk a bit from the car park to get there, but it’s definitely worth it.

•Tobermory Beach - North Mull Not the typical paradise looking beach, but nice for sitting down with an ice cream or take-away fish and chips.

• Laggan Sands - South East Mull Located along the shorefront at Lochbuie, it was voted the 9th best beach in the UK for wildlife spotting, with possibilities to spot seals and various sea birds there.

• Carsaig Beach - South Mull This beach mainly has dark gray sand with some stretches of pebbles, but cliffs surrounding it make it look more spectacular. It also usually gets more waves than any other beaches in Mull.

• Fidden Beach - South West Mull White sand beach with pink granite rocks and wonderful settings. Great for the sunset and watching the wildlife. You can camp nearby on the Fidden Farm campsite.

What else?

There are multiple wildlife watching tours organized from Isle of Mull, where you can spot dolphins, whales, basking sharks and several types of sea birds. The whale watching tours typically depart from Tobermory.

Isle of Ulva

An interesting place to visit, located a bit off the beaten path, is the Isle of Ulva. There are no cars on the islands, and some great walks can help you to explore it on foot. You can reach it by 5 min ferry from the Mull’s west coast, but check the schedule in advance, as you might realize that the ferry doesn’t operate on Saturdays and you would need to view the island from the shore (what we ended up doing ;)). The drive to get to the ferry to Ulva through the elevated roads is stunning by itself, so it’s definitely worth a go in any case.

Isle of Mull together with Isle of Iona and Isle of Staffa are definitely on my list of the best places in Scotland. Once you get to those Scottish islands, you will understand what I mean by the totally different feel of the trip in comparison to the main island. It’s so unique, remote and calm, that will make your time there very special.

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