More Island Hopping

Travelling down the west coast of Scotland from Mallaig, the next major ferry port that is reached is Oban and there are a selection of sailings available here!

The most obvious is Mull with regular sailing from Oban itself to Craignure, which takes around 40 minutes. There are also ferries running between Fishnish and Lochaline in Morvern (15 minutes) and from Tobermory, which some will know better as Balamory, to Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula (35 minutes). Ardnamurchan Point, on the tip of that peninsula, is the western most point on the British mainland. These two sailings offer a good alternative to driving as Mull is always worth a visit.

Returning to that island now, the island hopping doesn’t stop there. In fact there are three more possibilities and one of the most favoured would have to be Iona. It’s a small island, but well over 100,000 people make their way there each year in a pilgrimage to the abbey, following in the footsteps of those that have followed the same journey, albeit with different forms of transport, for around 1500 years. Other islands it is possible to visit include Ulva and the world famous Staffa, although sailing to the latter, let alone setting foot on the island, is dependant upon the weather!

The Western Isles can also be reached from Oban with the main journey, to South Uist, taking around 5 hours and 20 minutes. A much shorter journey is the 50 minute sailing to the small island of Lismore, which sits in the mouth of Loch Linnhe. If you are looking for a journey that lasts a bit longer, although maybe not quite as long as the one to Lismore, there are two more options, each with their own hops beyond. The first is Coll, to the west of Mull, which takes around 2 hours 55 minutes, with a further hour between to its smaller neighbour, Tiree.

The other option is to travel to Colonsay, to the south of Mull, with this trip taking around 2 hours and 20 minutes. Colonsay is attached to its neighbour Oronsay at low tide, so a ferry is not required there, but on a Wednesday the ferry service continues to Port Askaig on Islay, taking just over 2 hours to reach the larger island further south! From Islay it is possible to hop over to Jura from Port Askaig, which takes 10 minutes, or to continue back to the mainland. This last option can be taken from Port Askaig on a Wednesday, completing the hop from Oban or from Port Ellen, with either journey taking approximately 2 hours 20 minutes to Kennacraig at the northern end of the Kintyre peninsula, otherwise known as the Mainland Island.

Two more islands accessed from Kintyre are Gigha, to the west, or Arran, to the east, with these journeys taking 20 and 30 minutes respectively.

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