Isle of Mull highlights

The Isle of Mull is located off the coast of Scotland, one of the Inner Hebrides. It is pretty close; it only took 45 minutes by ferry to get there and many islands were visible the whole time.

When we decided to visit the Isle of Mull, the primary purpose was to visit the Castle. When I started looking for a place to stay I discovered that the Isle of Mull is the most bio-diverse area for its size in Europe. I knew we might be able to see seals and whales and otters and lots and lots of various birds. So we signed up for a 6 hour nature tour with a guide. It was not quite what I had expected...somehow I envisioned riding in his jeep along a coastal road and we would stop and he would point out a colony of seals, just as we saw in northern California years ago. Silly me. Once again I learned that expectations and reality can be two different things. What we experienced would have been ideal for some of our friends who are avid birders.

For example, the guy was driving his 12-passenger van up a single-track road and noticed that back over his right shoulder, about a mile away, was an eagle sitting on a tree. He parked the van, we clambered out, and for the next 45 mnutes or so we looked through binoculars and his high powered scope he had on a tripod at this eagle.

So, it was not exactly our "cup of tea" but we did enjoy getting out into areas of the island that most people don't see and seeing the flora and fauna that we did see.

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We stayed at the Isle of Mull Hotel with amazing views our of our windows.

This was a view of the hotel from the ferry as we left the Isle of Mull a few days.

We noticed these wrecked boats along the shore.

Much of the island has a one-track road, which means most is one lane...for two way traffic! But about every 100 feet or so there is a "passing place" where one party pulls to the side and the other can travel on.

One night for dinner we drove to the northeast side of the island to the town of Tobermory. This town is a UNESCO Heritage Site because of its history and architectural significance. We had hoped to get into a restaurant with a great reputation for fresh seafood and were told by the front desk at our hotel was not needed, only to find that the restaurant was completely booked. We did eat an enjoyable seqafood meal however, also along the main street and the seawall.