Edinburgh to Mull, Iona then back to Edinburgh in one day

I would be unlikely to try this . I fully get the desire to see these places, but this is not a realistic day trip.

Alternate fun day trip ideas from Edinburgh:
Sterling Castle and Falkirk Wheel
St Andrews

Time of year? I'm assuming this will be with a rental car?

Have you looked at Google Maps and/or ViaMichelin for routes and minimum time estimates? Have you looked at the ferry schedules? Do you plan on actually stopping anywhere, or are you just anticipating a looooong drive?

Google Maps estimates 9:30 to 10:30 hours of driving, and doesn't factor for any traffic slow downs, waits for ferries, stops for food or bathroom breaks, or sightseeing. And it doesn't include the time for the passenger only ferry to and from Iona and the time to sightsee there.

It would be extremely challenging to do all of that in just one day.
Edinburgh to Oban is a journey that takes a few hours by train or car. Then from Oban, you need to take a ferry to Mull, which also takes some time depending on the ferry schedule. Once on Mull, you might want to explore a bit or make your way to Iona by another ferry crossing. And then you'd have to reverse the whole process to get back to Edinburgh.

Hi, klouvat1,

Pure madness, but doable. But it will be one hell of a long day! You'd need to leave Edinburgh at 5:00 a.m. to give yourselves enough time to get to Oban in time for the 30 minute pre-loading time for your 9:55 a.m. ferry, which arrives in Craignure at 10:45.

Once you arrive on Mull, count on a 90 minute drive to Fionnphort for the 10 minute ferry trip to Iona.

You'd need to be back at Fionnphort by 5:25 p.m. in order to get back to Craignure for the 7:25 ferry, which would put you back in Oban by 8:15, with a four hour drive ahead of you back to Edinburgh. Fortunately, as it's June, you'd have daylight until at least 10:00 p.m., depending on how close you are to the solstice. You are looking at what could be a close to 19 hour day.

If Dame Fortune smiles on you, as she did on Scotland (Thank you, Brian McNeill!), you could have up to five hours on Iona. As you can only tour Iona on foot, you'd have to be very careful of your time.

You'd not see much of Mull, except from the car. You could spend less time on Iona, but if that's your primary reason for going, then you'd probably want to maximize your time there. There are ferries which depart Oban earlier than 9:55, but for the sanity of your travelling companions, the above schedules would probably be the most suitable for your plans.

I would definitely recommend that you discuss this with your companions, and if you do decide to go ahead with this, be sure to make reservations for the Oban-Craignure and Craignure-Oban ferries.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

Best wishes,

Mike (Auchterless)

My thought would be to go to Oban the previous evening with a very late arrival if need be. Stay overnight. Then take the first ferry over to Craignure next day at 0725.

That will give you extra time to go over to Tobermory then the back road via Calgary and Gruline on the way to Fionnphort. Still a bit of a whirlwind but you get to see most of the island that way.

On a Tuesday or a Saturday there is even a later 2110 ferry back over (and on a Friday a 2245).

So a second night at Oban would even possibly be worth it, with a very early departure at 0500 ish next day back to Edinburgh.

That way you have only effectively taken one day off Edinburgh but squeezed a better visit to Mull into it.

Still fast paced mind you.

I agree with Mike above—it's madness, but doable. But if you really want to see it, go with isn31c's suggestion and spend a night there. It will make it SO much easier! And you will enjoy it more. It's worth it—I loved Mull and Iona, and Tobermory in itself is well worth a visit. It was one of my favorite places in Scotland.