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Staffa Tours

Hi all, I will be on the Rick Steves Best of Scotland tour in June. The RS office sent an email regarding our free day in Oban and plans to see puffins. "During your free day in Oban on Day 5, if you want to book an excursion to see the puffins on Staffa, we recommend making reservations before the start of your Scotland tour from StaffaTours.com (select Oban as your departure point)."

From Oban, they offer three tours. We will have visited Mull and Iona the prior day so I am going to eliminate the Three Isles tour. I need your advice on which of the two Wildlife tours tour may be better/more interesting.

WILDLIFE TOUR TOBERMORY, TRESHNISH & STAFFA This Wildlife tour allows you to enjoy the picturesque village of Tobermory, famous for its coloured houses. Visit the Puffins on The Treshnish Isles and walk inside Fingals Cave, Staffa. Duration 12 hours.

WILDLIFE TOUR From Oban you will board the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry to Craignure on Mull. From Craignure you will travel to Fionnphort on our local West Coast Motors bus service. At Fionnphort Staffa Tours will take you on your cruise of the beautiful isles of Staffa, Lunga and Iona. Over two hours will be spent on Lunga where you can visit the puffin colony, then time on Staffa and two hours on Iona to explore and seek out the rare corncrake. Duration 12 hours.

THREE ISLES EARLY BIRD TOUR This Discover the wonders of three Scottish islands in one day taking you through the stunning scenery of the Isle of Mull followed by a visit to the Isle of Iona to see the famous Abbey, but the highlight of this tour is the awe-inspiring visit to the unique Isle of Staffa to see Fingal’s Cave! Duration 10 hours.

Thank you in advance for your advice!

Mary

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If you really want to see puffins, and you’ve already been to Mull and Iona, then go with the tour that lets you take the boat to Lunga, as that will be your best chance of seeing puffins. There’s a large colony of puffins there and you can get out of the boat and walk up and amongst them.

Posted by
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We took the Wildlife Tour in 2019 and Lunga is puffin heaven. Between the ferry, bus, and smaller boat, you barely realize that you've visited Mull, so Iona is the only duplicate. The boat operator claimed there might be puffins on the hillside above Fingal's Cave, but getting there during the short landing is risky - and you miss the cave itself.