Inner Hebrides - Transport

Transport

Scheduled ferry services between the Inner Hebrides and the Scottish Mainland operate on various routes including: Tayinloan, Kintyre to Gigha; Kennacraig, Kintyre to Islay; Oban to Mull, Coll and Tiree and Colonsay; Mallaig to Armadale, Skye and Eigg, Muck, Rùm & Canna; and Glenelg to Kyle Rhea on the Sleat peninsula, Skye.

Some ferries reach the Inner Hebrides from other islands such as the Seil to Luing route, Fionnphort on the Ross of Mull to Iona, Sconser to Raasay and Port Askaig to Feolin, Jura. There is also a service to and form the Outer Hebrides from Tarbert, Harris and Lochmaddy on North Uist to Uig, Skye and from Castlebay, Barra to Tiree.

National Rail services are available for onward journeys, from stations at Oban, which has direct services to Glasgow and from Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness. There are scheduled flights from Broadford Airfield Skye, Colonsay Airport, Islay Airport near Port Ellen and Tiree Airport.

The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide, and there are numerous sites of wrecked ships. Lighthouses are sited as an aid to navigation at various locations. Dubh Artach lighthouse is located on a remote rock and warns seafarers away from the area itself and the nearby Torran Rocks. Originally it was considered to be an impossible site for a light, but the loss of the steamer Bussorah with all thirty-three hands on her maiden voyage in 1863 and of an astonishing 24 vessels in the area in a storm on 30–31 December 1865 encouraged positive action. Skerryvore is another remote lighthouse in the vicinity and at a height of 48 metres (157 ft) it is the tallest in Scotland.