Why The Isle Of Mull Is Still My Favourite Scottish Island

Fresh off the plane from my trip to Canada, I was swapping Calgary for Calgary Bay and heading to the west coast of Scotland for some much-needed Scottish island R&R before heading back to work.

In keeping with the theme of my whole trip, this also didn’t go to plan. We were meant to be visiting with Ash’s parents after talking about going with them for years, but due to health issues they sadly had to cancel. In all honesty, that was the main reason we were going, so I looked at extending my Canada trip, but with the World Cup on, flight prices had shot up even a couple of months in advance (perks of my job: no change fees).

No matter – I’d much rather have a familiar island break than go straight back into the office, and when we first visited the Isle Of Mull in the major staycation year of 2020, we were surprised to discover that it’s our favourite Scottish island. Six years later – well overdue – we were excited to see if it still is.

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We were also excited to introduce it to Ash’s parents, who I know would love it, but alas. In the end, we managed to re-organise and go with my parents instead.

In all the re-organising, we’d forgotten an important factor: on a short trip to Mull, you need to plan around the distances – because it’s huge.

That’s what we had done originally, because we knew that; we had strategically planned a stay in Oban the night before so that we could get an early ferry over, which also meant we could visit Iona on day 1 and cut out a chunk of the driving. We planned a boat tour to the Treshnish Isles to see the puffins on day 2, which would work out perfectly because it leaves from Tobermory, the main town where we were staying.

I pivoted our plans because the Treshnish Isles was a birdwatching treat for Ash’s Dad, and that isn’t really something my parents are bothered about. Instead, we decided to go to Iona on day 2 and incorporate a boat trip to a different island, Staffa. That part? Fine.

What I forgot was that visiting Iona entails a 3 hour return drive from Tobermory, which is why we had planned it for day 1; to drive the much shorter distance from the ferry. We also scrapped the night before in Oban, which meant it was already a 3 hour drive on day 1 and we were arriving on Mull later than planned.

So basically, we did:

• a 3.5 hour drive on day 1 (plus the ferry trip)
• a 3 hour drive on day 2 (plus a 3 hour boat trip), and
• a 2 hour drive on day 3 PLUS the ferry trip PLUS the 3 hour drive home

It was way too much driving, especially after my 3,061km in Canada! (I at least wasn’t doing the driving this time…)

For comparison, the original plan would have meant 2.5 hours of driving on day 1 and zero driving on day 2. Whoops!

Plus let’s not forget that part of the reason for the 2 hour drive on day 3 was to visit another island (this time only a 5 minute boat ride) to take my Dad to a great restaurant for Father’s Day. Typically, the restaurant has become so popular that they’ve decided to close one day a week. Which day? I’m sure you can guess! Luckily, I had looked this up before we tried to go, though I was surprised they weren’t making an exception for Father’s Day…

Yet even after all of that… Mull is still my favourite Scottish island!

And it’s got me wondering why. So here are a few reasons.

There’s not much to do – and that’s a good thing!

I think a big reason that I love the Isle of Mull is that (despite all the distances…) you’re not rushing around to see a million things.

Sure, it was a lot of driving overall, but we were never thinking “oh God, we need to get a move on if we want to get to this place” or “argh, we need to try to fit in ten stops on today’s drive”.

My top things to do? Explore the one whole street of Tobermory, take a walk (or swim) at Calgary Bay, and stop at Eas Fors Waterfall. That’s it.

(Eas Fors Waterfall, named “waterfall” three times in Gaelic, Norse and English, because it’s made up of three spectacular waterfalls! One of my favourite stops on Mull.)

Then there are the nearby islands, which I’ll get onto in a minute, and which most definitely contribute to Mull being my favourite island break in Scotland.

Everything else is scenery, food, and vibes. You can climb the island’s one munro if you like, and spend a week walking to places you can’t drive to. But really, this is a place to savour with no pressure.

There are lots of little side adventures

While there isn’t much to do in the way of attractions, there are so many ways you could spend a day here, including four easily accessible islands.

I have two absolute must-dos on any visit to Mull: Iona and Staffa.

Iona is one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever visited. Easily accessible on a five minute ferry, this car-free island forces you to slow down and appreciate it on foot. I could happily spend a whole day here just sitting on a beach, but it doesn’t take long to walk to the main attraction which is Iona Abbey.

This has been a religious site since St Columba arrived and founded it in 563AD, with Saint Aidan serving here as a monk before going on to found the famous abbey at Lindisfarne. Iona Abbey is regarded to be the introduction of Christianity to Scotland and one of the earliest Christian sites in the whole of western Europe, and what a serene setting for it. This feels like the Caribbean!

From the same port for Iona, Fionnphort, you can also take boat tours to Staffa. These are around three hours, giving you about 1.5 hours on the island. Staffa is such a must-see that you can also take boat tours from Tobermory and even Oban on the mainland.

(You can also actually start the tour with Staffa Tours from Iona, or end it there – which is what we did; boarded in Fionnphort and then disembarked on Iona to spend a few hours there before heading back over on the ferry. I reckon this is the perfect way to do it!)

Staffa’s main attraction is the majestic Fingal’s Cave, formed of the volcanic basalt columns that make up the island. It’s a very unique place to visit in Scotland, though if you’re thinking that sounds familiar, then yes, it’s basically the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, with an added cave.

It makes for some really fascinating geology all over the island, not just the cave itself. In fact, it’s one of my highlights of Scotland!

During the summer, Staffa is also home to a large number of puffins. As we’d been planning to see the puffins on the Treshnish Isles (we failed on Lunga a few years ago!), I hadn’t really given them much thought.

As it turns out… Staffa is a GREAT place to see them! It does make the trip a little rushed if you want to see the cave AND the puffins, but it’s totally worth trying to do both – if you have good mobility, that is.

My opinion: Ash’s Dad would have struggled with seeing the puffins here. It was around a 10-15 minute walk each way to get to where the puffins are (I walk quickly and did it in under 10 minutes), and that’s after quite a lot of stairs. It also wasn’t a straight walk, with a couple of inclines on the way.

If puffins are a priority, I would highly recommend a trip to the nearby Treshnish Isles. A boat tour from Tobermory will take you to one of the main islands, Lunga. This is what we planned to do, and it includes a stop at Staffa. If you’ve just spent some time with thousands of puffins on Lunga, you can just focus on the cave when you get to Staffa, making it a much more relaxed visit.

Oh, and if you’re really lucky, you might spot some other wildlife! Our trip to Treshnish in 2020, despite not seeing any puffins, was one of our travel highlights when we glided alongside an entire pod of dolphins! (Link to video; photo below!) This time wasn’t quite so fruitful out on the water, but we did see some cheeky seals.

And finally, another island with just a five minute crossing on a small boat: Ulva. This is an adventure in itself because you turn up, and move a wooden panel to signal that you’re waiting to cross. Magically, a boat will appear and take you over to Ulva.

Ulva has become a huge attraction since the Boathouse restaurant was taken over by Banjo and his family, and they’ve even made a TV show out of their takeover of the business. I’m really glad it’s been opened again, because last time we were on Mull, it had closed down and they were looking for new owners.

Thanks to the TV coverage, the Boathouse is so successful that they close on Sundays just to have a break. This sadly didn’t work out for us at all on this trip, but it’s good to know for next time, because I’d like to visit!

It’s absolutely beautiful

Islands like Skye take so much of the glory when it comes to Scottish scenery, but I’ll let you into a secret: Mull is, genuinely, just as beautiful and far less crowded!

(I say that as someone who hates when people say things like “the north island of New Zealand is JUST as beautiful as the south island, actually!” – it’s just objectively not true…)

Mull has views for days. It has epic beaches, a prettier town (sorry Portree!), incredible coastal roads – some of the best I’ve driven in the whole of Scotland – and while it may not have craggy mountains, it does have a munro plonked in the middle of it, which is why the driving distances are so long.

It is truly the best of Scottish scenery packed into one island.

I bloody love Tobermory

For a town of little more than one street, Tobermory may be a surprising favourite!

The colourful waterfront houses are iconic, featuring as the main setting in the British kid’s TV show Balamory (good luck watching that video and not getting it stuck in your head). There’s nothing better than walking alongside the water, spotting all the crabs and fish around the pier.

But beyond the aesthetic, Tobermory is a wonderful town with a real local feel. There are institutions like the Mishnish, which is one of the best places to eat and drink on the island as well as enjoy regular live music. I recommend grabbing a table by the fireplace, or one of the little rooms at the back. They’re all full of character!

If you’re parking up in town, one of the first things you’ll see is the Tobermory Distillery. This has fast become one of my Dad’s favourite whiskies, alongside its sister whisky Ledaig. There was even a whisky festival on the weekend we were there, but we didn’t find out until it was too late! Anyway, it’s a good one to try if you want something a little different beyond the typical Speysides or Islays.

It’s easy to get to

From Oban, it’s less than an hour on the ferry to Mull. That beats a lot of other Scottish islands! It makes it very easy to do as a weekend trip (which we did the first time around; this time we did a long weekend, and next time I think we’ll go for four nights).

Not only that, but that’s not the only ferry.

If you want a longer, scenic drive from Fort William, you can take a car to Lochaline for a short trip over to Fishnish (to go with Mishnish… these places sound made up, don’t they?). This is actually more convenient for Tobermory, as it’s about 15 minutes closer than the main ferry terminal.

Alternatively, you can take an even longer drive to Kilchoan and then take the passenger-only ferry straight over to Tobermory. That means it’s actually easy to spend just a day in Tobermory – if you don’t mind the extra drive on the mainland!

I haven’t done either of the alternative ferries, as Oban is much more convenient for us. And that helps as well; the departure point is one of the most popular ports, and on a well-trodden route.

It’s the perfect Scottish experience

A lot of people call the Isle of Arran “Scotland in miniature” but I honestly think the Isle of Mull is even more so.

It literally has a little bit of everything when it comes to Scottish scenery, but then also culture as well. The Mishnish is an institution for live music, and Tobermory is a popular whisky. There were a few community events going on as well, for the World Cup – Scotland were playing Morocco the first night we were there. The less said about that, the better.

Lochs? Check. A munro? Check. An iconic beach? Check. A castle? Check! Add in all the single-track roads, waterfalls, villages, and some epic coastal views, and this is what I’d call quintessential Scotland.

It’s somewhere I could keep coming back to, even once we’ve exhausted everything there is to do.

This was another great trip to Mull, and I especially enjoyed showing my parents around. It’s not often we do trips like this together.

Here are a couple of my favourite photos: Dad stood at the top of the waterfall at Eas Fors Waterfall where it looks like he’s on the edge of the world (there were some yells from Mum…!), and one of my Mum and Bonnie traversing across the basalt columns of Staffa.

Honestly, though? Having to simultaneously re-organise two entire trips this year did me in. Mull should have been (and originally was!) planned much better. Next time I’m sure we’ll go for longer anyway, as it would be nice to spend a night or two down by Fionnphort rather than doing the big drive there just for Iona and Staffa.

I think – and hope – Mull will be a regular break for us. It’s just a fabulous place to spend some time and wind down… even if you’ve just been on another massive trip.

So mark my words, this won’t be the last you hear about Mull. Hope that’s okay with you!

Read more about Scottish islands below:
⭐ Four Islands, One Epic Weekend On The Isle Of Mull
⭐ Spending A Perfect Weekend On Skye
⭐ A Car-Free Adventure On The Isle Of Bute, Scotland
⭐ A Perfect Orkney Itinerary For 2, 3 or 7 Days
⭐ Landscapes & History On Lewis & Harris: A Five Day Itinerary
⭐ Landing On The Beach: A Brilliant Scottish Island Break On Barra