Two Week Itinerary May 2025 Isle of Mull, Skye and Glencoe

First things first. Have you booked accommodation on the islands and ferry crossings to Mull and/or Skye? If not then that is absolutely the first thing you need to do. Most B&Bs in Skye will already be full for May 2025. I know this a) because I run a small B&B and I have no availability all summer and b) because I know many other B&B owners all of whom are also full. As for the ferries, capacity is limited and booking is absolutely essential from Oban and to/from Skye on the Calmac route. There is another small ferry from Glenelg to Kylerhea on Skye which is turn up and go, and of course we also have a bridge.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'intense' in the context of the ferries. They are pretty short crossings and the ferries are basic.

You may also need to manage your expectations in terms of star ratings for hotels. There are no 4 or 5 star hotels in Skye. There's Kinloch Lodge, Edinbane Lodge and The Three Chimneys which are excellent restaurants with nice bedrooms. But not 4 or 5 star in terms of traditional hotel ratings, although they are very good indeed. At this late stage it will come down to what availability you can find. You won't be able to be particularly picky if your dates are set.

On 13 May you may as well take your time getting to Oban and route through Stirling as there is zero car capacity remaining until the 3.50pm sailing, then all other sailings of the day have limited capacity.
So you need to choose which of the remaining sailings you want pronto.
Likewise on 19 May all sailings have limited remaining capacity. The earliest you can make is the 1pm. So you need to choose between that, the 3pm and the 5pm.
I am seeing very limited late availability on booking.com for Tobermory and almost nothing for Skye.

If you choose the 3pm sailing to Skye you will see the steam train in Mallaig station, and will have time to divert to see the Viaduct. However parking is at a serious premium at Glenfinnan. I would content myself with getting to Mallaig, taking the first wildlife cruise of the day from Mallaig, and seeing the steam train there.

But first thing to do, today, as Jacqui says, is to secure somewhere to stay on both islands.

Then book the ferries, then book in Glencoe (if need be staying in Fort William instead).

Hello Zelda,
This is the link to walkhighlands incase you've not discovered it. https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/
It's an interactive map, loads of information, an outstanding resource to help find walks to suit your needs.

We took the Art in Nature walk on Mull. It's not difficult, overly long and meanders though some lovely old beech trees and interesting art. https://mullandiona.art/listing/calgary-art-in-nature Mull is a wonderful place to visit. We actually enjoyed it more than Skye.

You will love Scotland! Happy planning.

If Skye is booked up, you might consider the Eilean Donan apartments which are just south of Kyle. We stayed there in 2022. The roomier apartments, according to the manager, are the ones that do NOT have the distant view of the castle. The location was convenient for visiting Plockton and the Torridon area, which IMHO is just as beautiful as Skye. We visited all of Skye while staying at those apartments. For Glencoe, we liked the Kingshouse Hotel, although their current availability is rather limited. Driving to Glencoe from Fort William takes about an hour. We have been to all of the areas you mentioned - send me a private message if you have more questions.

Hi, Zelda,

On May 15th., your choice of route from Mull to Skye is going to be determined by whether you can book passage from Mallaig to Armadale, and that in turn will be determined by whether there is availability on the early runs of the Tobermory to Kilchoan ferry.

If Mallaig to Armadale is solidly booked for that day, and if Tobermory to Kilchoan is also booked up, you would have to drive to Fishnish and take the frequently operating ferry to Lochaline. If the Mallaig ferry is solidly booked, you can take the A861 to Kinlocheil, the A830 to Fort William, the A82 to Invergarry, and the A87 to the Skye Bridge or the Glenelg ferry.

As Jacqui (Skyegirl) advised, finding accommodation on Skye with this short notice is going to be difficult. Due to the popularity of the island, accommodation is now being booked months in advance. If all else fails, the Dunollie Hotel in Broadford sometimes has accommodation available, if they don't have tour buses in. It ain't the Ritz, but it will do in a pinch.

I was going to recommend the Park Lodge Hotel in Tobermory for your dates, but they appear to be sold out. The Isle of Mull Hotel and Spa, near the Craignure ferry terminal, appears to have a couple of rooms available, but they are not cheap! They do, however, promote themselves as a four star hotel.

The Premier Inn in Fort William appears to have rooms available for your dates. Again, it ain't the Ritz, but it will do if nothing else is available.

Best wishes for your holiday! I hope that you are able to find accommodation on the islands. If you haven't already done so after reading these posts, you need to arrange your lodging and sailings within the next couple of days.

Safe travels,

Mike (Auchterless)

The Tobermory to Kilchoan and Fishnish to Lochaline ferries are non bookable, turn up and go.

You can book but only for a day, not a specific sailing.

Thank you all so much! We are on it and looking into accommodations now. We might reverse the order of our trip (Edinburgh-->Glencoe-->Isle of Skye-->Isle of Mull-->Back to Edinburgh.

As the itinerary stands right now, we may have an extra day that we can add to either part of the trip or spend somewhere else along the way (ideally we would like to stay two nights in one place instead of one night).

Is there a must see that we are missing or are we spending too much time in certain places? Thanks!

Hi again, Zelda,

Your initial idea of staying in each place for a couple of days is better than rushing from pillar to post in order to see as much as possible. I've done that! I should add that everywhere in Scotland is a "must see"! But you won't know it until you get there.

While you're making your accommodation/ferry plans, check out some of the videos on YouTube of people who have posted their travel videos of Scotland. Some of them are really good; some of them are way OTT! Have your parents watch these videos as well, and check out a good guidebook as well. Your local library may have access to one, or if you have a good bookstore nearby, you could look there as well.

Best wishes once again!

Mike (Auchterless)

Thank you!

We've found accommodations for Skye (4 nights) and Mull (3 nights) so we are thrilled about that. We were hoping to do 5 nights in Skye, but we may do 3 days in the Glencoe area now and use that as a base for day trips, unless somehow we find a place in Skye or on the way where we can break up the trip and add another night. Otherwise we will stick to the 2 nights in Edinbrugh, 3 nights in Glencoe, 4 nights in Skye and 3 nights in Mull, with our final night in Edinbrugh before our departure the next morning!