Mull is Gaelic Maol, meaning a rounded hill or mountain

Every year, many visitors come to Mull either for the first time, or for many, a repeat visit. The island offers so much in the way of spectacular wildlife, fascinating geology, mouth-watering seafood restaurants, beaches and more. It’s one of Scotland’s most accessible islands – the ferry journey from Oban takes under an hour, and the ferry from Ardnamurchan even less. The island’s main town, Tobermory, is recognisable by many families as Balamory – and the pretty, multicoloured waterfront houses certainly are iconic. But there’s much more to Mull than this, and that’s what draws visitors back to Mull year after year. This page covers the north of Mull and Iona – look here for the south of Mull including Iona.

Few places in Scotland beat Mull for wildlife abundance. The island is home to sea eagles, otters, whales, dolphins and basking sharks. Marine mammals and basking sharks flock to the waters around the Inner Hebrides, including Mull, during the summer to feed on the plankton in these rich waters. Many boat trips will take you out and around the islands to spot wildlife – or if you’re lucky, you might even see it from the shore! You can catch boats from Salen, Tobermory or close to Dervaig to spot some wildlife and admire the islands from the sea.

A boat trip is certainly high on the ‘to do’ list for many visiting Mull, as Staffa, a small island off Mull, is famous for its basalt rocks akin to Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway. A cavern on the island, Fingal’s cave, is 22m tall and 82m deep and incredibly impressive. Plenty of boat trips take you out to the island and into the cave.

For anyone wanting to venture a little further afield, the Treshnish Isles are an archipelago of uninhabited islands and skerries (small rocky islets too small for human habitation) to the west of Mull. Archaeology hints at Iron Age inhabitation, and Norse settlers would have certainly navigated their way long Scotland’s rocky coast using these as waypoints. They are home to an abundance of wildlife, particularly puffins, and so are popular for day trips from Mull.

Calgary Beach is Mull’s largest sandy beach, located in a secluded and sheltered bay – perfect for swimming, for the brave! White sand and a shallow bay makes for stunningly blue waters in the right conditions. The name is derived from the Gaelic ‘Cala Ghearraidh’, meaning ‘the meadow beside the bay’, in reference to the wildflower-scattered Machair bordering the beach.

In Tobermory, there is an abundance of cafes and restaurants and local shops selling home baking, fresh, local seafood, and arts and crafts from the island.

You could easily spend a week, two weeks or even longer on Mull and not see it all. The island is is packed full of things to do, see, eat and experience. Many visitors to Mull come back year on year, and still discover something new each time. Summer is the perfect time to visit, and certainly the busiest, with wildlife out in abundance and long sunlight hours to allow even more time for exploring. From Mull you can hop over to many of the Inner Hebridean islands including Iona, the Treshnish Isles and more – or sail back to the mainland to the wonderful, remote Ardnamurchan.