2 weeks Isle of Mull in Aug - have I made a mistake?

[mommybunny]

Family (me, DH, DS(11) and DD(9)) desperately need a holiday. We left it late to book for a few reasons - my dad died in March and I spent a lot of March in the US with that, we thought my brother was coming from the US but now isn't, DH and I have our own business from home, we're lazy buggers, lots of reasons. I just found a cottage that looks nice near Craignure and can also accommodate our German Shepherd and we grabbed it for 2 weeks in mid August. Having had time to think about it, here's what scares me:

1. Being trapped on the island with a £65 ferry ride to get to the mainland.

1. I'm in Surrey now and ready to slit my wrists as it is with all this rain and cold - will I have to handle that FOR TWO WEEKS??

1. I didn't know till after I'd booked how bad the midges can be at that time of year. Can I do anything to make it less bad?

To be fair, I'm the one with the issues - my DH and DCs are pretty hardy and up for anything. So long as there's rockpooling (is there?) and I have the necessary mod cons like washer/dryer, wifi, TV etc (and all are present) the accommodation should be ok. But it would be great to have some reassurance/suggestions on what to do, where to go ...

Thanks.

I'd move there in a second. Fuck this ferry shite or driving round the long way takes ages to get to anything besides that dinky Morrison's. Utter shite. The Argyll Ferry runs like ten slugs pulling a rock and costs a bomb. The car ferry is even worse - £23 return for car and driver+one passenger.

Everything is a long drive from Oban but you do get used to it and I like taking the train, it's just so beautiful.
For such a small place Oban really has a lot going on, some fabulous restaurants as well. I've been here 10 years and don't want to live anywhere else.

We had one of our best holidays on Mull. It was a few years ago but Calgary beach is amazing. Golden sand and rock pools.

When you first arrive on Mull there's a Tourism office. They used to do a challenge where you got a booklet and needed to answer questions / get ticket stubs from various Mull attractions and then got a prize of a mystical charm when you left. Made it more fun for us! We only suffered from midges once, outside a cafe in a wooded area. The rest of the time the breeze kept them at bay. Have a wonderful trip!

Yeah, we don't have a train, either. FML.

The ferry is a lot cheaper now since the RET started.

Wow! Amazing suggestions since I last checked the thread. Thanks all - looking forward to it now

I went to Mull a few years ago, it was amazing. Distillery tour in Tobermory was good but the highlight was a boat trip with Taurus Maura to the Treshnish islands to see Puffins. Absolutely fantastic. (We booked from the tourist office kiosk in Tobermory harbour which someone mentioned earlier).

And if you really need to escape then from Craignure you can always hop back on the ferry without the car for a lot less than £65!

YY to the day trip to Iona, a very special place. Weather wise you could get anything but it changes so quickly that you're unlikely to get a run of bad days for the whole fortnight! Worst issue we had (camping ) was such high winds at the Fidden site that we parked the car ON our tent to stop it blowing away. Got up the next day and half the other campers had buggered off overnight.

For midges I use a cocktail of skin so soft and 'Smidge that Midge' myself, the smidge excudes a penetrating smell and the skin so soft makes them glide off.

Actually speaking of ferries - have you booked that too OP? I would do so asap as the popular crossings can get booked up.

Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to the ferry. Oban is small but August is peak tourist season and you can have tailbacks getting into town. We almost missed the ferry a few years back and we only live 6 miles away.
Also, there is a FB group called Oban and Lorn Roadwatch which is brilliant for updates on any traffic problems all the way down to the central belt. They are useful for advice in case you get stuck somewhere on the way to the ferry. I think every tourist should be told about them it would probably safe some of them being stuck in a road closure.
It's West Highlands sailing week last week in July and first of August. Tobermory is one of the ports involved in it. There are usually a few tall ships around for that.

crab racing!

I used to live on Mull, you'll have a whale of a time :) lots of great suggestions of things to do already.

Aw, great suggestions here.

It is a stunning place. We have friends who go to Mull every year, without fail. There's actually a munro on it, if you are into hillwalking but it definitely needs hiking boots and waterproofs and a map! It's quite rocky.

You will get some rain but the beauty of the west coast is that the weather never stays the same for long. And when it's sunny, there is nowhere else in the world you would rather be

'Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to the ferry. Oban is small but August is peak tourist season and you can have tailbacks getting into town'

Yeah, it's why never go then.

Also, a lot of people on the road drive like twats so have a care. It's quite windy in spots on the road to Oban and people who know the road will often overtake (it's an A road). There are also many motorbikes. We have nicknamed the road between Inverary and Lochgilphead The Corridor of Twats as it seems to be where we've had the most encounters with people driving like twunts.

I love Mull its a beautiful place it might rain or it might be lovely Scotland has been getting great weather im sure it rains in surrey. Dh used to go to mull as a kid and he still says its the best holiday he has had go to a camping shop for midge repellent skin so soft doesnt work for me and enjoy your holiday.

DD just back from Mull. They rode ponies on the beach and went on a boat ride with minkies, dolphins etc swimming around them. They are full of it!

I am so envious!
You will have a fabulous time.
DCs and I had a great weekend there last week and I'd be back in a flash.
Uisken as suggested by Northernlurker is just stunning and close to Fionnphort where the ferry to Iona leaves from (and Staffa: well worth a day trip).
You are likely to see seals, otters if you are lucky, osprey and puffins

DDog and kids enjoying the beach + sheep asleep on the beach at 10pm

Oh, Oban to Craignure crossing is booked solid until October I was told by the ferry man I chatted to. They keep stand by places, but you must be prepared to wait (which I wasn't with 4 kids and dog in the car, so we took the long way and crossed from Lochaline to Fishnish - that's a whole other story…. Or you can drive even further and cross from Kilchoan to Tobermory)

NB Single track roads make for slow progress. 30mi will take an hour. And the rest.

Second the skin so soft recommendations but only the version in the blue bottle, the pink one is different and doesn't work. It's so good they sell it (at a huge price mark up😄) in the fishing lodges. You can easily buy it online

I was told recently that AVON had sold the patent for whatever made SkinSoSoft ward off midges and it no longer contains it?
Smidge now uses the same ingredient (I think it was them the patent was sold to).

Having said all that, IME there is usually enough of a breeze for midges not to be a big problem (compared to Loch Lomond or other inland areas where they will eat you alive when they arrive in big clouds and your breathe them in and feel them in your ears and hair and eye brows )

Midges at Lochlomand are the devils pets little feckers

I can tell you that Skin so Soft does NOT work! I was eaten alive in Scotland last summer whilst using it. I had bought four bottles of the stuff as well.

You will have an amazing time. Avon skin so soft does not work for me at all. In Oban I get eaten alive wearing that and jungle formula.

We went to Scotland a couple of years ago because we like hiking and don't like hot weather.

It was boiling and I got heat exhaustion after one mountain hike.

The poster below who said there are less midges on the coast are right though. We've honestly never found midges a major problem on Mull.