bilboburgler

two thoughts
1) I use google maps in the UK on a regular basis to get about and they are always out and need at least another 25% added to them. That is what we plan for and it works fine, day in day out
2) When I visit a different country I use a broker like Auto Europe. I used to manage car hire for corporate and for small companies and having the broker on your side when things go wrong is a real plus. You can argue that things don't go wrong for you. Good luck, AE rates are always good and they are always on your side.

Scotlandmac

It’s quite difficult to get a base on Mull that works well for exploring each ‘end’ of the island.Tobermory is a nice base but puts you very far to the north for a Ross of Mull/Iona visit.Very do- able of course but a long day with a fair amount of driving on winding, single track roads.Scenic pretty much all the way though.
I also like Fionnphort (beside the little ferry to Iona) though it’s a tiny place with limited eating out (albeit it has the superb Ninth Wave but that’s fine dining and she’s only doing limited hours these days which need booked well in advance.)
Same issue in terms of exploring the north of the island.

I’m not a huge fan of Salen as a base which is the most obvious place that puts you (sort of) in the middle of things for touring about.

victoriainwanderland

Funny enough mum has now decided to shave off some days here and there from the original plans (i.e. one less day in Edinburgh that I had consciously added to allow us to slow down a bit).

Anywho, the way I am structuring our itinerary is that we don’t do more than a few hours of driving per day. I.e. we’ve now decided to fly into Glasgow (and we will do a day trip to Stirling!) and will drive to Mull with stops on the way at Loch Lomond, Inverary and Oban. So even though we could drive there direct (in the same time it takes us to drive Sydney to Canberra which is a piece of cake), we will instead break it up to make the day of it and actually see things on the way, which also means we shouldn’t be doing more than 60-75 minutes of driving in any one stretch before the next stop.

victoriainwanderland

thank you for the tip! will look into it!

victoriainwanderland

What do you think of staying in Craignure or Lochdon? From what I’ve researched, that seems to be the most ‘central’ option. Much of what we would probably do is up on the North/East side of Mull which would suggest Tobermory as a sensible base but then that puts Fionnphort much further away if we want to see Iona.We plan to take a boat tour to Staffa and Lunga which I understand we can take from either Tobermory, Kilchoan, Ulva or Fionnphort depending on the tour operator.

I did like the idea of potentially staying somewhere near Duart Castle (High Oatfield B&B is where I’m currently looking) and doing one day on the North East side near Tobermory, and then the following day, driving to Fionnphort, doing the tour to Staffa and Lunga, returning at 3:30 and then spending a few hours on Iona.

I suspect that the only alternate, should we stay in Tobermory, is to add an extra day to explore the South/West side of Mull and Iona. Do you think we can do Iona in just a few hours? Giving I won’t be with people keen on hiking, I would hope that the plan mentioned above of the 3 islands in the one day might work.

janisj

I've visited Mull 3X -- I would ONLY stay in Fionnphort (just barely 1st choice) or in Tobermory (just barely 2nd choice). You can visit Duart Castle right after driving off the ferry - its less than 4 miles from the ferry terminal. I personally would not stay near there

No place else on the island is near anything really.

Fionnphort has at least 3 places to eat - a pub and restaurant and a snack bar, and is 5 minutes from Iona with a couple more cafes. Tobermory has several restaurants, pubs, cafes.

I wouldn't stay in an isolated place with nothing nearby.

bhuty

Looks like your plans are shaping up nicely.

Sometimes I enjoy seeing as much as I can and sometimes I just assume there's nothing more to see and I'm happy with that.

What I'm saying is that the joy really is in the journey and not the destination. The experience will be great no matter what you do or don't get time to do.

You'll be amazed at how similar and yet how different the landscape is to southern NSW (and northern in the riverland for that matter) and every hour of diving will find you in amazement at something. It'll be great

Scotlandmac

We visit Mull at least once per year, love it so much but you do limit your choices of eating out in the evening, if that's important, by staying around Duart or Lochdon. There is very little in either area apart from a few houses, though a short drive away, there is the Craignure Inn and daytime, a couple of cafes.

I'd give yourselves 1 hr 15 from Craignure/Duart to the Iona ferry(we can do it in an hour but it's single track all the way).If you are in Tobermory, I'd reckon on 35-40mins to Craignure.

If you plan on visiting the Abbey and (highly recommended!) the North End beaches of Iona then around 3 hours should be sufficient.It's around a 40 min walk out to the beaches from the ferry, 15 mins to the Abbey.The Argyll Hotel does lovely food, home made cakes etc.Sitting in its pretty garden terrace with some tea and a nice scone or Brownie, looking out onto the turquoise waters of the sea and the white sands - gorgeous scenery on a sunny day - is one of my favourite Iona experiences!

If you are doing the Lunga/Treshnish Isles trip you will not return at 3.30pm ; 4.30pm at the earliest I think but check with the operator.It's a fantastic trip (on a good weather day), long but truly memorable with the puffins and superb coastal scenery.

If you are worried about the driving then basing in two places is not an unheard of thing to do on Mull - Tobemory and Fionnphort.But that's not always a relaxing option either.

victoriainwanderland

Is the above the same reason you're not too fond of Salen? Because we have limited time, we are looking at having one day dedicated to the North of the Island and the other doing the tour of the islands (according to Staffa Tours it departs at 10 and returns at 3:30pm) so the decision comes down to whether we'd rather be centrally located in an area with less around it in terms of amenities, or, basing in Fionnphort or Tobermory and having to drive an extra 4 hours one of the days.

While I have you, any chance you've done any of the puffin boat tours on Mull and/or Skye? Trying to decide between whether we potentially save time on Lunga and do a puffin tour from Uig on Skye instead.

janisj

Ditto Scotlandmac. I urge you to stay in either Fionnphort OR Tobermory OR possibly his idea to split and stay in both. With all the single track driving they really are the only 'practical' places to stay. You won't have to worry about drivig in the dark since the sun won't set until after 10PM -- but do you really want 1.5+ hour round trip drive for dinner?

As for puffins - either tour would work and the puffin viewing is about equal. With your itinerary, I'd probably take the one out of Uig

Scotlandmac

I’m not keen on Salen simply because I find it a bit straggly and not hugely attractive and it has the main road to Tobermory going through it ( not that that is exactly a super highway!) Plus I’ve never found the Salen Hotel all that appealing re it’s bar for food.

I’ve done the Staffa/ Lunga trip several times and it offers, to me, the best puffin viewing you will get anywhere.It really depends on how close up you want to get to the birds…that really is the difference between the Lunga and Uig/Ascrib Islands trips.You land on Lunga itself and walk a short distance to the puffins - and they are everywhere.Just a few feet away, waddling about within touching distance(which of course, you don’t do!) It is an amazing experience and it’s no wonder Turus Mara call that trip ‘Puffin Therapy!’

I’ve not done the Uig trip but you will certainly see puffins.In fact, we’ve seen them regularly from the CalMac ferry going across to the Outer Hebrides. However, the difference is, that it’s a non landing cruise to the Ascrib Islands so you don’t get the incredible up and close and personal experience that happens on Lunga.You will watch them from the boat.

janisj

My favorite / favourite place to see Puffins is probably on the Isle of May . . . but that is in a WHOLE different part of he country. Not sure if you have firmly decided to travel around to over on the east coast but if you are doing anything like what I suggested in post #4 up thread over into Aberdeenshire and down to Fife - the tours out of Anstruther might solve your problem.

There is soooooo much to see on both Mull/Iona/Staffa and an Skye maybe don't take time out of either and 'do' your Puffins on the east coast. https://www.isleofmayboattrips.co.uk/trips-php

Not to throw a monkey wrench in the planning -- but any/all of the boat trips can be cancelled due to weather In 'general' the odds for better weather would be in Fife (though ANY talk of weather is wild speculation)

victoriainwanderland

We've now decided, in the interests of staying in a central location and fitting it all in, we'll base in Tobermory and spend one day along the north of Mull (the waterfalls, standing stones, beaches etc), the following day doing the tour to Staffa and Lunga from Tobermory or Ulva, and then on the third day, we'll drive down to Fionnphort for a half day on Iona and then make our way off the isle towards Glencoe with a few stops on the way.

Out of curiosity, is the expectation on places like Lunga that you just 'hold it in' until you're back on the mainland if you need the loo? From what I've read, the boats have a toilet (that sometimes isn't operational) so genuinely curious for those of us with piss-weak bladders (pun intended), whether we just take a loo roll with us or just hope for the best we don't need to go between pick up and drop off...?

victoriainwanderland

We've now decided to just see Scotland and England so will likely be taking a route much like that you previously suggested to me (brilliant stuff!).

We'll fly into Glasgow and acclimatise, day trip to Stirling, then hit the road to Mull via Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, spend 2.5 days on Mull, continue to Skye via Glencoe (we'll stop at Clachaig Inn for the night and do some exploring around Glencoe and Fort William on the way) and then a few days on Skye.

I'm still working out the rest of the trip in terms of looping back to Edinburgh. Per your suggestion, after Skye we'll probably continue on to Nairn or Elgin, just trying to decide where next after that. Ideally I'm hoping to find stops we can stay 2 nights or so to avoid 1-night unpacking/packing in succession. At this point I'm thinking maybe Stonehaven and Fife.

Anyway, with the extra half day on Mull, we'll have time to fit in Iona (we'll do Lunga with the tour to Staffa the day prior) just in case our plans don't allow the time to visit the Isle of May. Though I do love wildlife so it wouldn't surprise me if we also add the tour to the Isle of May in to see more puffins!

Scotlandmac

There is a toilet on the boat the boats and there is absolutely no expectation that you hold it in! That would be awful.A lot of visitors are quite elderly (though fewer of those do the Lunga trip, mostly just Staffa from my observations.) Of course it is possible to discreetly use the great outdoors if things are really desperate but it's not ideal and difficult to avoid other people scrabbling about in the general vicinity.

janisj makes a good point about the weather.At least you have a few days on Mull so although you do need to book in advance, keep an eye out re the weather forecast in the lead up to your time on Mull - wind speeds in particular - in case you are able to change dates a few days out.Both operators are very helpful if you ask them about weather/trip likelihood as the time approaches.However, the trips are one of the most popular day trips on Mull so they do get booked up quickly.The scenery is glorious too - the west coast in all its splendour.

You can also leave Tobermory for Skye via either the Kilchoan ferry or Fisnish/Lochaline rather than Craignure - Oban.Both of these alternative routes involve a fair old amount of single track roads, very winding at times so you might prefer to stick with the Oban option.It's the loveliest of the three sailings IMO.

Re wildlife - Mull is otter and eagle central (golden and sea eagles) and there are specific day and half day group trips that take you out in a minibus to 'hot spots' which the guides are familiar with.Then again, simply keeping eyes peeled while driving about (passengers rather than the driver!) can be really rewarding, if you know what you're looking for.I often think driving around Mull - especially the Loch na Keal area but actually anywhere to be honest - is a bit like a wildlife safari in itself.

victoriainwanderland

I'm glad to hear it!

Yeah from what I can see, there are definitely more direct routes from Mull to Skye but I do quite like the idea of detouring through Glencoe so we can spend a day there. We would also like to see the Jacobite Steam Train cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct as we grew up with Harry Potter. With the driving, between the long drives I'm used to going the country to see my in-laws (a whopping 8 hours direct) and the neighbourhoods I learnt to drive in and still drive around today with some very narrow 1-car wide lanes (with the added fun of cars parked on either side), I'm hoping that the driving on some of these roads should be a walk in the park.

I actually really wanted to do a wilflife tour while on Mull but to my surprise the ladies vetoed it! I am hoping we see a fair deal as we do our own thing, hmm

Gardyloo

At present the operators are waiting on a waiver on some safety rules, without which the Jacobite won't be running. West Coast Railways have already cancelled operations for March and April, and it's unclear how long they can wait before cancelling further operations.

Jacobite - Letter from MPs re WCR | West Coast Railways

Let me suggest that if possible you travel to Oban via Glen Coe (and maybe Glen Etive) in the first place. Wheels turning, it adds around 30 - 45 minutes to the time required, but, to me, at least, much of the drama of Glen Coe occurs when traveling from the east to west. The village of Glencoe is at the bottom (west) end of the glen, and while it's scenic enough, the drama of coming across the Rannoch Moor, past Buachaille Etive Mor (at the top of Glen Etive) and into the top of Glen Coe, is one of the premier scenic experiences in Scotland.

You could even travel from Mull to Skye via the Morvern peninsula, a very scenic and off-the-beaten path alternative. Map - https://maps.app.goo.gl/fACk5RJSUDoi1Jp17

janisj

I've used all three of the ferries off Mull back to the mainland -- Fitting in Glencoe works just about equally from either Fishnish or Craignure. Fishnish > Lochaline > Glencoe is actually a teensy bit faster. Each will take between 2 and 2.5 hours. Fishnish has a longer drive and much shorter ferry ride. Craignure > Oban > Glencoe is a shorter drive and a much longer ferry.

If you use Fishnish you'd cross Loch Linnhe via the short Corran Ferry which is very near Glencoe.

janisj

Didn't see Gardyloo's post -- was interrupted in the middle of writing . . . His suggestion of doing Glencoe first may seem counterintuitive but works well.

Either option Mull > Glencoe > Skye or Glencoe > Mull > Skye have pluses.

Scotlandmac

If you plan to spend time in and around Glencoe and Glen Etive (after driving from Oban) then you will get that wonderful view Gardyloo mentions as you head for Glen Etive.There are various places to stop either at the ski centre, the Kingshouse Hotel or at the start of Glen Etive itself, giving you that vista of Buachaille Etive Mor rearing out of the moorland.It is stunning… as is the view of the Three Sisters as you head back down down Glencoe.

If you want a coffee or tea stop heading north from Oban then the Castle Stalker cafe is good and in a lovely location overlooking the castle itself.Beautiful viewpoint.

The Kingshouse hotel is also in a superb position for coffee or lunch with a view.The ski chairlift is well worth going up too on a clear day, if everyone is up to a 10-15 min walk at the top over a (at times) boggy-ish path to another fab viewpoint.