Duart Castle

by coach & on foot

You will tender ashore to the beautiful harbour of Tobermory, capital of the ‘Isle of Mull’ in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. The village is famous for its bright colourful houses along the main street and the high woodland fringed hills surrounding the bay.

Your coach will take you south from Tobermory along the coastal road, which provides some lovely views across both the water and the mountains of Morvern. In places, the road is narrow and single track as it passes through the agricultural areas with their small, neat farms. You will pass through Craignure, which is the main ferry port between the Isle of Mull, Argyll and Bute.

After approximately an hour you will reach Duart Castle which stands proudly on a cliff top at the end of a peninsula guarding the Sound of Mull. For over 700 years, Duart Castle has been the seat of Clan Maclean. See the impressive and daunting fortress with its 13th century curtain wall enclosing a courtyard on a rocky knoll.

The Castle was likely built by the Clan MacDougall in the 13th century and then came into the hands of the Clan Maclean in the following century. The Keep was built by Chief Lachlan Lubanach Maclean around 1350 and then completely refurbished in 1911 by Sir Fitzroy Maclean. Before this date, the Castle was a ruin from the 18th century. ‘Duart’ is now home to the 28th Chief of Clan Maclean and is the oldest inhabited castle on Mull.

During your unguided visit you will see the principal parts of the Castle including the state rooms and can even walk through the dungeons during an independent and leisurely exploration of Duart. You may decide to climb to the top of the Keep from where it is easy to appreciate the strategic site of the Castle.

Duart was used as a location in the 1996 Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones film called ‘Entrapment’, the Anthony Hopkins 1971 film ‘Eight Bells Toll’ and the 1945 Powell and Pressburger romance ‘I Know Where I am Going’.

After about 90-minutes at the Castle, you will re-join your coach for the scenic return journey to Tobermory.