Anybody have any experience traveling to the Scottish Isles from Glasgow?

Thinking about doing a trip to Islay or Isle of Mull (by way of Oban). Are there other islands I should consider that don't require too much travel from Glasgow?

Traveling in mid-July this summer. Thanks

Guys?

Love Scotland - we drove over to Oban but never crossed over to the Isles

I can't be much help but enjoy!

AgRyan04 said:

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Love Scotland - we drove over to Oban but never crossed over to the Isles

I can't be much help but enjoy!

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How was Oban? Worth visiting and spending a night there?

I live in Scotland. Yes Oban is easily worth a few days, I would also recommend you head ofer to Glencoe area for some hikes if you are into that sorta thing. The whole west side in that area is absolutely beautiful.

Tormentos said:

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I live in Scotland. Yes Oban is easily worth a few days, I would also recommend you head ofer to Glencoe area for some hikes if you are into that sorta thing. The whole west side in that area is absolutely beautiful.

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Thanks for the tip. Hiking is definitely our thing. We're looking to do the big hike on Mull (Ben More?). Is the Isle of Mull worth spending a few days on?

For context, we toyed with going to Skye from Glasgow but we only have four days. Skye seems like a bridge too far given that we would only have a few days there.

We like Oban....the distillery was great and the town was super quaint. Felt like it hadn't changed in 80 years. We had some fantastic seafood at The Lorne

I do agree with the above - Glen Coe is beautiful and the hiking around there is fantastic. My wife and I just hiked the West Highland Way in September which runs from Milngavie to Fort Williams and right through the Glen Coe area.

AgRyan04 said:

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We like Oban....the distillery was great and the town was super quaint. Felt like it hadn't changed in 80 years. We had some fantastic seafood at The Lorne

I do agree with the above - Glen Coe is beautiful and the hiking around there is fantastic. My wife and I just hiked the West Highland Way in September which runs from Milngavie to Fort Williams and right through the Glen Coe area.

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Thanks for the info!

Just got back from a trip over there at the beginning of October. We stayed in oban two nights and really enjoyed it. One day took the ferry to mull and then a second ferry to see Iona. There is a church on Iona that is beautiful that was built in 1200 I believe. Was highlight of the trip for me but I'm a dork for old church's.

We also stayed two nights in Glencoe and it was amazing. I would view that area as more outdoorsy area. Almost reminded me of Colorado with the mountains and valleys.

Im planning on doing the West Highland Way this year. Glencoe js great, dipped my toe in a few hikes last summer in that area and want to come back for WHW

Thanks for the info - super helpful

Both Oban and Tobermory are worthwhile visits

If you make it to Tobermory, a boat trip to Staffa for puffins was a highlight for us. Western Isles hotel has a really nice bar/patio overlooking the harbor. Make a reservation for Cafe Fish on the dock.

A good stop to stretch your legs between Glasgow and Oban/Mull is the Benmore Botanic Garden and/or Pucks Glen hike.

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/visit/forest-parks/argyll-forest-park/pucks-glen

Alr3111 said:

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Both Oban and Tobermory are worthwhile visits

If you make it to Tobermory, a boat trip to Staffa for puffins was a highlight for us. Western Isles hotel has a really nice bar/patio overlooking the harbor. Make a reservation for Cafe Fish on the dock.

A good stop to stretch your legs between Glasgow and Oban/Mull is the Benmore Botanic Garden and/or Pucks Glen hike.

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/visit/forest-parks/argyll-forest-park/pucks-glen

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Thanks

Following

Wife suggested we go to Scotland before a family wedding in Portugal in July. As we'll see her northern England family at the wedding, we don't need to make time to see them on an England trip

Skye?

ChoppinDs40 said:

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Skye?

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Don't you think it's too much travel for 4-5 days? We're gonna have two small kids with us.

If you're pressed for time, we did a day tour from Oban that hit Iona, Mull, and Staffa. My favorite was actually Iona with the quaint abbey and beautiful waters, but the puffins were neat too. The tour was a little rushed, but was a great way to spend a bit of time on each. Can't remember the tour name but it seemed pretty popular so I'm sure it's easy to find.

Meant to use thumbs up emoji

yeah, that's hard to get to... I assume you're wanting to fly into Edinburgh?

12thAngryMan said:

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If you're pressed for time, we did a day tour from Oban that hit Iona, Mull, and Staffa. My favorite was actually Iona with the quaint abbey and beautiful waters, but the puffins were neat too. The tour was a little rushed, but was a great way to spend a bit of time on each. Can't remember the tour name but it seemed pretty popular so I'm sure it's easy to find.

Meant to use thumbs up emoji

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My wife and I did that tour this summer. We used West Coast Tours in Oban for the trip. We didn't know much about Oban so we didn't plan any time there but wish we had.

The tour was great. The ferry goes from Oban to Mull, then you'll take a bus across the island with the driver pointing out important things and facts along the way. At the end of the bus trip, we were split into two groups. We went to Iona first and the other group went to Staffa. We had about two hours to explore Iona and then boarded a small boat for a 30 minute ride to Staffa. Saw some dolphins swimming with the boat which we didn't expect. Spent about 90 minutes on Staffa mostly marveling at Fingals Cave. Then there was a boat ride back to Mull and a bus trip back to the ferry port and back to Oban. I slept most of the ride back because it had been a long day.

The next day, we had an appointment at my clan castle and learned there about some of the isles across the bay there including Arran. We were flying home the next day, but would have loved to visit Arran.

Also. If it is hiking you are looking for, we hiked the Hidden Valley at Glencoe. It was a pretty advanced hike and seemed straight up at some points. It is mostly improved trails and we never actually made it to the Hidden Valley, we just kept walking and walking until we decided it was getting late and needed to go back.

The drive from Glencoe to Oban was some of the narrowest main roads we navigated in Scotland. The roads on Skye were narrow but people traveled at a reasonable speed. The road from Glencoe to Oban was like driving Gran Prix in a rental! I didn't crash and burn but had the insurance just in case.

If you can, carve out some more time and see more of the country. We spent two weeks in July and wished we had three or four weeks to spend.

E King Trill said:

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Tormentos said:

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I live in Scotland. Yes Oban is easily worth a few days, I would also recommend you head ofer to Glencoe area for some hikes if you are into that sorta thing. The whole west side in that area is absolutely beautiful.

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Thanks for the tip. Hiking is definitely our thing. We're looking to do the big hike on Mull (Ben More?). Is the Isle of Mull worth spending a few days on?

For context, we toyed with going to Skye from Glasgow but we only have four days. Skye seems like a bridge too far given that we would only have a few days there.

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Skye in two days is doable. We did Dunvegan Castle. Fairy Pools, and a cairn in a pasture on the side of the road in about 8 hours.

The next daybwe got up early and hiked all the way up the Old Man of Storr a beach, a cliff, a roadside curry restaurant, Quirrang (we didn't actually hike this because we couldn't find a damn parking spot but we got out and looked), Duntlum Castle, and the Fairy Glen.

How old are the kids? What are your flight plans?

I don't want to discourage you but it took us a few days ( actually about 13) to get used to the time difference. I'm not a pill popper but I was taking 2 Tylenol PMs every night. Partly from the 10 miles a day but mostly to sleep.