Isle of Mull & Iona

by coach & on foot

The ship’s tender brings you ashore at Tobermory - the ‘Capital of Mull’. Founded as a fishing village in 1789 on the site of an earlier Christian settlement, it is one of the most sheltered harbours in Scotland, tucked behind a rocky headland. The village clusters around a small bay, with terraced houses, colour-washed in reds, pinks, yellows and blues rising from the harbour up a steep wooded bank.

Your approximate two-hour coach journey begins by travelling southwards, taking you along virtually the entire length of the island. Shaped like a caricature of the British Isles with its south-western peninsula kicking upwards, Mull is encircled by 482km (300 miles) of rugged coastline, deeply cut by lochs. Enjoy fine views across the Sound of Mull to the Scottish mainland as your coach takes you along the narrow roads and through the mainly rural landscapes backed by ranges of hills and mountains. On a clear day, you may catch glimpses of the massive shape of Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, as you look out across the east coast of Mull.

Passing through the small community of Craignure you turn westwards to take the romantic road that strikes across southern Mull to Iona in the extreme west. You skirt around the head of Loch Spelve, a great sea loch, and then through the rugged mountainous pass of Glen More. The road continues to the softer scenery of the Ross of Mull, travelling alongside Loch Scridain towards Fionnphort. Here you leave the coach, as the next part of the experience will take you by foot ferry and then on a walking visit to Iona.

A short ferry crossing brings you to the beautiful and atmospheric Island of Iona. Your first sight is of white cockle-shell sand and vivid green slopes, splashed with rust-red granite, painted with wildflowers. The story of Iona is inextricably linked with that of St. Columba and his followers who established a church and monastic community here during 563AD. Once settled, the Irish monk set about converting most of pagan Scotland to the Christian faith and Iona became famous as a missionary centre and outstanding place of learning which resulted in it being a place for pilgrimages for several centuries to come.

The Island is mostly traffic free and you will walk for approximately twenty minutes with your guide, first up the pathway from the ferry and then up the slope towards the famous Abbey.

After Columba’s death, the influence of Iona Abbey gradually declined, a process hastened by the raids of Viking pirates, who ransacked the Abbey and massacred its monks on several occasions. In spite of this, the Saint’s tomb brought many pilgrims to the island, and because of its sanctity, Iona became the burial place of many of the early Scottish kings.

The Abbey buildings you see today are based on those of the Benedictine monastery established here in the early 13th century. The greater part of the fabric dates from about 1420 when the Abbey had to be rebuilt after fifty years of neglect. The Monastery had only a brief life after this, its last abbot dying in 1499. Four hundred years later the 8th Duke of Argyll rescued the building from ruin when he had it meticulously restored. The main part of Iona, owned by the Duke of Argyll, was sold in 1979 to the Fraser Foundation who gifted the land to the National Trust for Scotland.

Following your visit to the Abbey and Monastery, enjoy some free time in Iona village to explore at leisure and purchase some refreshments prior to re-joining the ferry for the return crossing to Fionnphort and onto your coach for the approximate two-hour drive back to Tobermory.