Towns and Villages on Mull
Tobermory (‘Balamory’)
You might have heard of the children’s TV programme, Balamory, based on Mull’s capital, Tobermory. A picturesque village of about 600 people, with multi-coloured houses along the sea front, Tobermory is host to restaurants, shops, bars and Mull’s own distillery, Ledaig.
Tobermory Sea Front
If you take the longer route to Tobermory from the cottage, you will pass Calgary beach, where Highlanders emigrated from (hence Calgary in Canada) and through the small village of Dervaig. The Mull Little Theatre is here, famously included in the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest working theatre in the UK.
Calgary Beach
Salen is on the road between Craignure and Tobermory. It has a couple of shops for provisions, petrol. Near Salen, you will find a Scottish Episcopalian Church (the Scottish "Anglican" church equivalent) at Gruline - where General MacQuarrie, the first governor of Australia, is buried
Gruline Church
This is where most of our guests arrive on Mull, from the Oban to Craignure ferry, which takes about 45 minutes to cross the Sound of Mull. There is a petrol station and a shop. Nearby is the Mull Little Railway, the only railway in the Hebrides, which takes you from Craignure to Torosay House and gardens. Shortly before you arrive in Craignure, you will see Castle Duart on the cliff top, home to the McLean family and open to visitors.
A village on the Ross, Bunessan has a shop and post office.
Embark here for the six minute crossing to Iona, where St Colomba arrived in 597 to set up the first Abbey here. Still a retreat for the Iona Community, walk around the Abbey and surrounding cemetery – most recently John Smith, the former Labour Party leader, was buried here in 1994.
Famous Visitors To Mull
Mull even attracts famous visitors to see the sights:
HRH Prince Charles in Tobermory, June 2003