Exploring Isle of Mull and Iona

Mull has been somewhere that I’ve wanted to visit for a while so I was excited when our family holiday to Oban meant we could go and explore a new island. From Oban, the journey on the ferry took just under an hour.

Onboard the ferry there was a shop with snacks, games and a random assortment of electricals including dashcams! There was plenty of inside seating and an arcade machine for those who felt they might have a lucky streak on water.

Iona

Once we arrived on Mull, we headed for Fionnphort so we could catch the ferry to Iona. The journey took an hour, and we found a free car park to leave the car as the ferry to Iona is a passenger ferry. If you need to take a car, you have to apply for a permit or use the taxi service. I really liked that tourists couldn’t take cars to Iona as it’s so small that the cars would ruin the pretty landscape.

We bought tickets to Iona on the day as there’s no need to book in advance. After about 11.30am, the ferry comes and goes regularly so no need to keep checking timetables. The ferry to Iona only takes ten minutes too.

As the ferry cruised into the port at Iona, we were all drawn to the turquoise water, water that you would expect to see in much sunnier places. Iona seemed to be a little sun trap of an island, we had donned heavy jackets because of the rainy weather in Oban and Mull which definitely wasn’t needed in Iona. At the port, there are lovely houses and one building is a shelter created by the National Trust for Scotland as they own the island.

You can find some more info about Iona there. We had a wander around Iona which took about two hours as we stopped in all the shops and had a slow wander around the Abbey.

There’s a lot more in Iona than I expected, and it really reminded me of the Katie Morag books I used to read when I was wee. There are a couple of lovely craft shops, a little shop, a hotel, a cafe, a jewellery shop, a food shop, a museum and a gallery and pottery. I think the true beauty of Iona can only be seen by those who visit, I don’t think any pictures do the lovely little place justice. Visiting Iona has definitely been a top highlight this year.

What’s the story in Balamory?

Wouldn’t you like to know! After visiting beautiful Iona, we got back in the car and travelled for an hour and a half to Tobermory – 10-year-old me would have been jumping like Josie with excitement. Unfortunately, my pals Archie and Edie McCreadie were nowhere to be seen.

Tobermory was a bustling wee place with lots of shops and cafes. We popped into each shop which all sold really nice gifts, there was even a shop with a Womble sitting outside! You can go into the shop which was used for the filming of Balamory where there are a few Balamory branded toys.

The iconic colourful shops in Tobermory make for a great photo, of which I took loads. We didn’t spend too long in Tobermory as we then needed to catch the ferry back to Oban.

Driving on the Isle of Mull

I should have researched Mull more before we went as I had no idea that the majority of it is single-track roads. This isn’t a problem but it just means it can take a little longer to get around. Read my post on how to drive on single track roads to get familiar with the roads and what you should do – it will make for a happier trip!


I’d like to go back to Mull to explore more of it as a day was just enough for visiting Iona and Tobermory. Now that I’ve been to the Isle of Mull, I’ve got a Scottish Island bug and want to try and visit them all over the next few years!