The closest thing to perfect (Isle of Mull)

Member Name: suz1584

Product:	Isle of Mull
Date:	18/06/09 (148 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Scenery is breath taking

Disadvantages: Not a lot to do more for relaxing than anything

I have been to the Isle of Mull a couple of times. Once when I was younger and the memories of Mull were great. I remember we stayed in Tobermory with all the colourful houses.

Last year my sister decided that she was getting married on the Isle of Mull in Tobermory as she had fond memories that were from childhood as well as a family trip with her partner and child.

To be honest I didn't know what to expect from going here as an adult as I was unable to remember too much about the place. Yes I did remember colourful houses and the big hill up to the cottage we were staying in. I also remembered the cottage itself but this time round we would be staying somewhere completely different and with different people.

I booked a week off work with the plan to spend 5 days here. We would drive down on the Monday and come home on Friday. Enough time to relax before the wedding on Thursday.

So Monday morning arrives and the car is packed. We leave from our house in Tain and make our way to the Corran Ferry which is just South of Fort William. The Ferry is very small and only holds about 9 cars and travels from Nether Lochaber to Ardgour. It costs £6.40 for a car to travel and only takes about 5 minutes to cross. For times and charges for other vehicles go to - http://www.lochabertransport.org.uk/corranferry.ht ml

Once of the ferry you have to drive to Lochaline this took us an hour . It is only about 24 miles but it's a single track road most of the way and you have to pull over a lot as the road is busy. Once you get to Lochaline you then get a ferry to Fishnish ehich took about 20 minutes. The ferry wasn't too big and again we didn't see the point in getting out of the car. The ferry cost £11.85 per car and £2.70 per person. For ferry timetables and more fare charges go to http://www.calmac.co.uk

We arrived in Fishnish early evening and the had an 11 mile drive up to Tobermory. I don't recall the drive ever being that long but again memories from being a child are often a lot different. Driving into Tobermory was kind of strange everything was similar but also changed to what I remember.

We were quite lucky that the house we were staying in was on Breadalbane Street which is right opposite the Registration Office where my sister was getting married. This made it nice and easy for all of us staying in the house.

Once we got to the house (up a very difficult drive). My mum and dad had already arrived before us. The house was very big and cost us £350 for the week, the property sleeps 10 so it was a really good price. For the week there would be 6 of us in the house and then my sister the night before the wedding.

There are a lot of properties for weekly rent and you are best to look about as you can get great deals and Tobermory is such a fantastic place to stay with fantastic views.

Once we arrived it was late evening so we went down and had a couple of drinks in The Mishnish Hotel which is quite near the end of the main street. It is a black building located on the sea front.

For a Monday night the pub was quite busy and everyone was extremely friendly. The pub is quite 'old cottage' looking with open fires and wooden floors, it's quite a dark pub but very welcoming. You can also get meals in here which we didn't try, I would expect to get Scottish style meals but you are actually offered Aubergine and Courgette Red Thai Curry or Roast Duck with Kumquat and Brandy Glaze. To be honest it's not my kind of food so I wasn't tempted.

Instead we decided to go to the local Co-op which is the main supermarket for Tobermory but is quite small and I really don't know how locals manage to get all their shopping from here. It is also very expensive which my partner told me was caused by having to get all the stock shipped over from the mainland. We got everything we needed to do us for dinner that night and decided to head back home for the night.

The next day my brother and his partner arrived, they had already been to the local butchers for breakfast. Everything he bought was fantastic quality and tasted excellent. I would highly recommend if you are over there to take a pop in to the Mull Butchers. Again it is located on the main street as are all other shops in Tobermory.

Throughout the day on Tuesday we had a lot of time to spend doing whatever we wanted to do. We all decided to go down onto the main street and have a look around all the shops.

The shops in Tobermory include -

Tobermory Bakery
Brown's Ironmongers
Tobermory Post Office
Spar Grocery Store
Tobermory Pharmacy
Tobermory Chocolate Shop
Catriona's Hair and Beauty Salon
Tackle and Books
Isle of Mull Silver and Goldsmith

Many of these are small businesses which are lovely and do have a lot of tourist items you can purchase. There is also a ticket office if you choose to take a boat trip anywhere and the ticket office was my favourite shop for buying gofts for people. They also still have Balamory merchandise for sale even though the filming stopped a few years ago now. Balamory was a childrens tv programme filmed in Tobermory.

Tobermory chocolate shop was a really nice place to go and have a look. They had lovely items and really beautiful gift sets for sale. I would highly recommend you try the chocolate as it tastes amazing but to buy a box of chocolate would cost you £7.50 for 150g box. This is really expensive but definitely a nice treat. You can also buy online and the website is http://www.tobchoc.co.uk

Once we had spent time in the shops we sat and took in the stunning view. with all shops on the sea front it really is picture perfect with all the boats. If you are standing at one end of the street you can capture most of the buildings as well as the harbour if you want to take a picture. Either end of the street is perfect for taking a picture.

For lunch we decided we would have a chippy. Not at your normal Fish and Chip Shop but at a van on the harbour with fresh fish. Again prices here were expensive and cost £4.50 per fish supper. Taking it back to the house to eat my mouth watered with the smell. This was truly the best battered fish I had ever tasted, it was so fresh and full of flavour. Worth the money even if it is more pricey that your average chip shop.

In the afternoon we decided we would go for a drive round the island as there is a limited amount you can do on an island that has not many shops and only the pubs for entertainment which throughout the day wasn't really an option for us as none of us really drink.

We drove over to Calgary where we stopped at the beach. The beach was so perfect with white sand and a stunning view out to sea. There was hills on either side of the beach so the scenery was beautiful. We all walked along the beach and spent most of the afternoon here as it was so peaceful and enjoyable.

Instead of heading around the rest of the Island we made our way back to the house as it was beginning to get late and we wouldn't get to see much as it would be getting dark. All the roads we drove on were single track and were winding roads which can make you feel a bit car sick. That day finished off with a quiet evening and onto the next day.

Wednesday started off with me and my brothers girlfriend going to get our nails manicured for the wedding at Catriona's Hair and Beauty Salon. The staff were all exceptionally friendly. The manicure cost £9 each which was excellent value for money. The overall result of my nails was 7 out of 10 as we had french manicures the white varnish was not put on so well.

That night we went out for a meal at the Sagar Indian Restaurant. We booked a table for 8 of us. I don't think you'd normally need to book but with so many guests over for the wedding we had a feeling it might be busy. The rest of the family were having a take away at the house so they would be extremely busy.

The restaurant was up 2 flights of stairs which were quite steep. Once reaching the top we were faced with a slightly smally restaurant with all the tab;es very close together. We were shown round to our table and handed out menus. The restaurant I noticed was full of bright spotlights and the luminous pink strip lights which to be honest wasn't the best for a restaurant but I was still looking forward to the meal.

Once we all ordered it only took 10 minutes for all our meals to arrive. And I have to say that the meal was delicious. There was just the right amount for every meal and everyone at the table was impressed. The price for a Chicken Korma was £7.50 which wasn't too expensive but a bit more expensive than what I usually pay at an Indian restaurant. The whole evening was lovely with excellent staff who were really polite, short waiting times for meals and lovely food.

Thursday was the Wedding Day and our last full day in Mull. As you exoect the whole day was non stop. We started out at the registration office which is a really lovely building. There was nice grounds for photos to be taken as well as being able to get some photos with a scenic background as the registration office is up at the back of Tobermory.

Into the building and up the stairs to the room where the wedding was taking place. It takes up to 45 people in the room and is a really nice room for a wedding. The wedding felt personal as the room wasn't too big and just had a nice feeling in the room. Photos were taken after the service and I took a look out the large bay windows. The breath taking view had to be caught on camera. The photos are exceptional with a view of Tobermory with the coloured buildings and the sea with all the boats. To top it off it was a gorgeous day in October with the sun shining, so the photos are better than I can describe.

So next day was the day we left. Even though there is not much to do in Tobermory I thoroughly enjoyed my week of relaxing and taking in all the views. I will never tire of Scottish scenery and the Isle of Mull is definitely one of the most outstanding places to see in Scotland.

I have only reviewed what I tried out in Tobermory but if you do want anymore information the best website is

www.tobermory.co.uk

Summary: I cannot do this place justice when I write about it