Mull travel / photography tips please

[Tobyh]

Hi all,

Finally starting to book for my planned Mull trip in June. I've read a fair few threads and getting some ideas.

I was hoping to get a few tips around the travel aspects - I'll be flying into Glasgow and driving from there in hire car. Is the drive fairly easy / obvious? I'm keen to know about the ferries - the kind of thing that isn't on their website - are they reliable? plenty run during summer times? ( I can't book that far ahead yet).

Anything I need to make sure I bring spares of as they are hard to get?

We'll be staying on the Glenaros Estate somewhere - it's close to Aros Mains / Salen. I'm happy to go wherever is needed for some decent photo chances but any good tips appreciated.

I plan to head out to the Treshnish? Isles for seabird shots. I see that one of the most obvious trips only lands in total for about 3 hours. Anyone know of any that will leave you there all day? Or does that just not happen?

As you can tell i'm the kind of person who likes to have it all figured out beforehand to reduce chances of problems

Thanks

TobyH

[John D]

Hi Toby,

The drive from Glasgow Airport to Oban is quite an easy drive via Loch Lomond, Crianlarich and Loch Awe. (not motorway beyond Erskine Bridge but good roads)
From the airport head west on M8 for around 5 miles and then cross the River Clyde via the (M898) and Erskine Bridge. There is no built up area between the airport and the bridge. Once over the bridge follow signs for (A82) Loch Lomond. Around 5 miles beyond Crianlarich take A85. From then on it's on towards Oban where you will get the ferry to Mull.
Enjoy the scenery and your holiday on Mull. If the sun shines it will be a bonus!

All the best
John D
Zenfolio | John's Wild World

[RobSutton]

I've been out to the Treshnish Isles several times and three hours gives you plenty of time to cover the main bird photography hot spots. The Puffins are only a few minutes walk from where the boat lands you and Harp Rock with the main sea bird colony only about fifteen minutes away so there's plenty of time to get plenty of photographs. I've always gone with a company called Turus Mara sailing out of Ulva Ferry and can thoroughly recommend them. Make sure you take the trip that lands on Staffa as well it's well worth it.

The first time I went I took a 400mm telephoto and wished I'd had something shorter as well - thats how close you can get to things - Puffins with a wide angle lens are perfectly possible!

[poschiavanus]

Depending how much time you have for the Glasgow to Oban journey there are a couple of other options to the Crianlarich route. You can turn along the A83 at Tarbert and go over the Rest-and-be-Thankful to Inverary and thence N along the A819 to Loch Awe rejoining the A85 (this has the advantage of some very fine scenery and avoids some of the nastier parts of the A82). If the weather is nice & you've time to dawdle carry on from Inverary to Lochgilphead and up to Oban on the A816. Lots of great views out to small islands, including Castle Stalker (as in Monty Python & the Holy Grail), make this one of my favourite drives in Britain.

With good road conditions using the direct route (A82/A85) I'd allow something around 2 hours (its about 90 miles according to my route planner).

Ferries are reasonably frequent and reliable. Certain ferries will book up ahead of time (from memory the one about 10 'clock out of Oban in the morning), but as these are a lifeline for people and businesses living on the island there is usually not a serious problem with capacity.

One factor which can cause disruption is the weather. Right now many of the Calmac ferries are suffering disruption according to their website. However, it's unlikely to be a problem in June.

I once got stuck on Iona because the wind rose and that combined with the tide race in the channel meant the ferry couldn't run. I did manage to get off after 3 hours, but I only just made my ferry off Mull, and the weather continued to worsen and the Corrour Ferry closed just as I arrived. I ended up having to drive another 50 or so miles to get to the other side of Loch Linnhe.

The moral is keep a close eye on weather, and build some flexibility into the planning. (And don't plan on 3 consecutive ferries on your last day).

Glasgow Airport is nicely situated for getting in and out with little hassle. I've experienced heavy traffic on both the A82 and A83 on Sundays in Summer, but no serious traffic problems at other times. It's a while since I rented a car there, but the car park used to very close to arrivals. After hours drop-off used to be somewhat further away and not so easy to find.

[canny]

Just another little tip, if you are at all worried about having to rush to catch a booked ferry from Oban you can opt to drive a little further onto the Ardnamurchan peninsular where there is an unbookable ferry at Lochaline, much cheaper as well, about a 15min crossing. You also have to take the Corran ferry to get you onto Ardnamurchan but its only a 5 min crossing and runs back and forth all the time.

[seamusagleann]

can't promise anything atm but hopefully by next june i'll be well enough and suitably equipped with a camper van to accompany you ,at least for few days ,see what matures!! its been ages since i've been to mull ,worked there often!! only 45minutes away from me

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by canny

Just another little tip, if you are at all worried about having to rush to catch a booked ferry from Oban you can opt to drive a little further onto the Ardnamurchan peninsular where there is an unbookable ferry at Lochaline

I didn't know the ferry at Lochaline was still running.

Just checked. The pricing's a pit puzzling:

Driver/Passenger (each): £2.90
Car or 4x4 (each): £12.80

So presumably they get, or anticipate, cars without drivers!

Jim

[Red Squirrel]

Another thing to remember Toby is that Cal-Mac have Winter and Summer time tables. So if you check sailings at the moment they will be different next June.

[JeffH]

Hi Toby

As others have said, the drive up from Glasgow to Oban is quite easy and whichever route you take you're sure of some fabulous scenery.

But, as canny suggests, rather than sailing from Oban (and if your schedule will allow for it) I'd take the opportunity to spend a little time on the Ardnamurchan peninsula by driving on up from Oban towards Fort William to take the short Corran Ferry trip over to Ardnamurchan. The ferry is just a few miles beyond Ballachulish where seamusagleann lives!

But be sure to fill up with fuel before leaving Oban as the price of fuel on Mull is quite a bit more than on the mainland

Once on Ardnamurchan you'll enjoy further spectacular scenery on the drive down to Lochaline from where you get the unbookable ferry canny refers to. However, a mile or so after getting off the Corran Ferry (and time permitting) it's worth having a stop in one of the laybys by the side of Loch Linnhe overlooking Sallachan Point as the bay there is good for seals and they're often on the rocks.

You'll then pass through Glen Tarbert heading towards Strontian - keep an eye out for raptors here - we had Merlin (on a fence post) and Golden Eagle along this stretch of road.

On reaching Strontian, and again if time permits, it's worth a stop at the Ariundle Nature reserve just a little further north. There's a nice cafe here and the oakwoods are good for a variety of wildlife. Also, there are apparently at least 10 Golden Eagle territories within a 25 mile radius of Strontian so good chances of seeing one (or more) in this area. You'll then have to backtrack a little to get down to the ferry at Lochaline.

Once on Mull you really can't go wrong but it's always worth checking Mullbirds Online - Mullbirds Online - for up to date birding information.

Just down the road from where you're staying you'll find the Killiechronan campsite right on the edge of Loch Na Keal. This is an excellent spot for White Tailed Sea Eagles and is said to be where 3 WTSE nesting territories overlap. In fact, when I was last there a WTSE nest was visible from the campsite - high in the pines on the hilltop to the right as you look down the Loch - and we had excellent views of one swooping down to the water and catching a fish which it then brought onto the beach some distance in front of us.

The road along the northern edge of Loch Na Keal is also good for raptors - one early evening we had two Hen Harriers, two Short-eared Owls and a Barn Owl in less than a mile.

And Glen More is also good for raptors, especially Golden Eagles and Short-eared Owls.

Hope all that helps and how I envy you your trip

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers, Barn Owls and Avocets

[tom w w]

Slight threat hijack coming.

When we were in Mull we flew into Glenforsa and going up and down the sound to and from Oban we had a juvenile golden egale fly just over us.

The white tailed and Goldens were all over the place, there was a pair in the golf course by the ferry terminal.

Also the otters in Lock Na Keal were easy to see and very predictable.