Rick Steves'
Best of Scotland
Tour Day 8: Inspiring Isle of Iona
We woke up and got going early today to catch our ferry from Oban to Mull. On Mull we would be getting on a bus already arranged for us to take us across the island and then catch another ferry from Mull to our ultimate destination of Iona. The journey to Iona was a big part of the fun for us! The weather was perfect, the landscape was beautiful, and we even caught a few bonus castles on our way!
This was one of the unexpected bonus castles we got to view as we took the ferry to Mull.
Isle of Mull
When we arrived on Mull, there was a race to get off the ferry and onto the bus provided for us first so we could beat all the other tours to the Iona ferry. Anne guided us through this quickly and we were off! Our bus driver for this part was Richard, and he was a great comedian and historian. We laughed the whole time! Mull was like nothing we had ever seen before - very dramatic mountains with tiny little houses nestled at the bases, waterfalls cascading around each bend, and livestock grazing everywhere - including more of those crazy coos!
The Isle of Iona had the feel of a peaceful, sacred place. It was built by Saint Columba's followers in the 1200's and is still active today. This was where the important Book of Kells was written before it was taken back to Ireland. The abbey offers a nice audio tour that you can listen to as you walk through independently. After touring the abbey, we went next door to have lunch at a little cafe that sells organically grown items from their garden with beautiful views of the water before returning to catch our ferry back to Oban. After returning from our long journey, we had a quick dinner and once again enjoyed the view from our room while sipping hot chocolate and eating shortbread cookies. Perfection!
Isle of Iona
We got so lucky with the beautiful weather for this leg of our trip! The landscape of Iona is unbelievable! We never expected the crystal clear water that made us feel like we were in the Mediterrean. The island had such a peaceful, spiritual air about it. The Isle of Iona is known as the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland, as this is where Saint Columba landed when he was escaping religious persecution in Ireland.
Traffic jam!
We got some of our favorite photographs of the trip on the bus across Mull. We were stopped by a true Scottish traffic jam. Who doesn't love coos?! Especially adorable, fuzzy baby coos?
