Craignure
Craignure (Gaelic: Creag an Iubhair) is a small village on the island of Mull, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It's the usual point of entry to Mull, by ferry from Oban. Nearby is Duart Castle, seen on the headland as you approach on the ferry.
The TIC is Craignure iCentre (next to the pier), ☏ +44 1680 812377. M-Sa 09:00-17:00, Su 10:00-17:00 (July Aug to 18:15). Can help with accommodation bookings and tours / sights on Mull or elsewhere in Scotland
Get in
1 Craignure is the usual way to reach Mull, on the Calmac ferry from Oban, which has trains and buses from Glasgow. Ferries sail daily, roughly hourly Apr-Oct and every couple of hours Nov-March, taking 50 min. Return fares are £28.40 per car, £7.60 per adult including driver, £3.80 per child (Dec 2019). Buses and tour coaches meet the ferries at Craignure.
A couple of other car ferry routes link Mull to the Ardnamurchan peninsula: Lochaline to Fishnish, and Kilchoan to Tobermory. You'd only take these to tour remote Ardnamurchan then return via Craignure to the mainland.
By bus: West Coast Motors Bus 95 / 495 runs five times daily between Craignure via Fishnish and Salen to Tobermory (50 min; no Sunday service Nov-March) - they meet most but not all ferries. Bus 96 / 496 runs four times M-Sa and once on Sunday between Craignure and Fionnphort (for Iona), 70 min.
West Coast Motors coaches 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. Chris's Taxis (+44 749 3886 237) are based in Tobermory but do pick-ups from the ferry, and other point-to-point journeys and tours around the island.
Get around
Mull Car Hire, based next to the pier, is open daily 08:00-20:00, phone +44 1680 812435.
You can walk to Duart Castle but it's 3 miles along narrow roads, you'll be forever dodging traffic.
See
- 1 Duart Castle, 3 miles south of Craignure (one mile S on A849 to castle turnoff). April-mid-Oct 11:00-17:00. Dating from 13th century, a stubby fist of a castle ever brandished in the face of central authority, and the seat of Clan MacLean. With cafe and gift shop. Adult £7.50, conc £6.50, child £4.
- Torosay Castle & Gardens, a mile south of the pier, are no longer open to the public.
Do
- 1 Craignure Golf Club, Scallastle Bay, Craignure PA65 6AB (one mile north of ferry pier). Nine-hole course, visitors welcome. Green fees £15.
Buy
- 1 Spar, Craignure, Mull PA65 6AY, ☏ +44 1680 812301. M-Sa 08:00-17:00, Su 10:00-17:00. Small supermarket by ferry pier.
Eat
- Macgregor's Roadhouse, Main Street, Craignure PA65 6AW (facing ferry pier), ☏ +44 1680 812471. Daily 09:00-23:00. Small pub-cum-cafe, handy for the ferry.
- Arlene's Coffee Shop by the pier is open M-Sa 10:00-15:00.
Drink
- 1 Craignure Inn, Craignure PA65 6AZ (just south of ferry pier), ☏ +44 1680 812305. Bar and restaurant in an 18th-century drover's inn. The inn is featured in RL Stevenson's novel Kidnapped as the Inn of Torosay. Has rooms, B&B double £100. mains from £13.
Sleep
- Craignure Bunkhouse (PA65 6AZ), Craignure PA65 6AZ (just south of ferry pier), ☏ +44 1680 812043. Open all year, 4 dorms & 20 beds with showers and lockers. dorm £24 ppn.
- Pennygate Lodge (+44 1680 812333) half a mile south of the ferry pier is a good 3-star, B&B double from £140.
- 1 Shieling Holidays. Campsite with pre-pitched tents (sheilings) and two holiday cottages. fom £15.
- 2 Isle of Mull Hotel, Craignure PA65 6BB (A mile north of ferry pier, by hospital), ☏ +44 1680 812544, isleofmull@crerarhotels.com. Handy for the ferry terminal but franky shabby and needing an upgrade, with restaurant and bar meals. B&B double £150.
Connect
Go next
- Go northwest on A849 for Tobermory.
- Go southwest on A849 for Bunessan and Fionnphort for the short ferry crossing to Iona.
- Otherwise return to the mainland at Oban.