Craignure - village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Craignure (Creag an Iubhair, "rock of the yew") is a village on the island of Mull, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It's a tiny place with a population of perhaps 200, but it's the main point of arrival on Mull, by ferry from Oban.

The tourist information centre is Craignure iCentre next to the ferry pier. It's open year-round, daily 09:00-17:00. It can help with accommodation bookings and tours / sights on Mull or elsewhere in Scotland.

Get in

Craignure pier 📍 is the usual arrival point in Mull, on the Calmac ferry from Oban, which has trains and buses from Glasgow. Ferries sail daily, roughly hourly April-Oct and every couple of hours Nov-March, taking 50 min. Until end of March 2024, return fares are £29.40 per car, £7.80 per adult including driver, and £3.90 per child. Buses and tour coaches meet the ferries at Craignure.

Fishnish 📍 has an hourly Calmac ferry from Lochaline on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, taking 20 min. Until end of March 2024, return fares are £15.80 per car, £5.40 per adult including driver, and £2.70 per child.

Ferries also sail from Kilchoan on Ardnamurchan to Tobermory. So you might use these to make a tour through Ardnamurchan then return via Craignure to the mainland.

By bus: West Coast Motors Bus 95 / 495 runs 5-6 times daily between Craignure via Fishnish and Salen to Tobermory (50 min; no Sunday service Nov-March) - they meet most ferries. Bus 96 / 496 runs three times M-Sa and once on Sunday between Craignure and Fionnphort (for Iona), 70 min.

West Coast Motors also meet the ferries for tours around Mull and to Iona and other outlying islands.

Craignure is 21 miles from Mull's main settlement of Tobermory and 38 miles from Fionnphort the ferry for Iona. Chris's Taxis (+44 749 3886 237) and Mull Taxi Service (+44 7760 426351) are both based in Tobermory but do pick-ups from the ferry, and other point-to-point journeys and tours around the island. Tony's Taxis are based in Craignure (+44 7752 150062) but need 48 hours notice.

Get around

The main road northwest is two lane as far as Salen, then narrows to single track for most of the way to Tobermory. The road southwest for Iona is all single track.

Mull Car Hire is next to the pier. The owner died in 2022 and the business remains closed.

You can walk to Duart Castle but it's 3 miles from the pier along a narrow road with no sidewalk, you'll be forever dodging traffic.

See

• Duart Castle, Craignure PA64 6AP (off A849 south), 56.4554°, -5.654°, +44 1680 812309. April May Oct Sa-W 10:30-16:00, Jun-Sept daily 10:30-17:00. Dating from 13th century, a stubby fist of a castle and the seat of Clan MacLean. Exhibitions on the lower floors show medieval, Victorian and Edwardian history, while the top floor has an exhibition on the scouting movement: the clan chief was the UK's Chief Scout 1959-1971. With cafe and gift shop. Adult £8.50, conc £7.50, child £4 2022-05-18
• Torosay Castle & Gardens, a mile south of the pier, are no longer open to the public, and the miniature railway has been dismantled.

Do

• Craignure Golf Club, Scallastle Bay, Craignure PA65 6AB (one mile north of ferry pier), 56.4817°, -5.7305°, +44 7778 021367. Nine-hole course, visitors welcome. Twice around off white tees is 4790 yards, par 66. Day ticket £15 2022-05-18
• Mull Eagle Watch has ranger-led walks April-Sept to see the white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) which usually nest on Craignure Golf Course. In 2022 the birds have moved to an inaccessible nesting site so the walks aren't happening. So just keep your eyes open for them around the island: they're big birds that might carry off a Fiat 500.
• Mull Wildlife Tours start from the ferry pier around 10:00.
• Dùn da Ghaoithe 📍 is the 766 m / 2513 ft mountain that looms as you approach on the ferry. The name means "fort of the two winds" and it's a Corbett, Mull's second-highest peak. You'll probably have it to yourself as everyone heads for the highest, Ben More further west. Start from the main road by the turn-off for Duart Castle and ascend west up onto the ridge, say 4-5 hours round-trip.
• Rugby: Mull Rugby Club (dead link: March 2023) play at Garmony, by the main road five miles northwest of Craignure. They've dropped out of the leagues and now just play occasional beer-matches, but continue to host Mull Sevens in May. (Scraping together a team of 7 on Mull is more achievable than fielding the standard RU 15.) The next Sevens is probably 20 May 2023, tbc.

Buy

• Fill up on fuel on the mainland before taking the ferry.
• Craignure Stores is a branch of Spar next to the ferry pier, open M-Sa 08:00-17:00, Su 10:00-17:00.

Eat

• Blazey's is a cafe next to the ferry pier; mixed reviews. Macgregor's Roadhouse has closed down.
• Arlene's Coffee Shop by the pier is open M-Sa 11:00-15:00.

Drink

• Craignure Inn, Craignure PA65 6AZ (200 yards south of ferry pier), +44 1680 812305. Daily 11:00-23:00. Bar and restaurant in an 18th-century drover's inn. It's featured in RL Stevenson's novel Kidnapped as the Inn of Torosay. Has rooms. B&B double £120 2022-05-18

Sleep

• Craignure Bunkhouse, Craignure PA65 6AZ (just south of ferry pier), +44 1680 812043. Open all year, this has 20 beds in four dorms with showers and lockers. Dorm £24 ppn 2022-05-18
• Shieling Holidays, Craignure PA65 6AY, 56.4685°, -5.6959°, +44 1680 812496. Campsite open all year with standard pitches, sheilings (large pre-pitched "shepherd's" tents though they look a bit military), caravan hard standing and two holiday cottages. Clean and well-run, great views, dog-friendly. Two-person tent £22 2022-05-18
• Isle of Mull Hotel, Craignure PA65 6BB (One mile north of ferry pier), 56.477°, -5.7144°, +44 1680 812544. Handy for the ferry terminal and refurbished in 2022, this is a comfy hotel with spa, restaurant and bar meals. Dog-friendly. B&B double £150 2022-05-18
• Pennygate Lodge, Craignure PA65 6AY (half a mile south of ferry pier), +44 1680 812333. Great reviews for comfort and dining in this bijou Georgian villa. B&B double £200 2022-05-18

Connect

As of April 2022, Craignure and the road towards Tobermory have a patchy mobile signal from EE, O2 and Three but nothing from Vodafone. 5G has not reached Mull.

Go next

• Go northwest on A849 to Tobermory, the main settlement on Mull.
• Go southwest on A849 to Fionnphort for the short ferry crossing to Iona.
• Otherwise return to the mainland at Oban.