I don’t know about you, but lockdown life has got me craving getting back to exploring. I’ve spent the past hour pouring over Airbnb, saving everything and anything for inspo for when we’re allowed to visit places again! I’m also a serial organiser/over planner when it comes to holidays and like to know pretty much everything well in advance. I’m sure anyone I’ve travelled with will give their opinion on my holiday itineraries! However, one thing I’ve noticed since getting a dog is there’s obviously more to take into account when you go away. For one, do you take them with you?
Since we got Cheddar we made a vow to explore as much of Scotland as we can, there’s so much to see here, and I’d feel absolutely terrible if we were to go away and leave him in kennels. So with that question answered, then comes the tricky part of finding somewhere to stay that’s dog friendly. Granted I’m sure there’s more places these days than there used to be, but it’s still a bit of a mission. Thankfully Airbnb makes it a tad easier as there is a search filter for pet friendly places to stay.
So, seeing as we can’t go anywhere just now, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who obsesses over reviews of places before going, I figured I’d update our blog with our dog friendly holiday to Mull back in October 2019. I hope you enjoy and find this useful if you’re planning a trip there yourself. (It goes without saying but please don’t travel right now due to Covid-19).
Getting there…
We got the CalMac ferry from Oban to Craignure (timetable linked here). It was roughly a 45minute crossing and was Cheddar’s first ferry experience! Thankfully CalMac ferries are great for dogs and they travel for free too. They had dedicated pet areas inside, but as the weather was nice we were happy to sit on the deck so we could enjoy the views, I think Cheddar definitely enjoyed himself!
Where we stayed…
I must admit, we found an absolute gem on Airbnb, and we will definitely be heading back! Callachally House is a historic farmhouse near Salen on the Isle of Mull and the perfect base to explore the island from. The house is situated on a working farm, with magnificent highland cattle and black faced sheep surrounding. It is worth noting that the working sheepdogs are kennelled in the steadings (farm buildings) nearby, within earshot of the house.
We arrived quite late on our first night, but the house was as impressive at night as it was in the day, and I couldn’t wait to get inside! The house itself is as you’d imagine a historic farmhouse, full of period features and generations of history. Once you enter, off the flagstone hallway, is a cosy sitting room full of books, paintings and antique furniture, with an open fire and comfortable chairs and sofa. To the other side is an impressive dining room with tea and coffee making facilities, this was where the communal breakfast was served each morning (musli, yoghurt, fruit, cereals, fresh orange juice, toast, local jams, honey and marmalade, eggs all ways, local bacon and sausages etc.) Ian, the host was incredibly generous in making us breakfast each morning and did so to suit our plans. He was also passionate about Mull and full of lots of tips about what to do and where to go.
Upstairs, you’ll find 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. All the way along a hallway lined with books was our room, the End Room, a large double room with a four poster bed from the West Indies and bed linen duvets/pillows from The White Company. It felt more like a luxurious hotel room than a B&B and was a great sized room too, fitting Cheddar’s crate in with ease.
It was hard not to spend all of our time just admiring the eclectic artwork and books! But it would’ve been a waste not to explore what Mull had to offer!
If you’re not already on Airbnb, they do a refer a friend scheme. For £34 off your first booking use this link and in return we will get a small discount off our next stay too. Win win!
What we did…
MacKinnon’s Cave
MacKinnon’s Cave was first on our itinerary, and we set off looking forward to exploring. One thing that we found, was for a lot of places, dogs had to be on their lead. We weren’t aware of this prior to going (even with my extensive research) and so we only had Cheddar’s short lead with us. Next time we will be sure to bring his extendable one as this did make a few of the walks less fun for him, and us.
There was a map just by the carpark that we took a photo of and followed as best we could. It was pretty boggy, but I guess that comes as standard in October. Unfortunately once we got down to beach, the rocks were way too tricky to climb over with Cheddar still being quite young and so we headed back unsuccessfully. We did pass a couple of older dogs heading towards the cave that were managing with no problem, so will certainly try this adventure again in the future.
Fishnish and Garmony Walks
After a fairly unsuccessful first walk, we figured we couldn’t go too wrong with a Forestry and Land walk. We used this guide and did both the Fishnish loop and the coastal trail before calling it a night and heading to our Airbnb. We even spotted some otters on our drive!
Iona
The weather was looking much better for our first full day, so we chose to get the ferry over to Iona (timetable linked here). We left the car in the carpark at Fionnphort as cars are not permitted on Iona. The crossing itself is a quick one, taking roughly 10 minutes.
Once we arrived, we had a little wander in a few shops picking up some souvenirs, and headed to the Nunnery to explore. The Augustinian nunnery was founded at the same time as the Benedictine Abbey and is one of the best-preserved medieval nunneries in Britain, more information can be found here. It’s dog friendly too and completely free to enter and explore.
We then headed up the road, past the Abbey, cared for by Historic Scotland. Dogs are allowed at the Abbey but must be kept on a lead and are not permitted in roofed areas. Prices and more information can be found here. We chose not to go in as we were headed to Dun I, Iona’s highest point, 101 metres above sea level.
There is a signpost to indicate the start of the route to the summit on the road to the north end of the island. Terrain is boggy and uneven underfoot, so sturdy footwear is recommended. This was another walk however that we had to keep Cheddar on his lead for. Once you get to the top, you are greeted with wonderful panoramic views. On a relatively clear day you can make out many other Hebridean islands including the Treshnish Isles, Tiree, Coll, and on a really clear day, Rhum, Eigg and Skye with Ireland visible to the South. You can also see the incredible white sandy beaches which is exactly where we headed to next!
I can’t even begin to tell you how breath taking these beaches were, so I’ll just let the pictures do the talking!
Cheddar had an absolute blast, plenty of digging in the sand and I managed to keep him still for long enough to get a smiling picture of him too!
We sat down to enjoy a spot of late lunch on the beach before heading back to the ferry.
Druart Castle
Once back on Mull we headed to Druart Castle. Unfortunately the castle itself isn’t dog friendly, but we were free to roam the grounds where we came across some highland cattle!
Eas Fors Waterfalls
For our final day on Mull we drove around the North of the island. We started off at Eas Fors Waterfalls which was a fairly quick little walk. There’s a small parking bay, where you can walk to the upper falls, and then to the middle falls. From the middle falls you can walk down to see the final falls plunging into the sea, though we didn’t do that and just carefully peered over for a little look!
Calgary Beach
We then continued driving and stopped off at Calgary Beach. Another incredible white sandy beach with not a soul in sight! Cheddar had plenty of fun doing more digging and even found an old ball, which he became quite attached to!
Isle of Mull Cheese
After a good play on the beach we headed to Isle of Mull Cheese, a dairy farm and the most incredible cafe and shop – very ‘Instagram-able’ and even better, dog friendly! As we visited towards the end of the season I was worried they wouldn’t be open, their Facebook page has the most up to date information and they were super speedy at responding as I wanted to check they were dog friendly before visiting. If you go to Mull, you need to go for their cheese board! And their cakes! And their hot chocolates too!
Tobermory
From there we headed to Tobermory, the capital of the island. The colourful buildings on the main street make it a popular location for television programmes and it was the main setting for ‘Balamory’. We had a little wander in a few of the shops, taking it in turns to look after Cheddar outside, though a few let him in.
Aros Park
We then went for one last walk, again using the Forestry and Land guide this time doing the Lochan trail at Aros Park.
Before finally getting the ferry home.
Food…
One thing I did struggle with in my research was finding dog friendly places to eat. Like I said before, I like to plan ahead and I didn’t want to be worrying about where we’d be finding our food. I also get hangry pretty quickly! So, we made packed lunches to last us a couple of days and even bought some camping food that you just add hot water to so we could have a hot meal in our room each night, they were surprisingly tasty actually! The one place I had found online that said it was dog friendly and had great reviews for was The Taste of Mull which I’ve discovered now has a website. Unfortunately when we visited they appeared to be closed.
Anything else…
There’s so much more that we wanted to cram into our stay on Mull but we just didn’t have the time, and I guess it’s nice to have stuff left to do for next time we visit. These are all on our list for future travels:
- Carsaig Arches – Cliff formations on the South side of the island
- Moy Castle – Castle ruins
- Ben More – 1174m – The highest of the Crianlarich Hills and the 16th highest mountain in Scotland.
- Isle of Staffa – Explore Fingal’s Cave and hopefully see some puffins, dolphins, porpoises amongst other wildlife. I did a lot of research as was desperate to do this. Staffa Tours are dog friendly for boat tours to the island. Book in advance though, that was our mistake.
Have you been to Mull? Is there anything you would add for next time we go?
I hope you enjoyed our little holiday round up, we had a great first holiday away with Cheddar and can’t wait to see more of what Scotland has to offer!
Woods into the Woods 
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