Route: Iona and Iona Abbey
Area: Inner Hebrides, Scotland
Date of walk: 13th September 2026
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 3.7 miles
Ascent: 100 feet
Weather: Sunny and warm
Earlier in the day, we’d enjoyed an incredible visit to the Isle of Staffa organised by Staffa Trips. Instead of returning to Fionnphort, we disembarked at Baile Mor on Iona for another walk. Thanks to Staffa Trips for a superb service. From the jetty we walked up the village street and through the grounds of the well preserved medieval Nunnery, founded in 1200
We continued along the village road and after about 10 minutes arrived at Iona Abbey, managed by Historic Scotland (entrance charges apply). This is one of Scotland’s most sacred sites and has been a centre of Christian worship ever since St Columba arrived in AD 563. There’s so much historical interest here that it would take hours to make a full exploration. We didn’t have time for that and resumed our walk, continuing along the quiet road for a while until we reached Ardionra Croft, where we followed a path across the machair
Near the north end of Iona we turned left and arrived above a perfect white sand beach. There are three of these in all, divided by huge granite rocks, but access to the furthest two was barred by a herd of cattle with calves. Well content with what we’d seen, we retraced our steps back to Baile Mor where we caught the Calmac Ferry back to Fionnphort to end a wonderful day, one which will live long in the memory
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
Scroll down – or click on any photo to view as a slideshow
Most visitors approach Iona from Fionnphort on Mull. We took a different route and, thanks to Staffa Trips, sailed from Fionnphort to Staffa and thence to Iona. After an amazing visit to Staffa (pictured above), we set sail for Iona
Feeding frenzy as a flock of gulls spot a shoal of fish near Iona. I believe these are young black-legged kittiwakes. I've never seen them before as they spend their whole life at sea, and only come ashore to breed
We sail past Iona Abbey, which we'll visit shortly
We disembark at the village of Baile Mor on Iona and will return to Mull via the regular Calmac Ferry service
Looking across St Ronan's Bay
We leave the jetty and walk through the attractive village
We follow the sign to the Abbey and Nunnery
We pass through the grounds of the Nunnery, founded around 1200
These are the most complete remains of a medieval nunnery in Scotland
Returning to the road, we pass by MacLean's Cross, erected in 1500 as a public display of the support of the MacLean family for the nearby Abbey
Iona Abbey
We visit the Abbey, in the care of Historic Scotland (charges apply). Founded by St. Columba in 563 AD, the abbey is one of the oldest and most sacred Christian centres in Western Europe
After a fascinating visit, we carry on along the road towards the north tip of the island. The highest point of the island is Dun I, left of picture, standing at 300 feet. It's easily reached but we decided to press on to the beach
We enter onto Ardionra Croft
The north tip of Iona ahead, our path takes us around to the left
We descend to the beach known as Traigh an t-Suidhe...
We wander along the white sands of Traigh an t-Suidhe...
We had planned to walk a little further, but a herd of cattle with calves stopped play
We retraced our steps along the beach
We pass by Iona Abbey again. In the foreground is St Oran's Chapel, the oldest surviving building on Iona. It sits within the historic burial ground of Scottish, Irish, and Norse kings
There's a regular Calmac Ferry service between Iona and Mull, which we used to get back to the start
A final look back to Iona Abbey, and to the Iolaire of Iona which taken us to two wonderful destinations in one day
We arrive back at Fionnphort on the Isle of Mull to end a day well spent
