Ardtun House is beautifully situated, twenty yards from the sea and about ten minutes walk from Bunessan Village. It has parking facilities and each of the three self-catering accommodation options have their own garden, drying facilities and full cooking requisites. In addition, all linen, towels and tea towels are supplied.
The Ordnance Survey Landranger map 48 'Iona, Ulva and West Mull' gives the grid reference as NM 382 222
Weekly rates - from Saturday to Saturday - are obtainable on request from Mrs Campbell at shelagh_campbell@lineone.net or on 01681 700264
A picture of Ardtun House for use as the Desktop wallpaper is available by clicking here. When the image loads, right click on the image and select the command 'Set as Wallpaper' if using Internet Explorer.
Option One - The House
1 double bedroom with bed/settee and en suite facilities
1 double bedroom with en suite facilities
1 twin bedroom
1 small bedroom with bunk beds (full size beds)
Main bathroom
Sitting room dinette with small kitchenette
Also included are a microwave, electric cooker, washing machine, fridge, freezer, Colour TV, video/DVD player, dishwasher and hoover
The accommodation is fully centrally heated
Option Two - The Stables
1 twin bedroom
1 double bedroom
Upstairs bathroom
Kitchen/dinette
Lounge
Also included are a microwave, electric cooker, washing machine, fridge/freezer, Colour TV, video recorder, CD/tape/radio, dishwasher and hoover
The accommodation also has electric radiators
Option Three - The Bothy
1 double bedroom with en suite facilities
Sitting room/kitchen
Also included are a micowave, electric cooker, fridge/freezer, Colour TV, video, CD/tape/radio, dishwasher, washing machine and hoover
The accommodation also has electric radiators
Option Four - The Caravan (34' by 10')
1 double bedroom
1 double/twin bedroom
1 twin bedroom
Kitchen
Sitting room/dinette
Shower/toilet
Also included are a micowave, gas cooker, fridge/freezer, Colour TV, video, CD/radio/tape, dishwasher, washing machine and hoover
The accommodation also has a gas fire, electric fan heaters and electric radiators
Weekly rates - from Saturday to Saturday - are obtainable on request from Mrs Campbell at shelagh_campbell@lineone.net or on 01681 700264
Schedules of ferries run by Caledonian MacBrayne with prices can be found on their web site here.
The easiest route for Bunessan arrives from Oban on the mainland at Craignure, from which a 30 mile car journey is necessary on predominantly single-track roads with passing places. This will take approximately an hour and a quarter to travel.
The ferry route Lochaline-Fishnish is an alternative which arrives on the Isle of Mull north of Craignure.
Calmac's web timetables also contain contact information for bus services on the island from the ferry to Bunessan and, for the ferry service from Oban, train times from Glasgow to the ferry terminal.
Getting from Craignure to Bunessan is simplicity itself. Turn left after driving off the ferry and follow the straight road for approximately 30 miles.
After a few miles of open forested land, the road becomes densely forrested before exiting out into the barren and bleak looking mountains. As one descends from this part of the journey, the sea will be seen in front, after which the road hugs the coastal road for most of the remaining journey.
When you descend into the outlying parts of the village, after passing the local school the sea will be immediately apparent in front of you. Instead of following the road sharply left to the village centre, turn right over a bridge and immediately left, with the sea on your left.
After about 75 yards, the white-walled building of Ardtun House will be up a small incline on your right after the Doctor's house.
The visitor should access the links listed below this brief description for more informative and detailed information.
The village of Bunessan is ideally suited to visit not only the south and west of the Isle of Mull but to use it as a base for car journeys to places in and around Salen and Craignure. During May, the sun sets directly across the sea from a point located in the middle of the village.
The peninsula of Ardtun is ideal for short walks along roadways and, because the accommodation overlooks the bay, walking into Bunessan village is a pleasant stroll alongside the sea. The village itself has two small grocery stores and a gift shop which are adequate for the purchase of both food for self-catering accommodation and gifts. Also in the village there is a restaurant and the hotel which has a restaurant and bar that are open to non-residents.
Uisken has a long, unspoilt beach a couple of miles drive away where the only other person one's likely to see is a fisherman mending his nets. From here, the walker can ascend into typical crofting country and discover a handful of deserted crofting houses and settlements.
Near Fionnphort lies the tidal island of Erraid, the first land on which the castaway in Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Kidnapped' came ashore. By timing the tides right, one can cross to the island and ascend to the Observation Point which has breathtaking views of the surrounding area.
Fionnphort is known mainly for the point from which the Iona ferry leaves (the Fionnphort-Iona ferry is approximately 6 miles by road from Ardtun House) but there's a good gift shop here and a partially used quarry can be accessed which leads down to the sea overlooking Iona. There is also The Keel Row Bar and Restaurant in the village.
Iona itself is worth at least a couple of visits - even if the visitor doesn't wish to go to the restored Abbey. A journey north up to the white sands of the utmost reaches of the island is beautiful and, doubling back to ascend Dun I, gives an impressive view of the Isle of Staffa in the distance along with places far out to sea.
To get to the south of the island one has to first journey west to the 'Bay with its back to the ocean' - with numerous smaller bays further north - and then south to both St Columba's Bay and the difficult to find Marble Quarry - this latter site remains a challenge to the traveller but it's well worth the effort.
Further east of Bunessan, Duart and Torosay Castles (the latter has an interesting mixture of gardens including a beautiful pond area where shocked tourists can frequently be met) are both worth visiting near Craignure and an excursion to Lochbuie to park near the Post Office and walk along the coastline east to the old church is a must. Seals and otters can sometimes be seen here. The well-known 'three lochs walk' is also near here though it's best visited from the mountains down to the sea in one direction so that two cars are needed.
The north road which teeters on the edge of cliffs has MacKinnon's cave close by (visited by Samuel and Johnson) and there are numerous waterfalls off the road which can be pinpointed by recourse to the relevant Ordnance Survey maps.
Wherever one is travelling in the south and west of Mull, it's important to look around. Morning travellers are likely to witness the wild deer and stags, and birds can be sighted at just about anytime of day and anywhere.
The available guidebooks give good advice and suggestions and, for further information, Mrs Campbell can be contacted by email at shelagh_campbell@lineone.net while two visitors resident in England can be contacted at
maskedpaw@bigfoot.com for the more 'warts and all' version.
Most of the links here have themselves linked to other sites so that the volume of information on the area is ample to give the would-be visitor a good background to what's on the island.
Oban Tourist Board deals with a range of areas but brochures can be requested. The official Tourist Office in Oban can also sell numerous excellent guides and maps though how one might order them from this web site is difficult to determine. Probably best to ring them on 01631 563122.
Holiday Mull contains various information on a range of subjects with a good links page to other sites of interest.
Isles of Mull and Iona contains numerous resources which give good background information. The only problem is the background music which plays incessantly.
Isle of Mull web site has detailed information about the Isle of Iona to the west.
Mull Birds is a site with comprehensive lists of recently sited birds along with good background information of 'places to go' to see the bird your itching to twitch for.
Scotland on Line is an excellent site for all things Scottish. Includes walking advice, weather and news features. There are loads of links, too, which will prove extremely useful to all types of visitor.
