Getting to the Isle of Ulva
Sometimes the best road trips are really off the beaten track. And if you're looking for an good Scottish adventure, I recently found one in my day trip to Ulva, off the west coast of Mull. In fact, getting there is part of the experience.
I say day trip, but then I started halfway there. This isn't a daytrip you'd try from Glasgow or Aberdeen!
So depending on where you start, it might mean taking a ferry from Ardnamurchan or Oban. For me, it involved the Corran Ferry south of Fort William over to the Morvern peninsula, driving over the mist-clad hills to the small village of Lochaline, then crossing to Fishnish on Mull. From there, a drive across Mull’s winding roads brings you to the slipway where the Isle of Ulva ferry waits.
It's a ferry-on-demand situation here, where just above the slipway you slide the small wooden shuttle to 'red' to hail the tiny craft that spends its days zipping across the water. Soon the ferryman appears in his boat. The crossing hardly takes two minutes, carrying a handful of people and the occasional dog. Isn't there something wonderful about arriving somewhere remote, by boat?
The Ulva Boathouse Restaurant
The first sight as you head across the water is the whitewashed Ulva Boathouse restaurant, its name painted boldly across its whitewashed front. Open only in the summer months, for many this eaterie is the sole reason they venture to the island.
The menu is rooted in what’s fresh and local: freshly caught langoustines, lobster and other seafood plus locally made vegetables and freshly baked sourdough. The vibe is simple, rustic, top quality ingredients. You eat outside at wooden tables above the shore, seabirds circling overhead, the sound of the water lapping nearby.
Sheila’s Cottage and Ulva House
Just beyond the Boathouse lies Sheila’s Cottage, a turf-roofed croft that's been restored as an example of old Highland life. Further along, a track leads into the beautiful gardens of Ulva House which someone has been reviving in recent years. The restored greenhouse is bursting with ripe tomatoes. I wander in the direction of pigs grunting just outside the garden and I stumble upon a fascinating, Regency-style house, dilapidated looking but with signs of activity.
This is Ulva House, which was recently bought by interior designer Banjo Beale and his partner. Banjo, designer, presenter and author (he wrote the fantastic 'A Place in Scotland: Beautiful Scottish Interiors which you can buy here). They plan to restore the house and turn it into a boutique hotel. The project, 'Banjo and Ro's Grand Island Hotel', is being filmed by the BBC.
It's a mammoth task, not least because there are no cars or proper roads on the island so how they're going to get the materials over and so on is a mystery! The show is out in 2026 and I can't wait to watch it!
Walking Across the Isle of Ulva
For many, the real joy of Ulva lies in its walks. Well-trodden tracks wind over the hills and through the heather, across moorland, past Highland cattle, and eventually one track takes you to the remains of the abandoned village at Ormaig. This island was once home to hundreds - it is now just 14 - and many lived here. The roofless cottages, moss-covered walls, and rusting stove parts are haunting reminders of lives once lived here. Many on Ulva were victims of the cruel Highland Clearances.
We look over to a bothy, one of two which can be rented on Ulva - if you can handle no electricity and walking 5 miles with your stuff to get to the place. It’s entirely off-grid and reached only by a five-mile walk, carrying in your supplies. Hell for some, paradise for others. I have it on my list!
Returning for a Final Feast
After a day’s exploring, the return to the Ulva Boathouse restaurant is the prize. People are eating lobster, salmon, langoustine, and home baked bread. In the background the little ferry shuttles to and fro. And when you're on it, heading back over the water to Mull the scene behind you feels precious, other worldly.
The TV show and the Grand Island Hotel will inevitably change this place and that's good, it's great to see more life on the island. But I hope it doesn't attract the kind of chaos you see when other places are suddenly brought into the spotlight. I think for the most part, the remote location will keep most of the idiots away. It really is a very special place.
