Train Travel

Oban and Ardrossan are the main rail stations; it's a three-hour trip from Glasgow to Oban. For information call ScotRail. All trains connect with ferries.

Trail Contacts

ScotRail (0845/601-5929. www.scotrail.co.uk.)

Sightseeing Tours

Boat Tours

Getting out on the water is a wonderful way to see the landscape of the islands and also sealife.

Gordon Grant Tours leads an excursion from Oban to Mull, Iona, and Staffa and leaves Mull on other trips to Treshnish Isles and Staffa. From Taynuilt, near Oban, boat trips are available from Loch Etive Cruises. Sea Life Surveys offers four- and six-hour whale-watching and wildlife day trips from Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull.

Turas-Mara runs daily excursions in summer from Oban and Mull to Staffa, Iona, and the Treshnish Isles and specializes in wildlife tours. On a daylong trip to the Treshnish islands, you might see puffins, seals, otters, and, at certain times of year, dolphins and the occasional whale. Staffa is the site of Fingal's Cave, immortalized by Mendelssohn's overture.

Boat Tour Contacts

Gordon Grant Tours (Railway Pier, Achavaich, Isle of Iona, PA34 4AL. 01681/700338. www.staffatours.com.)

Loch Etive Cruises (Kelly's Pier, Etive View, Taynuilt, PA35 1JQ. 01866/822430.)

Sea Life Surveys (Taigh Solais, Ledaig, Tobermory, PA75 6NR. 01688/302916. www.sealifesurveys.com.)

Turas-Mara (Penmore Mill, Dervaig, PA75 6QS. 01688/400242. www.turasmara.com.)

Bus Tours

Bowman's Tours runs trips from Oban.

Bus Tour Contacts

Bowman's Tours (Waterfront, Railway Pier, Oban, PA34 4LW. 01631/563221. www.bowmanstours.co.uk.)