Island Experience

Barra is fantastic. You'd need either the ferry from Oban or to fly from Glasgow. It's a tiny prop plane that lands on the beach - a real experience and because of that the flights get very busy. There are only two a day and the timetable is based around the tides. If you don't have a car then you'd want to be based in Castlebay, which is the only real settlement of any size.

Have never been to Coll or Tiree, although I'd love to!

All the small islands are very seasonal in terms of what they offer for visitors, so depending on time of year you might not find much open....

Both Islay and Tiree you can fly from Glasgow as well as the ferry.
Both Coll and Tiree you can also fly from Oban on a tiny prop plane, as well as ferry from Oban. The airstrip at Oban is very well connected by bus into Oban.
The Oban flights are working flights, but are tremendous sightseeing flights as well.
Coll is a small island with basically only 1 very small village and 1 small hotel. If you flew to or from there you would need to get your accomodation provider to provide transport as it's too far to walk, there is no transport, and I'd be hugely surprised if there was car hire. Very much a walker's island. Quite a wild feeling island.
Tiree because of it's big (ger) airport you will get car hire and you need it. This is a big island and accommodation is widely scattered between the various villages. There is very limited dial a ride transit. There are a lot of tremendous beaches on the Island as well as being one of the best places to see the Machair habitat.
The lamb on the island, because of the Machair, has a very unique taste and should be tried if there.
If you have first been to Islay then I would suggest flying out from Glasgow, then coming back on the ferry (keep checking the times as there are two ports-Port Ellen and Port Askaig- and ports are often swapped at short notice due to weather) to Kennacraig.
Then go down the coast towards Campbeltown, to a place called Tayinloan where you can catch a ferry to the island of Gigha.
This is a relatively unknown island, which is Community owned (rather than by a laird) and is the perfect, contrasting pairing.
There's a good hotel on the Island, lots of nice gentle walks and the Achamore gardens to visit.
It's quite a long drive back to Glasgow afterwards although on a Summer Sunday there is a late afternoon ferry from Campbeltown to Ardrossan (which is an hour or so from Glasgow so is a huge short cut). Also there are two flights a day from Campbeltown Airport back to Glasgow.
On Barra you can also catch the little ferry across to the Isle of Eriskay for a half day trip. You can even go over to South Uist from Eriskay on the causeway if you want.
In terms of practicality (choice of acccommodation, good transit round a compact little island and for the unique beach airport) Barra edges it over Tiree to me but it's close.
For convenience the Castlebay Hotel nails it. If you want a bit of luxury go for the Isle of Barra beach hotel on the west side of the island. The island bus service will get you there. I would fly in and ferry back BUT the ferry leaves early at 7am which is why the Castlebay Hotel is the better (on a Summer Wednesday there is an extra afternoon ferry which goes via Tiree and Coll rather than the direct route through the Sound of Mull). Most days of the week the morning flight from Islay connects on to Barra from Glasgow and can be booked as a through fare. These are not cheap flights by the way.
Lots of options there- but Islay and Barra work very well.

Coll and Tiree are quite isolated even by the standards of Scottish islands. They are served by a joint ferry from Oban. If they are your choice, be prepared for them to be very, very quiet.

One of the oddities of political geography is they are the far extemities of the former Strathclyde Region, and are in Argyll and Bute Council now. Strathclyde was based in Glasgow, and A&B has parts within the the Glasgow commuter belt.

We spent 3 nights at the Isle of Barra Beach Hotel. They have e-bikes which we used to get down to Castlebay and Vatersay and to ride out to the Black House and to the cemetery. My husband's family was cleared from Barra so it was partly a genealogy trip. There is limited bus service - mostly timed with the school day - but you can call ahead to make arrangements or you can call for a taxi. However when we go again we would probably hire a car in Barra and include Uist in our visit. The Otter 8's which Logan Air uses to fly to Barra are pretty amazing and they go when CalMac doesn't. In fact the people down at the Castlebay Hotel who had driven were beside themselves because the ferry crossings had been cancelled for multiple days in a row. So if you have to get off the island, fly.

Hi, Kathy from Wenatchee,

Allow me to put in a kind word for Colonsay. We spent a few days there last summer, and it was very relaxing. There is ferry service directly from Oban, but there is also a twice a week ferry from Port Askaig on Islay to Colonsay. There are several beaches, a unique nine hole golf course (honesty box - clubs not provided!), and lots of good trails for hiking. There is also the neighbouring island of Oronsay, which can be reached on foot by a causeway/sandbar at low tide. Unfortunately, the tides were not with us on the days we were there, although we did see a Land Rover making its way slowly across the causeway.

We stayed at the Colonsay Hotel, which is about a quarter mile from the ferry slip. It's a great old hotel (dates from about 1750), with no television. So we were spared the nightly squabbling between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. The food at the hotel is excellent, although the menu is somewhat limited due to the isolated location.

If you time it right, you could take the ferry from Port Askaig to Colonsay, then return from Colonsay to Oban.

Another possibility could be to return from Port Ellen to Kennacraig, drive up to Oban, then take the ferry to Barra. After a couple of days on Barra and Vatersay, you could ferry/causeway hop from Barra to Eriskay to South Uist, then take the ferry from Lochboisdale to Mallaig, and drive across to St Andrews from there. Or you could drive up to Lochmaddy on North Uist, take the ferry to Uig, and drive across Skye to Armadale. From Armadale, ferry to Mallaig, then drive across to St Andrews.

Whichever island you choose, you are going to see some spectacular scenery. I can guarantee that your first time to Scotland will not be your last!

Best wishes for your travels!

Mike (Auchterless)

I am just blown away by your responses, each one is a gift full of wonderful tips and ideas! Your experiences and knowledge are so incredibly helpful, thank you. I am so grateful to have your input about Barra, Coll, Tiree in addition to other possible islands I hadn’t even considered!
For now I will be researching new options shared here…It’s a fine line to feel like you’ve been somewhere, experienced and lived life there, but also used your time wisely…finding this balance is my hope and your input helps so much. I think you’re right Mike, we will just have to plan to return to enjoy more!

Kathy, just a heads up. We were on Barra in September. The hotel was closing for the season at the end of the month. I don't know about the Castlebay Hotel nor do I know whether the other (few) restaurants will also close then. You might take that into consideration as you plan your trip. One additional note. If you are interested in distilleries there is a very small one on Barra. It opened in 2017 so alas, no whisky, but their gin is quite nice.