Day tour to Mull and Iona

It is a long day from Oban to Iona, but my whole family found it beautiful, peaceful, interesting and charming. The views while on the ferry are nice. It is a long drive across Mull to Iona, but also very beautiful, past lochs, mountains, bays, sheep and highland cattle. We took a picnic and had a lovely day. Enjoy!

Thank you!

Editing to add a different view....as I was cross posting with the 1st reply!

I am glad I went just because I wanted to see where the Saint Columba established the abbey and spiritual center (although I am not religious) and where the Book of Kells is thought to have been produced.

It is a LONG day of transportation and probably not one I'd do again. We had horrible weather and our time on Iona was truncated as the ferry pilot told our tour guide that the last ferry would be at 3PM as the winds were supposed to pick up and it would be unsafe to cross after that. We had about 1.5 hours in the rain on Iona. It was disappointing possibly because of the day, possibly because of the lack of time to do anything else other than frog march to the abbey and back to the dock. There is apparently a cool beach with neat rocks but we had no time to go visit. The guide did but she skipped the abbey and went directly to the beach.

I'd read a little about Iona and if it's not of huge interest to you, I'd skip it.

To me, honestly, this seems like something Rick has a bee in his bonnet about. A lot of transit for not a huge pay off yet they continue to keep this in the tour. I think time could be better used elsewhere.

We took the West Coast Tours' 2 Island tour to Mull and Iona in 2023. We were 2 couples traveling independently. We all enjoyed it. The weather was lovely the day we traveled and it gave our primary driver, my husband, a rare day off to just enjoy the views and not watch the road.

The drive across Mull was interesting with much to catch our attention. Our 2 hours on Iona was long enough to enjoy lunch, visit the Abbey and stroll the island. Even on the return bus we saw new things, including a few Hairy Coos.

If you do decide to make the trip, my biggest tip is selecting your seats on the bus. When you get off the ferry in Craignure there will be several buses for the West Coast Tours. Don't take the first bus you see. Keep walking and board an empty bus. Head upstairs and grab the first row of seats. It gives you prime views of the island.

To the 4 of us it was definitely worth the time. To you, maybe not?

I also guess I just assumed OP was talking about the Mull/Iona day on the Rick Steves Best of Scotland tour but maybe they are talking about a private tour company.

It is not ride, ride, ride on the bus on the West Coast tours trip, which is the one Rick does. It is just over an hour in each direction.
Iona is one of the most important sites in the history of Christianity in Scotland, and as is usual with such sites it is in a fairly remote location.
It is still a key pilgrimage site.
Scotland is not just scenery, it is history. Yes the crossing from Mull is often disrupted due to the nature of the water in the strait, and how the wind whips through it.
But you do get to see some of Mull's great scenery on the way across to Iona.
Yes Iona really needs a fine day. On the other hand on a rainy day you experience a tiny bit of the real life of the monks, both old and the modern Religious Community there.

If it wasn't for the religious history, probably few people would go to Iona now.

Mull is a very big island, about two hours drive end to end. If you took a private tour you could easily spend a whole day just exploring Mull.

Pam talks about the beach on Iona- a common and recurring mis understanding on this forum especially recently. There are actually five good sandy beaches on Iona, "the beach" often talked about here is the one in Village Bay. If you went to any of the others (which are better) it would take the whole time you have on the island.

For me, personally, I feel very strongly that the tour is not the best way to see Iona as it has too little time there. On the other hand it keeps the hordes of tourists off the service buses (a very good thing).

To me an infinetly better way is to go on an earlier sailing of the same ferry independently then use the service bus to Iona (at half the cost) gives you way more time on the island to fully experience it, explore the island completely and immerse yourself in the island.

The tour is very good at what it does, moving lots of people efficiently, letting them see the key religious sites of the island and dealing with a sound bite tick box culture of modern tourism.
If it didn't exist most people probably wouldn't go or would overwhelm the other transport infrastructure of Mull.

If you wanted to explore Mull (not Iona) efficiently for the day the best way to do it is take the early sailing and rent a car for the day at Craignure ferry terminal. An option the guide books don't tell you about.

Thank you all for your thoughtful and informative replies. We will have a car. It sounds as if predicted weather should be factored into whether we take this side trip or not. Is it worth navigating the ferry system with our own car to have more freedom and leisure (if the weather is good)? We are pretty good at that sort of thing. We do a bit of traveling.

If you can get the ferry bookings and have a car anyway I think that is very much the way to go. A car and two passengers is only £27 each way. Even add on the cost of the petrol, and the parking at Fionnphort (where there are both free and paid car parks)- the wee ferry to Iona is foot pax only- I think that is a way better experience for half the money in round terms.
Normally I would suggest varying your route out and back, but the alternative longer route from Craignure via Salen on the B8035 was closed long term due to a landslide last I heard of it. The main road, the A849, is very much open.

Oh do the trip yourselves, it’s a beautiful day out. As long as you are comfortable with driving the mostly single track road to Fionnphort (Iona ferry) then it takes just over 1 hour and the scenery is just lovely.Also, although that wee road has regular traffic, the feeling of being away from it all on Mull is ever present.
If you are a seafood fan the Creel Seafood takeaway hut is excellent - fresh lobster and chips amongst other offerings.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g551865-d8494544-Reviews-The_Creel_Seafood_Bar-Fionnphort_Isle_of_Mull_The_Hebrides_Scotland.html

Quite a few eating options on Iona too from little takeaway coffee and snack places to the lovely Argyll Hotel with its delightful outdoor terrace overlooking the emerald Sound of Iona.

Yes, weather is the thing though often Iona is bathed in sunshine when mainland Mull is not! Do try to get out to the North End beaches which are gorgeous, one of my favourite views in Scotland too - islands, mountains, green seas, white sands.

You will have to book your car WELL in advance to get an early ferry over and late one back but even if you have to cancel if the weather isn’t great on your chosen day, it’s only a £10 charge to do so.Worth a bit of investment to hopefully make the trip happen!

We did the "Three Island Nature Tour" which included Iona, Lunga, and Staffa. Lunga's puffins made the whole trip a positive. Sunny and 75F didn't hurt either. The bus across Mull goes pretty quick if you watch the scenery, and the driver might have a good monolog. Sit near the front so you can see the driver's view of oncoming cars on the single track road!