travel to/from Iona

Hi, Carol,

A couple of questions - 1) Are you going to be staying overnight in Oban the night prior to your visit to Mull? 2) How much time do you want to spend on Iona? 3) When do you plan to make this journey?

If you can let us know, Stuart (isn31c) will be able to let you know the ferry/bus/ferry/train schedules, and what will work best for you.

Best wishes,

Mike (Auchterless)

I am spending the night in Oban the night prior, May 31. I have a reservation on Iona for 2 nights, June 1 and 2. The day I leave Iona, June 3, I want to travel all the way through to Edinburgh as I have reservations there for 3 nights.

Hi again, Carol,

At this point, your journey is definitely doable. I can't find a West Coast Motors route 496 bus schedule that extends past the 31st. of March, and CalMac has not published the Oban to Craignure schedule yet for summer. However, based on the current schedule for ferry, bus, and train, your route will work. You can book the train straight through to Edinburgh from Oban, changing at Glasgow Queen Street.

I'm sure that Stuart (isn31c) will be able to provide much better advice, but for now, the schedules fit your plans. The ferry from Iona to Fionnphort meets the West Coast Motors bus, which drops you off at Craignure to catch the ferry, which in turn gets you to Oban in time to catch the train. The ferry terminal is next to the train station.

Going from Oban to Craignure, you should be able to take a ferry which coincides fairly closely with the bus schedule.

Best wishes once again!

Mike (Auchterless)

Hey Mike, thanks for the info! I will actually be in the Outer Hebrides prior to, taking the ferry from Barra to Oban. So lots of ferries. Good to know that connections are in place to make the journey.

You can book the train from Oban to Edinburgh but it doesn't pay you to do so.

Personally I would book it as Oban to Glasgow, and Glasgow to Edinburgh to save myself around £5. But if you book it on Scotrail as a through fare there is something called split ticketing which they themselves suggest. That saves a further £3 by booking as Oban to Croy, and Croy to Edinburgh. Croy is a suburban station on the Edinburgh line in Glasgow. Just for clarity Croy is just a ticketing point, you don't change trains there. (But, as an aside, Croy is a very good access point for the Antonine Wall, the Scottish equivalent of Hadrian's Wall).

The CalMac schedule is now out, and bookeable from 18 February. As a foot pax there is no race to book.- https://assets.calmac.co.uk/media/codpwm0v/wtt-11-oba-cra.pdf

There will be a bus connecting out of the early request only sailing from Iona and another one connecting out of a ferry around 9am. That will then connect into the lunchtime train from Oban.
Ten minutes for that ferry to train interchange (if the ferry is on time) is very adequate.
Iona Summer Timetable- https://assets.calmac.co.uk/media/xckjshu5/stt-table-13-fio-ion.pdf

The connection at Fionnphort is meant to be tight but the bus waits for the ferry. Likewise at Craignure where ferry connects with bus.
Until the WCM bus timetable comes out in early to mid March we can't be precise but that's the theme.
If you miss a rail connection at Oban due to a late ferry, then your rail ticket allows you to catch the next one.
So for exact timings revisit this in late March.
But it works at least three times a day as there is an afternoon connection as well.

On a Sunday there should be a through Oban to Edinburgh afternoon train (hopefully), and there is also a summer afternoon Oban to Edinburgh bus changing at Tyndrum- as opposed to Glasgow.

Reservations are highly recommended on the train if you can. It is a very busy train for very understandable reasons.
Also if you take the train, have a look at the sign above the exit door to the platforms. It is the practically unique 'To The Train' singular. Every other railway station uses 'trains'

Thank you for the local information I really appreciate it. I have most of my lodging booked and now as the new transport schedules are coming out, I can work on those. Thank you so much for the links!

If anyone has a good lodging recommendation for Inverness where I will spend the night prior to meeting up with Hidden Hebrides tour of the Outer Hebrides, I would greatly appreciate the information.

Oh, gesh I just realized in looking at the schedules, that since I'm traveling on Sunday from Oban to Iona it looks like the earliest ferry to Mull, 9:55 arriving at 10:45, that there is not a ferry across to Iona until 4pm, as the earlier one is at 11.

No, that's not right. The last of the hourly morning ferries is at 11 on a Sunday, thereafter the service is frequent (basically a shuttle service) until 4pm. So it will run as soon as loaded each time- which should be every 20 minutes or so. They just aren't waiting around for specific departure times.

Good to know. Thanks again for local info.

Due to various ferry problems there are two small ships (rather than one large and one small ship) on the Oban to Craignure route until early June, with heavily reduced capacity.

Unusually, as a foot passenger, I would advise you to book your crossings on the Oban to Craignure route as soon as possible.

Thank you for the ‘heads up’ I will see about booking today

Is it possible to book the bus from Craignur to Fionnphort?

No,

West Coast Motors should be running a double decker again for the summer season so plenty of capacity.

Hello again. We now have the summer Sunday bus schedule out for Craignure to Fionnphort. The one and only bus leaves Craignure at 1330, arriving at 1445.

On a weekday it looks as if the early bus back is now scholars only. So the first one from F seems to be at 0920, arrive Craignure 1035.

Or that is the early season timetables issued 4 days ago.

Thank you for the bus update. Looks like I will be waiting awhile in Craignure for the bus as the ferry I booked leaves Oban at 845 (it left at 9:45 when I booked it, but the schedule and my ticket has since changed to 8:45. Better I am getting there early than late though.
When I leave Iona a couple days later during the week I will hopefully be able to take the 9:20 bus from Fionnphort to Craignure as I have the ll:00 ferry from Craignure to Oban booked with the train to Edinburgh booked at 12:11.

I will keep my fingers crossed.